Sea Training Locations

When the weather and sea conditions are right, there is nothing better than taking your training dives in the sea around the UK! Sea dives offer realistic conditions and prepare you for future dives at different coastal locations. Sea dives also give you a great chance of spotting amazing wildlife and sunken attractions like wrecks.

At certain locations, we also have the chance to offer boat dives to access sites you can't reach from the shore. 

When conditions allow, we will aim to dive in the sea for your training dives. 

Brixham Breakwater Beach

Brixham Breakwater Beach is a great spot for divers of all levels. There are a variety of different dives, all from the gently sloping pebble beach, reaching maximum depths of around 10m. Expect to spot pipefish, scallops, lobsters, blennies, wrasse & more!

As a north-facing beach, Brixham is protected from most wind directions, except those easterly winds which can cause poor conditions. 

The Pay and Display car park has a good number of parking spots, but you need to arrive early on Summer weekends to get a parking spot close to the beach. The car park also has two (paid) public toilets, but there are no dedicated changing facilities on site. The Breakwater Bistro cafe offers great food and hot drinks, both for takeaway during the day and a nice place to sit down at the end of the dive day.

The water temperature varies throughout the year. In summer, water temperatures can reach 18^oC or higher in the shallows, whilst in Winter water temperature can reduce to around 9^oC. 

Babbacomb Bay

Babbacombe is another popular dive site in Devon, with easy access to the water and a cafe on site. The car park at Babbacombe is small, so arriving early on a weekend is important to make sure you get a space.

Underwater, a small band of kelp sits closest to the shoreline, which turns to small rocks and eventually a sandy bottom as you move away from shore. There are some large boulders in the bay, which attract a lot of wildlife, and are covered in anemones and soft coral, which is lovely to look at. In April you can even see the spider crab migration! The maximum depth here is 10m.

Chesil Cove

There are various places you can shore dive from along Chesil Beach, but the most popular spot for divers is at the Southernmost end of the beach where you find Chesil Cove. The entry and exit is up and down the often steep pebble beach, but the effort to get to the dive site is often rewarded with an excellent dive. 

Underwater, the depth increases quickly to around 6m, and as you swim further from shore, the depth gradually increases and can reach 12-15m. Visibility can be excellent, with 3-5m an average estimate. Whilst you explore the reef, keep an eye out for aquatic life such as cuttlefish, pipefish, john dory, dogfish and many more. 

Westerly winds can cause the swell at Chesil Cove to get too big for a safe entry and exit, so if the conditions aren't suitable for diving here, nearby Newton's Cove is an excellent backup plan.

Portland harbour

Again, there are many places to dive from in Portland Harbour. Our most common location for boat dives when operating training is from Dive Beyond dive centre based in Castletown. The Dive Beyond team run multiple boats, with trips to all of the popular dive sites in the area.

Boat dives include many local wrecks like the Countess of Erne, the Dredger and the Landing Craft, to name a few, plus they offer trips to offshore favourites like the M2 submarine and the St Dunstan. Portland also has great scenic dive sites, such as Pulpit Rocks, Baly Bay and the outer breakwater wall!