wreck

Log This Dive

ASTARTE

We love a good shallow wreck, and Astarte delivers. She’s not massive, 70 metres long, but she’s beautifully broken up, scattered across the seabed at a comfortable 9 metres. You’ll find her off Beadnell, a site that often surprises people with how good the diving can be. We’ve spent many a calm day here, poking around the ribs and hull plates, feeling the distinct chill of the North Sea even in summer. Astarte went down in 1915, hit by a mine, and time has really worked its magic. The structure is heavily concreted, a thick orange crust coating everything, a testament to decades spent underwater. Look closely and you’ll spot dead man’s fingers swaying gently from almost every surface. Conger eels are often lurking in the darker recesses, their heads poking out with a wary glance. We usually find crabs scuttling over the plates, and the odd lobster tucked deep into the wreckage. Visibility can be a bit of a lottery here; on a good day, you get 10-15 metres, which is plenty to take in the whole scene. If it’s murkier, we just get closer, focusing on the smaller details and the life that thrives in the gloom. It’s an ideal spot for newer wreck divers or anyone who just wants a relaxed bimble.