The Lizard Peninsula
The Old Lifeboat Slipway in the Lizard Peninsula, on the southernmost tip of the United Kingdom.
Rugged, desolate, wild, untouched, old, traditional, quiet and beautiful. These are the words often associated with the Lizard Peninsula.
The southernmost part of the United Kingdom, where you can find small pockets of civilisation living the quiet life away from the hussle and bussle from the more touristy destinations. This isn’t to say that the Lizard isn’t visited by tourists at all, as the area still attracts campers and walkers from all over with the lure to visit Lizard Point lighthouse and stand on the southernmost tip of the UK.
There are very nice sandy beaches where you can catch some surf and get a tan or places where you can watch grey seals and ocean going birds from the steep cliffs surrounding the Lizard.
But you’re most like reading this because you want to go diving or snorkeling, and yes there are definitely places for that as well!
Please be aware the information below can be used to assist you for researching dive or snorkel sites, but we cannot be held liable for any accidents/incidents should you choose not to use us as your guide.
Our Dive Sites
Porthoustock
The left side of Porthoustock beach with the disused Oar house in the background. This is our most visited dive site and training site in all of Cornwall.
This is our most visited dive site in all of Cornwall as it has almost everything to offer and best of all, its quiet!
Porthoustock sits on the South East coast of Cornwall just off the Mannacles Marine Reserve. It has a shingle beach meaning that we have less kit to clean after a long day of diving. The carpark is right on the beach with an honesty box upon entry that helps pay the local community to keep the area clean. The entry and exit is just a gentle short walk down and up the beach and the area is very well sheltered from most wind directions. The water does get deep very quickly and it’s only a few strides until your feet are off the bottom completely.
In the peak summer months, there is a small horse box cafe owned by one of the locals where you can grab a egg & bacon bap and a coffee between dives. To the left side of the beach is a large disused concrete building that was once used for storing grain and loading onto old merchant ships. On the right side of the beach is a large harbour wall and quarry, which is still active. Sometimes a container ship may pull up, where slate from the quarry is loaded onto and shipped off to parts of Asia.
The left hand side is the best side for diving and is also where we do the majority of our training, as the platform that supports the Oar house shelters us from the elements and the end of it sits in 3 metres of water counting as a confined water site.
Beyond the Oarhouse is a large reef, home to an enormous amount of fish life. Swim through and down the reef and eventually you’ll reach the sand at the bottom which sits at a depth of 10 metres of so. Here you may come across large cuttlefish, octopus and massive spidercrabs. With the reef on your left and the sand on your right, follow the reef line until you reach about 130 bar before turning round to head back to the exit. You might want to explore the reef more as you’ll find all sorts of fascinating marine life in there from sea cucumbers, lobsters, nudibranchs, conger eels, catsharks, dover soles, topknots and much much more.
Be warned though, as Porthoustock is still used for traditional fishing practices and you may come across lobster and crab pots filled the brim with their targeted catches. There is normally a rope line between each one floating mid water, so be mindful of not getting caught or tangled up. Although, as it’s only a single line of rope, which is easy enough to avoid by the sensible diver.
Back up through the reef and you’ll end up on the shingle beach near or next to the Oar house if you’re compass navigation is good enough. Here you can do your safety stops, or when your dive computer tells you to before swimming back up the beach and exit.
Mullion Cove
When anyone asks what is your favourite dive site, it’s this one - hands down, Mullion is our favourite!
A common octopus during one of our dives at Porthoustock beach became quite a hit on social media. It was as large as a dustbin lid and if you look carefully, you can see that it had been through the wars as two of its arms were missing!
A European Lobster (Hommarus gammarus) inside on of the lobster pots at Porthoustock. The site is still used as a traditional lobster and crab fishery, so be aware of any ropes between pots of small boats overhead.