St Keverne, England, United Kingdom

Manacles Reef

The Manacles is a notorious reef system about a mile off the Lizard Peninsula's eastern coast in Cornwall, made up of jagged granite pinnacles rising from depths of 40 metres or more to within a few metres of the surface. The reef has claimed more than a hundred ships since the seventeenth century, including SS Mohegan and SS Volnay, and the seabed around the pinnacles is a mosaic of shipwreck debris, anchors and cannons. The Manacles is one of the most biologically rich dive areas in England, designated a Marine Conservation Zone, with vertical rock faces draped in jewel anemones in red, pink, orange and white, plumose anemones, dead man's fingers, sponges, hydroids and feather stars. Resident fish include ballan wrasse, cuckoo wrasse, pollack, bib, conger eels and the occasional bass. Currents are strong and dives must be planned around slack water windows. Visibility frequently reaches 10 to 15 metres in summer, and water temperatures vary between 9 and 17 degrees Celsius. Charter boats run from Falmouth and Porthkerris.