Dive Beyond

Portland Bill, home to historical wrecks from war and storms, a great variety of underwater life Whether or not you have experience of diving in British salt water you are welcome to join Big Squid on a weekend scuba diving trip to Portland. We usually dive around Portland Harbour or Balaclava Bay. With 4-5 dives over two days on a mixture of dive sites comprising wrecks and reefs. On Past visits to Portland we have spotted: Red Mullet, Turbot, Dogfish, Greater Pipe Fish, Lesser Sand Eel, Garfish, Tom Pot Blenny, Pollack, Mackerel, Cork Wing Wrasse, Cuttlefish. Trigger Fish, Giant Jellyfish and Spider Crabs,

Full of wildlife, Chesil Beach offers a great shallow shore dive. Explore broken wreckage, whilst looking a variety of British wildlife like cuttlefish, wrasse, thornback rays and more!

Starting on a 6m ledge, this is a great site for drift dives. By swimming away from the shore, divers can choose their depth, though most of the interesting stuff is in the shallower region.

This is a paddle steamer built at the end of the 1800s. Towards the end of its life it was used as a barge to ferry coal out to the battleships moored within the harbour. In 1935 it was blown from its moorings and ended up wrecked against the breakwater wall where it remains.

Just inside the outer breakwater, this is another fantastic wreck for beginners, or those wanting somewhere to check out gear, test skills, or just head out for an ’easy’ dive. Max depth is 14m, going up to 7m.

This wreck sank in two sections, the second section is about 150 yards to the southeast. Large metal tanks and some flat sheets can be seen. It sits at 12m deep in a soft, silty bed with the wreck standing around 3m high.