LEINSTER

Protected Area

Croker Carbonate Slabs

Why dive here

With 118+ marine species recorded in the area - including dolphins, dwarf minke whales, humpback whales, ocean sunfish (mola mola) and orcas - LEINSTER 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 27m

StandoutRich in charismatic marine life

The Leinster, oh, she’s a proper dive, a deep, dark beauty off the Northumberland coast. We love a wreck with a story, and this one, sunk by a U-boat in 1918, has a particularly poignant one. She sits upright at 27 metres, pretty much intact, which is what makes her such a standout. You drop down onto the deck, and you can really get a sense of her size – 109 metres long, a huge steamship. Our favourite part is exploring the twin boilers, massive steel cylinders now encrusted with dead man’s fingers, a ghostly white against the gloomy water. You’ll find conger eels peering out from gaps in the plating, their thick bodies coiled in the shadows. Look closely for the smaller stuff too; we often spot tiny crabs scuttling across the deck plates and nudibranchs clinging to the structural beams. Visibility can be a bit hit-and-miss, typical for the Northeast, but on a good day, when the light penetrates, the sheer scale of the Leinster is awe-inspiring. It’s a dive for those who appreciate history and don't mind a bit of a chill; a drysuit is definitely our recommendation here.