With Jersey being a small island surrounded by a variety of reefs, along with a varied wartime history, there are a number of wrecks littering the surrounding seabed in a variety of shapes, sizes and depths. Wreck boat dives start from £35.
La Mauve 22-34m
The 65 foot long former States of Jersey barge, La Mauve was deliberately sunk in 1993 to create an artificial reef and attraction for recreational divers.
She sits upright on a rocky seabed and has attracted a wide variety of marine life such as tom pot blennies, big schools of pollack and pouting, crab, lobster and is usually surrounded by a huge shoal of pouting.
Her location is only half a mile from Bouley Bay and her size makes her an ideal first wreck for new divers.
The Heron 22-32m
This 190 foot/ 57 meters long dutch made cargo ship sank in 1961 from a reef strike on the way from Jersey To Portsmouth killing 3 people. The wreck lay on the paternoster reef undiscovered until 2006.
It is one of the most popular wrecks dived from Jersey and remains very much intact with a diverse amount of marine life such as huge schools of pouting, anemones and sea squirts.
It lies off the North coast and is easy to get to from Bouley Bay.
The Hirondelle 26-30m
This 139 foot / 43 meters iron cargo ship sank in 1917 and was rediscovered in 2009 after divers were told of nets snagging by local fishermen.
It is believed that the Hirondelle had an encounter with a German U boat of similar size and was struck off with gunfire.
She lies on her starboard side and is broken up, however key features remain such as engine, boiler and forward guns.
Dakota Plane wreck 15-18m
The plane was an American air force C-47 transport plane en route from Paris to Cherbourg with 12 people on board. It was damaged over the French coast and ended up being shot down over Jersey. The pilot managed to land the plane in the sea on the North coast, with only himself surviving.
The plane now is broken up but still allows for an exciting exploration dive where you come across various parts of the wreck and items. Huge congers have now made this their home. Chance of rays on sandy bottom in between the parts of the wreckage.
The Olway 30-40m
The Olway, 65 foot/ 20 meters in length was another vessel scuttled to form an artificial reef in 1999 and now lies around one mile off Bouley Bay on the North coast.
She came to rest upside down on a rocky seabed and is usually surrounded by huge shoals of various fish.
A beautiful site with light penetrating the wreck. It is also home to a very big conger eel and lots of tom pot blennies. It is a fun dive and it’s easy to go around the wreck in a single dive.
The SHOCKLAND 20-30m
The Shockland is 68.5 m 10 meters wide. Originally from the Netherlands used by the Germans during the War for troop carrying and cargo. She sank in 1943 after striking the reef killing hundreds on board.
She lies upright and largely intact with cargo holds carrying cement bags and steel beams
The Shockland hosts a wide variety of marine life such as tom pot blennies, big schools of pollack and pouting, crab and lobster.
The kromwijk 20-30m
The Kromwijk was a Dutch barge that was used by the germans during the war to transport building material. She was sunk by the RAF in a raid on 7th December 1942.
The wreck is upside down today off the South coast with lots of life around.
Armed trawler 20-25m
The Armed trawler was a civilian trawling boat used by the germans during the war. The gun she used to carry was salvaged and restored, it is on display in the maritime museum. The wreck is very scattered and occupied by conger eels.
The polka 22-33m
The Polka was a wooden paddle steamer that sank after hitting rocks in 1850. She was a tug and passenger ship. Today, the wreck is broken with the boiler, gears and metal reinforcing still visible. Life has had a long time to cover this wreck.