LA MAUVE

Best months: Jul–Sep

Protected Area

Jersey Coast

Why dive here

With 176+ marine species recorded in the area - including blue sharks, dolphins, dwarf minke whales, humpback whales and ocean sunfish (mola mola) - LA MAUVE offers some of Cornwall & Devon's richest wreck diving. Water ranges 10-18°C, warmest July, August, September.

Best timeJul–Sep

WetsuitA 5mm wetsuit

Marine lifeBlue Sharks, Dolphins, Dwarf Minke Whales, Humpback Whales and Ocean Sunfish (Mola Mola) · 176+ species recorded

Water10-18°C · warmest July, August, September

CharacterWreck dive · max 22m

StandoutExceptional marine biodiversity

La Mauve, oh La Mauve. We’ve always had a soft spot for this scuttled barge, just over 20m down in Plymouth Sound. She went down intentionally in '93, not far from the Breakwater, making her a perfect easy wreck dive when the weather elsewhere in the Sound is a bit grumpy. The 20-meter length makes her manageable. You can pretty much circumnavigate the entire thing and still have plenty of bottom time to peek inside the small hold. What we really love is how the wreck acts like a big, metal magnet for life on an otherwise sandy seabed. You’ll often find dogfish tucked into the sand nearby, and the whole structure is covered in plumose anemones, soft corals, and dead man's fingers. Ballan wrasse dart in and out of the plating, and conger eels are usually lurking in the darker crevices. It’s not a deep dive, so you get decent light penetration, which really shows off the vibrant colours of the anemones swaying in the gentle surge. It’s a cracker for photography, especially with a wide-angle lens to capture the whole scene.