wreck

Log This Dive

GRAND COPAISE

The Grand Copaise is one of those wrecks that really sticks with you, a bit of a local favourite for us. She went down in '84, a French trawler, and has settled nicely on the seabed at 45 metres. What we love about her is how intact she remains; you can still make out the wheelhouse, the mast, and even the trawl winches. Dropping down, the gloom of the deep water gives way to the superstructure, often draped in fishing nets, a somber reminder of her working life. Explore the deck, and you'll find plenty of nooks and crannies where conger eels have set up shop, their heads poking out from pipes and crevices. We've seen some impressively large ones here. The deeper sections around the stern are particularly atmospheric, with schools of pouting often schooling so densely around the wreck you can barely see past them. It's a dive that demands experience and a good handle on your trim, but for those capable, it offers a genuinely rewarding glimpse into a working vessel lost to the Channel. Dive this one on a slack tide, otherwise, you'll be flying past a lot of good stuff.