Pembrokeshire & Skomer

Diving here splits between the beach and the boat. Shore divers kit up at Martins Haven and St Brides Haven, and dive clubs and charter boats use St Brides as a base because the offshore sites lie close to it. Charter boats carry divers to the reserve islands and out to the wrecks, and the same vessels take survey, filming and commercial work. Wind direction sets the plan: strong northerlies close St Brides and Martins Haven, and Stackpole Quay on the south side of the county becomes the fallback. At Martins Haven tourist boats shuttle to Skomer Island between 9am and 4pm, so care is needed in the water.

The bays are soft sand and rocky outcrops edged with kelp. On the left of St Brides a kelp forest hides gullies, among them The Arch, which rises from the seabed almost to the surface. Martins Haven holds seals, dogfish, dragonets, bass, pollock, ballan wrasse, pipefish, octopus, nudibranchs, lobsters, scallops, Ross coral and pink sea fans, and St Brides adds cuttlefish, red mullet, tub gurnard, weever fish and 15-spined sticklebacks. Martins Haven is strictly no-take, with fines of £50,000 for taking scallops. Offshore, Stack Rocks and Hens and Chicks are scenic gully dives, the Greeko lies off St Anne's Head, and the Behar and Dekotian sit in the sheltered waters of the Haven.

St Brides, with its flat sandy bottom and narrow entrance, is where novice divers are introduced to the sea, while Martins Haven is rated Advanced Open Water and can turn into a drift dive once past the drop-off. The Lucy asks more again: divers hang on to the line on the way down because of current, especially on large spring tides, and visibility there is rarely good, a few rainy days bringing it to a silty zero. At St Brides visibility can reach 15 m, but northerly winds and storms cut it sharply. Divers who want clear, warm water with little planning should look elsewhere.