20-24 September 2026

By Dominic R.

Four nights in Cornwall, three days of diving, two days aboard Celtic Kitten, some spectacular wreck and reef diving, excellent food and rather more encounters with marine life than my GoPro managed to record.

We were also incredibly lucky with the conditions. The weather was fantastic throughout the trip and the sea was so calm it was like a mill pond – about as good as we could have hoped for.

 

Day 1 – Sunday 20 September

The Great Porthkerris Cannonball Run

Mark and I set off from his house for the long drive down to Porthkerris.

What should have been a fairly ordinary journey south quickly developed into something resembling the Cannonball Run. At various service stations we kept unexpectedly bumping into the others, which naturally turned the journey into an unofficial competition to see who could make it to the next checkpoint first.

Somehow, despite effectively having two satnavs per car – the car’s navigation plus our phones – we all still managed to get lost at least once.

New roads and diversions eventually had us being sent down Cornish single-track lanes that seemed barely wide enough for one car, let alone anything coming the other way.

Eventually, everyone made it to Porthkerris in one piece.

After arriving, we headed into the dive shop for our briefing. With the cabin still being prepared, there wasn’t much else to do except undertake the important business of having a few drinks at the beach café while we waited.

Our log cabin was located at the top of the hill, tucked away behind some trees. It had a welcoming and homely feel to it, with the lounge, dining area and kitchen all combined into one large open-plan room.

The cabin sleeps eight, but with six of us on the trip there was plenty of room. We paired up between the twin rooms, with one of the rooms also having a spare bunk bed.

Once we’d settled in, Andy produced a fantastic three-course dinner for everyone: prawn cocktail to start, roast chicken for the main course, followed by steamed syrup sponge and custard for dessert.

After Andy’s delicious meal, it was time to crack open some beers, settle into the cabin and relax before the morning.

Not a bad start to the trip at all.

 

 

 

Day 2 – Monday 21 September

Prancra Head & The Manacles

Our first proper day of diving at Porthkerris took us out aboard Celtic Kitten for two dives.

We needed to be ready to get aboard at 10:20am, so we headed down from the cabin to the shore about an hour beforehand. Diving involves rather more preparation than simply stepping onto a boat, so there were cylinders to check, equipment to assemble and five divers to get fully kitted up and ready to go.

Paul decided to sit the day’s diving out and remained back on shore, leaving five of us for the day’s boat diving.

I buddied with Mark and Jon, while Miles and Andy buddied together.

Celtic Kitten is a catamaran which operates as a shuttle between Porthkerris and the surrounding dive sites. Rather than spending the whole day aboard, we were taken out for each dive and brought back to shore in between – something that would prove particularly welcome when cups of tea were involved.

Dave was our skipper and was fantastic. He really knew his stuff and looked after us brilliantly throughout the day. He even shared some sweets around while we were on the boat.

Somehow, this led to one of those conversations where nobody can quite remember how it started:

Which confectionery advert had the dancing bagpipes?

 

 

Prancra Head Reef

Our first dive was Prancra Head Reef, entering the water at 11:40am.

When most people think of reefs, their minds probably turn to warm tropical seas and brightly coloured coral. But we have reefs here in the UK too, and although they may look rather different, they support a surprisingly rich variety of marine life.

At Prancra Head and around the Manacles, the rocky reefs provided plenty to see.

Spiny starfish seemed to be everywhere. They’re an impressive species that can grow to around 70 cm across and can be found from shallow water down to depths approaching 200 metres.

Among them were spider crabs and sea urchins, while parts of the reef were covered in dead man’s fingers, a soft coral commonly found around the British coast. Despite the slightly ominous name, their pale, fleshy branches are a familiar sight on UK reefs and wrecks – and a reminder that coral isn’t something you only find in tropical waters.

There were also cuckoo wrasse, one of the more colourful fish found around the British coast. The females are generally pinkish-orange with distinctive dark markings towards the rear of their backs, while the males can be particularly striking, with vivid blue and orange colouring.

After 37 minutes underwater, reaching a maximum depth of 20 metres and averaging 15.7 metres, we ended the dive at 12:17pm when Jon began having a few minor issues with his weight belt.

It seemed like a sensible point to head back to the surface anyway, and we’d still had a decent dive.

Celtic Kitten then shuttled us back to Porthkerris.

Naturally, one of our first priorities was a visit to Beach Bites on the shore for a cup of tea and a snack.

Our second dive wasn’t until 2:20pm, giving us just over two hours on the surface.

This gap between dives is known as a surface interval. As well as giving us plenty of time to refuel and have a good chat about the first dive, it allows our bodies to continue releasing some of the additional nitrogen absorbed while breathing compressed air underwater.

Then it was time to kit up all over again and head back aboard Celtic Kitten.

 

 

Vase Rock – The Manacles

For our second dive we headed out to Vase Rock on the Manacles – and this one produced one of those encounters that will probably stick with me for a very long time.

I came across an absolutely enormous cuttlefish, roughly the size of a domestic cat.

For a while, we simply watched one another.

I was completely fascinated by it, but what made the encounter particularly memorable was that the fascination seemed almost mutual. Rather than immediately disappearing, it stayed there watching me – this strange, remarkably intelligent-looking creature apparently studying the equally strange bubble-producing creature hovering in front of it.

I tried to get Mark and Jon’s attention with my torch so they could come and see it too, but they were already busy preparing the delayed surface marker buoy (DSMB) ready for our ascent.

So, for a little longer, it was just me and the cuttlefish.

At one point it raised its two front tentacles towards me and changed colour.

I took that as a fairly reasonable indication that perhaps it wasn’t my biggest fan after all.

Having apparently outstayed my welcome, I left it in peace and went to rejoin Mark and Jon for our ascent.

Prancra Head gave us the reef life. The Manacles gave me the cuttlefish.

And the cuttlefish rather stole the day.

 

 

 

Day 3 – Tuesday 22 September

Mohegan, Volnay & the Fish Whisperer

Tuesday saw a slight change to our diving line-up.

Andy sat out the day’s diving, while Paul joined us. I again buddied with Mark and Jon, while Miles and Paul buddied together.

It was also going to be an earlier start than Monday.

 

Dive 30 – The Mohegan

Our first dive was on the Mohegan, entering the water at 9:30am, and it was superb.

There was plenty to explore and, best of all, we managed to see two octopuses.

Naturally, this was also the dive where I discovered that my GoPro battery was completely flat.

So despite actually finding two octopuses, I came away with precisely zero photographic evidence of either of them.

It was also my 30th dive.

On the way back up, during our safety stop, I decided to commemorate the occasion. A safety stop is a short pause, usually made at around six metres towards the end of a dive, giving the body some additional time to release absorbed nitrogen before surfacing.

I pulled out my slate and wrote a large “30” on it before proudly showing it to Jon.

Judging by his initial reaction, he did not interpret this as:

“Hooray, this is my 30th dive!”

For a brief moment, I think I nearly gave him a heart attack.

Once it became apparent that I wasn’t trying to communicate some previously unknown diving emergency involving the number 30, normal service resumed.

 

Dive 31 – The Volnay

By 12:30pm we were back in the water for our second boat dive, this time on the Volnay.

This was another spectacular wreck, dominated by its enormous boilers. Underwater they seemed absolutely colossal – almost house-sized – and made for a very impressive sight.

After the two boat dives, the rest of the group called it a day.

Mark and I, however, looked at the 120 bar we still had left in our cylinders and decided there was perfectly good diving gas sitting there that we’d already paid for.

More importantly, Drawna Rocks would be a much shallower dive than the wrecks we’d just visited. Because the surrounding pressure is much lower at shallow depths, we breathe considerably less gas from our cylinders than we do deeper underwater.

In other words, that remaining 120 bar could last us quite a while.

There was only one reasonable course of action.

 

 

 

Dive 32 – Getting Our Money’s Worth

Just over two hours later, at 2:53pm, Mark and I were back in the water again for our third dive of the day – this time from the shore at Drawna Rocks.

We spent another 33 minutes underwater, and it turned out to be well worth doing.

The shallower water had a very different character from the wrecks and reefs we’d explored from the boat.

Kelp swayed above and between the rocks, giving parts of the dive the feeling of moving through an underwater garden. It gives everything a wonderful sense of being alive, while also providing shelter and hiding places for countless smaller creatures.

There was plenty living amongst it.

The now-familiar spiny starfish were joined by wrasse, crabs and small shannies – a type of blenny commonly found around rocky British shores.

The crabs were attracting attention of their own, much to the delight of the fish hoping to feed on them or pick up anything edible disturbed as we explored.

Among the rocks were snakelocks anemones, their long tentacles waving in the water.

And then there were some considerably smaller residents.

Bobtail squid.

Yes, we actually found tiny squid.

After the enormous cuttlefish of the previous day, these were at completely the opposite end of the scale – tiny little cephalopods hiding amongst the life of the reef.

Taking our time in the shallower water gave us the chance to stop and watch this little ecosystem going about its business.

Mark also discovered a previously unknown talent and became the Fish Whisperer.

By drumming two pebbles against a rock, he somehow managed to completely captivate one fish, which seemed fascinated by what he was doing.

Another fish had apparently worked out how divers operate. It followed us around and patiently waited for us to lift rocks, immediately investigating underneath to see whether we’d uncovered anything edible.

I was also very appreciative of Mark’s reciprocal keenness to keep diving with me. It’s always good to have a buddy who responds to “Fancy another dive?” with the correct answer.

Thanks, Mark!

So after three dives, two octopuses, two wrecks, one mildly alarming underwater “30”, some fish percussion and 33 minutes spent squeezing the last bit of value out of our cylinders, we finally called it a day.

Then we all headed to Beach Bites Café on the shore at Porthkerris for pizza.

After three dives, we’d certainly earned it.

An entirely appropriate ending to a brilliant day’s diving.

 

 

 

Day 4 – Wednesday 23 September

Shore Diving at Drawna Rocks & Bruce the Seal

For our final day of diving, all six of us headed along the pebble beach towards the old MOD torpedo station at Drawna Rocks for a day of shore diving.

Getting six divers and all their kit along the beach took a bit of effort, but everyone chipped in and helped each other out.

With everyone finally ready, all six of us entered the water at 11:44am for our first shore dive.

We were entering around low tide, which made the whole operation rather more hard work than it needed to be.

The walk into the water seemed considerably longer when carrying a cylinder and full dive kit, but once we were finally beneath the surface, the visibility more than made up for it.

Compared with the shore dive Mark and I had done at Drawna Rocks the previous day, there didn’t seem to be quite as much marine life around, which was a little disappointing. Even so, the visibility was excellent and it was still a very enjoyable dive.

Back on shore, it appeared that everyone had finally had their fill of diving.

Well… almost everyone.

 

Just One More Dive…

After the first dive, it was down to Mark and me.

Apparently neither of us had quite got diving out of our systems yet, so we kitted up again and headed back towards the water for one final dive at Drawna Rocks.

Just as we were entering, Jon and Paul started shouting down to us from the top of the steps.

Bruce the seal was on the surface.

Suddenly I was considerably keener to get into the water.

By 1:55pm, Mark and I were back beneath the surface for what really would be our final dive of the trip.

The tide had risen substantially by now, making the entry much easier, and more marine life was beginning to emerge. Presumably Bruce had noticed exactly the same thing and had turned up to make the most of it.

Unfortunately, despite keeping an eye out for him underwater, we never found Bruce again.

And, naturally, at almost exactly the moment something particularly interesting was happening, my GoPro decided to give up again.

Two octopuses earlier in the trip.

Now a seal.

Apparently my GoPro had developed an uncanny ability to identify the precise moment I most wanted to record something – and switch itself off.

Still, the dive itself was excellent. Mark seems to know his way around Drawna Rocks ridiculously well, which made exploring it with him particularly enjoyable.

Eventually, even we had to admit that we’d probably done enough diving.

 

The Three Tuns

After getting ourselves cleaned up and vaguely presentable, we all headed to The Three Tuns for our final evening.

By sheer good fortune, it was Supper Club night, which meant two courses for £20 or three courses for £25.

The food was absolutely amazing and worth every penny – a brilliant way to finish off the trip.

Afterwards, we headed back to the cabin, crashed on the sofas and put The Repair Shop on while making a determined effort to finish off the remaining wine and beer.

Naturally, it wasn’t enough simply to watch it.

We rapidly appointed ourselves sofa experts, critically assessing the techniques and expertise of people who actually knew what they were doing while possessing absolutely none of the necessary skills ourselves.

After three days of wrecks, reefs, octopuses, a giant cuttlefish, a fleeting seal, questionable underwater slate communication and rather a lot of food, this was apparently how our final night was going to end.

Sitting on the sofa, drinking the leftovers and offering unsolicited expert commentary on The Repair Shop.

Very rock and roll.

And actually, a pretty perfect end to a fantastic few days of diving.

 

 

Day 5 – Thursday 24 September

Heading Home

Thursday morning arrived and, for possibly the first time on the entire trip, we all made our own breakfasts.

With various leftovers still sitting around the cabin, it was a case of helping ourselves and using up whatever remained before we left.

Miles and I then made one final run down to the air-fill station to get our cylinders filled, using the last remnants of the trip kitty in the process. A satisfyingly efficient way of making sure very little went to waste.

Then came the inevitable task of packing everything up and tidying the cabin.

Between the six of us we cleaned, cleared and put everything back in order.

Good husband material here!

With everything packed into the cars, we headed down to say our cheerios to the wonderful staff at Porthkerris.

They really had been fantastic throughout the trip – friendly, helpful and welcoming from the moment we arrived – and had helped make the whole experience such an enjoyable one.

Then came the bit nobody particularly wanted to do.

We said our goodbyes to each other, wished everyone a safe journey home and gradually went our separate ways.

Mark and I travelled back together, listening to the radio and breaking up the long drive with stops at various services along the way.

After several days of diving, eating, drinking and generally having a great time in Cornwall, normality was gradually creeping back in.

And then, eventually, home.

 

 

The Trip

Looking back, we managed to pack a huge amount into just three days of diving.

We dived Prancra Head, Vase Rock on the Manacles, the Mohegan and the Volnay, along with three shore dives at Drawna Rocks.

There were octopuses, an enormous cuttlefish, tiny bobtail squid, spiny starfish, spider crabs, sea urchins, shannies, colourful wrasse and snakelocks anemones.

There were rocky reefs covered with dead man’s fingers and kelp gardens full of life, along with some fantastic underwater scenery and even a tantalising appearance from Bruce the seal.

The conditions could hardly have been better either, with fantastic weather and an almost mill-pond calm sea throughout the trip.

There were also all the things that made the trip memorable out of the water: our accidental Cannonball Run through the services, Andy’s three-course Sunday dinner, cups of tea and snacks between dives, pizza at Beach Bites after a three-dive day, everyone mucking in and helping each other with kit, the Three Tuns, and finishing the final night sprawled across the sofas with wine, beer and The Repair Shop.

Somewhere amongst all of that, I logged my 30th dive – although I may need to find a less alarming way of communicating future milestones to my buddy.

And after starting the diving on Monday with 27 dives in my logbook, by the time I finally climbed out of the water at Drawna Rocks on Wednesday I had reached 34 dives.

Seven dives in three days.

Not bad going.

More importantly, though, it was a trip with a great group of people. Everyone chipped in, helped each other out and contributed to making the trip what it was.

There was some fantastic diving, some excellent food, plenty of laughs and more than a few moments that we’ll probably still be talking about for quite a while.

Porthkerris certainly gave us plenty to remember.

What a great trip.