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COMMANDER BOYLE

Commander Boyle is a gritty dive, absolutely. This isn’t a pretty reef, it’s a sombre reminder of wartime Orkney, and that’s precisely why we love it. Dropping down to 54 metres, you’re enveloped in the low visibility Scapa Flow is known for, a kind of murky embrace that makes the wreck’s hulking presence even more dramatic. She’s a trawler, sunk by a mine in 1915, and the years underwater have given her a dark, rusted beauty. We found her wheelhouse remarkably intact on our last visit, a ghostly shell adorned with dead man’s fingers and hydroids. Look closely and you'll spot wolf fish peeking out from beneath plates, and conger eels coiled in the deeper recesses. The bow section is particularly good, where the structure is more broken, creating nooks and crannies for smaller fish. It's a dive for those who appreciate history and the quiet, persistent beauty of decay, especially if you’re comfortable in deep, dark water. Come prepared for the cold, and bring a good torch; you’ll want to pick out every detail on this grand old lady.