Wreck of Harriet Stewart

Protected Area

Borgue Coast

Why dive here

With 118+ marine species recorded in the area - including dolphins, dwarf minke whales, humpback whales, ocean sunfish (mola mola) and orcas - Wreck of Harriet Stewart 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

StandoutRich in charismatic marine life

The Harriet Stewart isn't one of those wrecks where you're just looking at a pile of metal. No, this is a proper exploration site. We love how much of the structure remains, giving you a real sense of its past as an iron-hulled sailing ship. As you descend, the bow and stern sections are still distinct, even after all these years on the seabed. Dropping down onto the main deck, you can peer into the holds, often finding them crammed with shoals of cod and pollock, sometimes a grumpy conger eel too. The iron plates are draped in a thick tapestry of plumose anemones, their white tentacles swaying with the gentle surge. It’s a site that changes with the light and the season; we’ve had dives where the visibility has been a good 15 metres, revealing the whole ship from bow to stern, and others where it’s felt much more intimate, just exploring one section at a time. It’s a site for those who appreciate the history as much as the life that now calls it home. The currents here can pick up, so we’d suggest timing your dive for slack water to really make the most of poking around.