GREAT OUSE

Protected Area

Scare Rocks

Why dive here

With 118+ marine species recorded in the area - including dolphins, dwarf minke whales, humpback whales, ocean sunfish (mola mola) and orcas - GREAT OUSE offers some of Northumberland & Northeast's richest wreck diving.

Marine lifeDolphins, Dwarf Minke Whales, Humpback Whales, Ocean Sunfish (Mola Mola) and Orcas · 118+ species recorded

CharacterWreck dive · max 20m

StandoutRich in charismatic marine life

Great Ouse. Now that’s a wreck with some bite, sitting just off Beadnell in Northumberland. She was a dredger, lost while under tow in 1942, and you can almost feel that wartime history clinging to her plates. We love the way she’s broken up, scattered across the seabed in a few distinct pieces, which makes for some fantastic exploration at a manageable 20 metres. The bow section, with its enormous dredging ladder, is our favourite. It's truly impressive to fin through that structure. Shoals of coalfish often swirl around the deeper parts, and we’ve seen some seriously large ling tucked into the crevices of the engine room. Visibility can be a bit hit or miss, typical for the North Sea, but on a good day, when the sun penetrates, the wreck takes on a greenish, almost ethereal glow. We'd suggest timing your dive for slack water, particularly on a neap tide, to really make the most of navigating the scattered plates and discovering the resident crabs and lobsters. It's a site that rewards multiple visits.