HECKLER - Northumberland & Northeast

We've spent a fair few hours finning around the Heckler and it’s always a proper North Sea adventure. This isn't a deep dive, sitting at just 4 metres, making it perfect for newer divers looking for a genuine wreck experience without the nitrogen narcosis. The Heckler was a merchant vessel that met an untimely end and now lies well broken up, but still very much a wreck, not just a pile of rubble. You’ll find ribs and plating spread across a surprisingly large area, creating all sorts of nooks and crannies for life to hide in. The real joy here is the sheer amount of local colour. Our favourite spots are the sheltered sections of hull, where you can often spot lobsters waving their antennae from tight crevices, and the dense clumps of plumose anemones, which sway gently in the surge, looking like fluffy white flowers. We've seen some impressively large crabs here too, scuttling amongst the metalwork. Dive it on a calm day, ideally around slack water, and you get decent visibility – enough to really appreciate the scale of the wreckage. It’s a truly atmospheric dive, even in its shallowness.

Location

Northumberland & Northeast, United Kingdom, Mediterranean & Europe

Coordinates

54.616810, -1.151627

Type

wreck

Maximum Depth

4m

Marine Protected Area: Teesmouth and Cleveland Coast