Haldon Pier
Torquay’s Harbour is both a busy leisure marina and working port for passenger ferries and trawlermen. So in theory us underwater-users should be staying well away from the picturesque piers that encompass the harbour itself because of the high levels of boat traffic that use the harbour and immediate waters.
And normally I’d be urging you to stay well away… but unfortunately there happens to be two very interesting dive sites smack-bang where the harbour is! All water users have to take extreme caution around all harbours, but kayaks or boats working as surface cover for divers or snorkellers have extra reason to be alert and more importantly very visible to other boat users.
In the summer the yellow 5 knot buoys mark out in-shore areas where boat traffic is restricted to doing 5 knots at most, but in the winter season the little ‘protection’ they offer is gone.
So if you are going to visit either of two sites you must bear in mind the dangers of boat traffic, fishermen angling from the piers and the harbour master who may not take kindly if you are making a nuisance of yourself!
Haldon Pier
The eastern pier that makes Torquay Harbour is called Haldon Pier; it’s the shorter of the two piers but has recently been re-developed with new pub, Café, shops and launching facilities. At it’s foot is the fabulous Living Coasts wildlife attraction where the colony of breeding Penguins are free to roam around and mingle with the visitors, just keep an eye on your shoelaces!
This site is probably best done as a snorkel, either from the shore or a kayak as you will want to be 100% sure of your direction of travel. This description will take you from the very end of the Pier, along its length, beneath the Living coasts and finally to shore at Beacon Cove.
You can park at the Living coasts Carpark or if you are really lucky up behind the Royal Torquay Yacht Club there are a few free spaces with no time limitations. Once parked, you will want to make your way to the end of the Pier and hop over the outer wall onto the large concrete steps where the wall is painted white with the speed restriction notice to boat owners. These steps are fairly popular with anglers so you may have to negotiate your way though their lines before you can start to venture onto the sea-bed.
You do need to be aware that once you enter the water here you are very close to the entrance of the harbour so an SMB is a must, and DO NOT try swim across the entrance! Also at low tide there will be a 4 to 5 foot drop to get into the water so once you are in you are committed. The nearest exit is a scramble up the wall by the Living Coasts.
So, when in the water & away from anglers/boat traffic you can start to work your way North-East along the wall and investigate the creatures making a living between the large man-made boulders. There are plenty of holes for Edible Crabs and Lobsters and lots of Common Starfish can be found amongst the Snakelocks anemones in the thin line of sandy shingle just below the rocks.
There are many Ballan Wrasse taking shelter in the larger gaps between the rocks, and in the spring/summer there are plenty of juvenile fish milling around the area too. Venturing further out from the wall the sea-bed will flatten off at about 9m and become more sandy and muddy which is home to Sand Mason worms and a smattering of anemones. Out here you may well encounter Dogfish, Plaice or Solenette.
Taking residence on the underside of the boulders you will come across plenty of encrusting sponges and small Nudibranchs as well as Dead Men’s Fingers. Because of the piers exposed position to Easterly winds there is often some wreckage of old Lobster/Cuttle Pots to investigate which can actually start harbouring life within a few months of getting stuck.
Swimming closer towards the corner of the Pier underneath the Living Coasts, the sea-bed becomes shallower and you will come across some wooden pilings from an old slip-way. This is a great spot for under/over photos if you have the right kit and the patience. Pipe fish will be lurking in the shallow weeds and at high water you may be lucky enough to see Bass hunting through the string weed that grows here.
From this corner it is just possible to scramble up the sloping wall as an exit, but it is well worth the extra leg work to get around the end of the building and into Beacon Cove.
This site does not have the density of life that others in the bay do, but within one easy swim you can see many different environmental zones and there’s plenty near by to entertain non-diving family members!