A free guide to snorkelling around Falmouth.

1. Snorkel
Falmouth
A simple guide to snorkelling around Falmouth.
Mark Milburn
January, 2012
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2. Good Selection
Wrecks and Reefs
Falmouth Bay is protected from the predominant south westerly winds
by the Lizard Peninsula. This makes it likely that you will get favourable
conditions to go snorkelling. The worst time to try and snorkel around
Falmouth, is during an easterly or southerly wind. These winds will
bring waves, they have also brought many wrecks. There are three
German WWI U-Boats, a 5,000 ton oil tanker and a 422 ton fishing
trawler. The coast shelves slowly, you will have to swim a long way out
to get much deeper than 10m. Visibility varies from 1m to up to 10m.
Marine life is varied and you may see a range of things from
Nudibranchs to Seals, if you're lucky. We'll start at the most northerly
site and work south. You can snorkel anywhere but you may miss
something special.
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3. Falmouth's most popular shore dive is the 'Silver Steps', it is also an
excellent snorkel. The Silver Steps relate to the bright granite steps
going down to the sea off of Pendennis Point, pictured above. To get
there head along Castle Drive, the one way system around Pendennis
headland. The first landmark on the left is the dockyard, then a little
further around there is a car park. A few hundred metres more, just
before the road becomes two way, there is a lay-by on the left. Park
there, it’s free. A photo of the lay-by is below.
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4. The path to the steps is just to the left of the lay-by looking out to sea.
The path splits into two. It is possible to enter the water from the left
hand path and steps or the right hand.
Divers will enter from the well trodden right hand path and steps.
There are quite a few steps down, for most of the way there is a heavy
duty handrail. The handrail is especially useful on the way back up. As
a snorkeller, the left hand path will take you closer to a submarine
wreck, the UB-86. The German WWI U-Boat that was part of a
consignment to Falmouth, in payment for war reparations after the end
of WWI. The U-Boats were moored in Falmouth Bay, when a southerly
gale made them part their moorings and crash onto the rocks. UB-86 is
one of three submarines remains left around Falmouth's shore. At low
water part of the submarine breaks the surface.
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5. Circled on the photo below is part of one of UB-86's structure showing at
low water (spring tides).
The submarines have all been heavily salvaged, there is enough left to
make it worthwhile spending a while exploring it.
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6. In the gully to the right, looking from shore, is the remains of another
submarine, the UB-97. The most noticeable part of the submarine
remaining is the large three pronged fork, possibly part of the hydro-
vane hinge. There is much more left of UB-86 than UB-97 though. The
top of the UB-97 is around 2m at low water.
To the right of UB-86 is an interesting gully with a tiny cave at the end,
within the cave are the remains of a small motorbike. The bike does get
buried in sand now and then. The reef all along Pendennis is covered in
life and is very pleasant.
The next location is off of Castle Beach. Castle Beach is in front of the
Falmouth Hotel just a little further along from the 'Silver Steps'. It is the
location of another German submarine.
The submarine is not far offshore, it's around 100m to the far end of the
U-Boat. At high water you can swim over the reef straight to the wreck.
At lower states of the tide it is best to head about 20m south of the lower
slope, there is a gap in the reef which makes for easy entry. You can find
the U-Boat by swimming along the reef, it is usually covered in kelp and
can be hard to spot.
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7. The wreck lies at 90 degrees to
the shore. If you line up the
left hand edge of the Falmouth
Hotel, with the left hand side
of the ice cream hut and swim
out, you will come across the
wreck. At low water spring
tides the shallowest part
touches the surface, the
deepest is around 8m at high
water. Parking is usually
available along the roadside above the ice cream hut.
Along the coast another 1/2 mile and Gyllyngvase beach is our next
location. Gylly has nice reefs at both ends of the beach. The south end is
interesting enough but a little further along there is the remains of a
wreck, the 5,077 ton oil tanker, the Ponus.
The wreck is well broken and spread over a huge area. The largest piece
stands around 2m high. To find it you need a straight line between the
last tall tree in the car park and the red and white beach safety sign.
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8. Keep the tree and sign lined up
and you will come across the
biggest piece. The only other line
of sight (transit), is the white wall
beside the restaurant at Swanpool
becoming visible around the
point.
Once you find the wreck you
can swim around for quite a
while finding more and more
of it. It is spread over at least
50m with plates, pipes and
ribs half buried in sand. The
sand can shift and parts of
the wreck get covered and
uncovered. The top of wreck
is just 0.5m deep at low
water, maximum depth is 8m
at high water. The best place to park is on the road just behind Victoria
Gardens. You can then walk around the southern end of the gardens to
the beach.
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9. Swanpool is a very easy snorkel. Especially at high tide. From the car
park to the water can be as little as a 25m walk. The southern reef is
plain and simple, usually with quite a bit of life. It winds it's way in and
out all the way to the point about 400m away. The north reef is
shallower, at high water there is a very shallow arch to swim through.
On high springs you can swim around the back of the island and out
through the arch. At low water you can walk through the arch.
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10. Maenporth Beach also has a wreck, a 422 ton fishing trawler sunk in
1978, it is very shallow and about a 300m swim out. It is an excellent
snorkel and a the reef to it can be interesting. The wreck lies behind
rocks along the left hand side, north side, of the cove and is not visible
from the beach. At low water you can climb across the rocks to get to
the wreck, then walk around the remains of the Ben Asdale.
The car park on the beach makes easy access to the water. You can walk
along the cliff path to see the wreck from above. You have to make your
way through some bushes, to get to the ledge above it though.
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11. The last not to be missed location is the Helford River. Grebe Beach and
Durgan are just a couple of hundred metres apart, on the north side of
the Helford River. Durgan has a lot of moorings to swim around whilst
Grebe has no moorings at all. They both have Sea Grass beds with a
wide variety of life. The Helford River is a voluntary area of
conservation, mainly because of this variety of life. It is best to snorkel
at slack water, around one hour after high or low water. Then head into
the opposite direction of the next tide, so you can swim back with the
tide when it turns. If you don't you may struggle to get back to where
you started. The maximum depth is around 6m off of either beach.
Parking isn't easy as the car park is at the top of the hill, don't park
anywhere else as the police patrol the area. The trip is worth it if you
like marine life. Thornback Rays and Cuttlefish have been spotted
whilst just snorkelling on the surface.
There are many other very interesting sites to snorkel. You can wander
along the cliff paths and find little coves that no-one visits. This guide
only lists the 'easy access' and the 'not to be missed sites'.
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12. Sponsored by
mark@atlanticscuba.co.uk
http://www.atlanticscuba.co.uk
http://www.facebook.com/atlanticscuba
http://twitter.com/atlanticscuba
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