The 2025 diving season around the Island turned out to be one to forget. Although there was plenty of hot and dry weather, it was often accompanied by too much wind at key times. Most of the best tides for diving each month coincided with the most windy weather! Following the dry, sunny yet windy spring, we then had a month of plankton bloom, which affected visibility severely. It was all very frustrating.

Having said that however, we did get out for a few notable dives:

In June, we had a 2 dive day, first out to Alum Bay, followed up by a dive to the wreck of the Fenna. The Fenna lies in 23m, 3.5 miles south west of the Needles.
Alum Bay proved to be a cracker. In bright sunshine, we had 10m vis. The highlight was huge schools of bass, plus a gorgeous Spotted Ray (see above)

The Fenna was a bit more challenging. We had put the shot onto the wreck, and started diving when a thunderstorm worked it’s way up the channel. Despite this, in very overcast conditions, vis was around 5-6m. The wreck, as always, was full of critters, including Brown Crab, Lobster and Conger.

In August, eight divers headed out on an early morning midweek dive, to the wreck of the Venezuela, in 29m depth. Vis was good at 5-6m, with good ambient light on the wreck. The wreck is home to large shoals of Bib, plus the usual wreck inhabitants – Conger, Lobster, species of Crabs and so on.

We’re now very much looking forward to the 2026 dive season.