Missing your diving trip to the Maldives? Cancelling that scuba getaway to the Red Sea? Well, don’t hang up your mask and snorkel just yet.
Recreational diving has resumed in both Bailiwicks and local dive centres are seeing an increase in interest from islanders who are looking closer to home for their next underwater adventure.
‘We have had a lot more enquires from locals. We have a large local community of divers anyway, but we’ve started to see more people from Jersey who would usually go away to dive asking about diving here,’ said Adam West, assistant manager of the Bouley Bay Dive Centre, which has just resumed dive operations again.
‘A lot of people don’t realise how much life there is to see and how clear the water can be. In the summer, we have 10 metres of visibility on average, and we’ve seen more than that.’
Diver centres, like everywhere else, have to adhere to strict regulations and physical distancing requirements. For example, there are no longer communal equipment rinses and masks are no longer de-fogged using saliva.
‘Underwater, when people are wearing regulators, there doesn’t have to be any social distancing, but on the surface, people do have to be two metres apart,’ said Adam.
‘We do have a boat but current distancing measure mean we can’t go out with mixed groups, but family groups are safe. When distancing is reduced to one metre, we’ll be able to take mixed groups again.’
The waters around the Channel Islands are teeming with life and whether you prefer shore dives, reefs or wrecks, there are plenty of sites for divers of all abilities.
Jersey’s sloping bays are good for spear-fishing and shore dives, while Sark offers great visibility and good reef diving. Alderney’s huge tidal stream makes it the most challenging island to explore underwater, while Guernsey’s east coast has reefs, wrecks, wall and scallop dives are all within a few minutes’ boat ride of each other.
It might not be safe to travel right now, but if diving is your thing, or you’re looking to try something new this summer, the Channel Islands has you covered. Ready to see the islands like you’ve never seen them before? Here are a handful of top spots to get you started.
Jersey: Bouley Bay
One of the island’s most popular dive spots, this shore dive offers a shallow, sheltered environment, perfect for learners. Sea life includes wrasse, conga eels, anemones, shrimp, scallops, pollock, bass, rays and, occasionally, seahorses.
Guernsey: Peastacks
A shallow start gives way to a sloping wall, with plenty of sea life and soft corals, and the occasional conga eel.
Jersey: Will’s Wall
Named after an instructor from Bouley Bay Dive Centre, this site was founded in 2015 and is located near the Paternosters. It features beautiful fan corals, cray fish, lobsters, huge pouting and pollock, and a kelp forrest.
Sark: L’etac
There is a huge concentration of life to be found around this small island off the southern tip of Sark, which has wall diving and offers a depth for everyone up to 50m.
Jersey: The Heron
At a depth of 22-23 metres, this is the wreck of a 57-metre-long dutch cargo ship that sunk in 1961 having hit a reef en route to Portsmouth. It’s located on the Paternoster reef and remains largely intact. It’s home to schools of pouting, sea squirts and anemones.
Guernsey: Havelet Bay
This shore dive is next to St Peter Port Harbour and is great for beginners due to its stable environment. It has a good range of sea life and night divers have a good chance of finding flat fish.