Beadnell

Beadnell Diving

The Lady Hole

Lady Hole, located on the north east coast it is a beautiful drive which has a stunning coastline. This dive is a shore dive and 10L and 12L tanks are recommended. This actual site is one of the UK Divers Guide's favourite shore dives. Personally I must have dived this around 100 times and it acts a great 12m shore dive with kelp forests, swim throughs, tall reef walls and because of these features it a sheltered site so always provides better visibility than surround sites.

Key Information

Location - Shore Dive from Rocky beach. Entry / Exit same

Visibility - 3 to 10m, W winds are best for a few days to a week. Sheltered so generally better vis than local area.

Depth - 10m max

Difficulty - Novice, easy dive relax and enjoy!

Currents - Hardly any current

Hazards - Entry Exit can be slippy on rocky beach. Also grass bank to the beach can be slippy. 

Nacker Hole

Max. depth: 13 mtrs
Minimum grade: Novice
Currents: Negligible

There are numerous east-west running reefs scattered from Beadnell all the way up to Seahouses. Some are merely ledges of rock whilst others are quite impressive "second" boat-dives. Generally, the ones closest to Seahouses are the least dived and as a result can often produce pleasant surprises, cuttlefish, octopus, dogfish and of course large lobsters and crabs are very often the norm.

Nacker Hole is one of the small bays at Beadnell - adjacent to the road junction where you continue straight on to the harbour or veer right for the car park. It's possible to park on the roadside and at high tide the waters' edge is mere metres away, ideal for night dives or training. Understandably the local residents get a bit fed up with divers stripping off in front of their lounge windows, so please, exercise a little diplomacy and modesty.

For day dives or near low-water, it's best to walk along the rocks on the south side avoiding the weed coated rocks (slippery) and enter into deeper water (stay on the rocks, don't walk across the garden of the big white house).

The walls here aren't as impressive as those at Beadnell Point but there are more terraces to explore. The further seaward you go the better they become with overhangs and small caves. Not too much kelp, and plenty of flat sandy expanses for ocassional dogfish and flatfish with a maximum depth of 13 metres if you venture far enough. Heading north takes you across a narrow sandy/shale area onto the kelp infested southern slope of another reef. This is quite a wide expanse of kelp and is often subject to heavy swell. Entry/exit off the small beach at low tide used to involve crossing a mixture of smelly silt and mud but the last time I was here there was only firm sand - this may now be the easiest option.

No dangers other than the owner of the big white house.


Beadnell Point - South

Max. depth: 13 mtrs
Minimum grade: Novice
Currents: Almost negligible but on a flood tide, there can be an east-running current along the reefs.

The reefs immediately south of Beadnell Point used to be very popular before boats were common amongst clubs. Access to the sloping rocky shore being by a brisk walk along the beach, up the side of the harbour wall and past the kilns. Alternatively use a car to ferry heavy kit to the telephone booth on the harbour road, leave someone to guard it while re-parking and walk back. Once onto the 'point it's worth walking a good few metres further east of the yacht club as it's quite shallow near the harbour. There are five reefs here, each about 30 metres apart; the first is little more than a ledge above the bedrock, the second and third are bigger, the fourth being quite impressive and the last is small and sometimes barely shows above the sand. To the east they follow the usual layout, lying E-W, with a steep north face, they all terminate due south of the low water mark at the point's eastern end. Near the yacht club however they're a bit jumbled-up with at least one place having a sheer southwest face.


Beadnell Point - North

Max. depth: 14 mtrs
Minimum grade: Confident and fit Novice
Currents: Negligible except on surface at seaward end.

The north side of the point is reached in the same way as above, however it does involve a much longer walk to the end of the point. Especially at low water !

This is a good dive, as shore dives go, and if you're after a replacement knife or weightbelt this is the place to find it. Some of the local clubs and PADI schools use it for open water training and someone always loses something so keep your eyes open.

The submerged reef extends at least 150 metres seawards, curving slightly northwards, and in places the vertical face is five metres high. Being in the main current stream means that it's covered in life - anemones and alcyonium etc.; it's a pleasant swim over the full length and to finish off your air the wreckage of the Yewglen is less than twenty metres from the entry point, although being shallow, it's often a challenge for novice's buoyancy control.

Although you're sheltered from the current while below the top of the reef, if you have to ascend you could be swept north or south depending on the tide, this can be frightening, especially at mid-tide, however the current diminishes rapidly as the water deepens - the safest place is underwater so stay there!

Probably one of the greatest dangers is stumbling on the rocks while walking fully kitted.


Football Hole & Snook Point.

Max. depth: 18 mtrs in Football Hole, 15 mtrs on Snook Point
Minimum grade: Novice
Currents: Avoid spring tides, slack preferred

Football Hole is a small deep bay with reefs at its southern and northern ends. To shore dive it involves a 1Km yomp so it's not surprisingly regarded as a boat dive. The southern reef is smaller and doesn't extend far seawards although it is a picturesque dive. The depth to the bottom of the 3-4 mtr high reef is about 13 mtrs at its deepest. A boulder strewn bottom leads off into the deeper waters of The Hole where large shoals of saithe can often be seen in late summer. There is a small cannon and an anchor somewhere on the more southerly of these reefs, and brass/copper nails have been found here.

Snook Point is at the south of Beadnell Bay and forms the northern boundary of Football Hole, this reef extends a considerable distance seawards and the quality of the dive varies depending on which part you're diving.

At this site the north face of the reef is terraced and at the inshore end, the whiteness of the rock makes it very photogenic. The visibility here can sometimes be outstanding, but of course this is rare. The inshore and seaward ends are generally the most interesting with overhangs and tunnels, the central areas have lots of boulders on the terraces and it's sometimes difficult to identify the reef-face proper. It's one of only two places in the U.K. where I've seen cuttlefish and the only place on this coast where I've encountered a dogfish.

Currents off the seaward end can be extreme at mid-tide. A few hundred metres beyond the end of this reef there's an isolated outcrop which rises to within 6 mtrs of the surface. When last on it, it was heavily populated with crustaceans however I've never been able to re-locate it since that time.


 (Credit for the information goes to D.Cordes@ http://www.dcordes.freeuk.com/welcome.htm)