Hand Deeps

Hand Deeps (50°12.425 N, 004°20.445 W) is an offshore reef system roughly nine miles from Plymouth, named by local fishermen for a cluster of underwater pinnacles they thought resembled the fingers of an upturned hand. The site sits well clear of the coast in clean Atlantic water and is widely regarded as one of the finest reef dives in the UK.

The terrain consists of multiple granite pinnacles rising from a surrounding seabed of around 50–55 m; the shallowest point is a kelp-covered, flat-topped pinnacle at 7–10 m, while other pinnacles crest at 15–25 m and the best drop-offs reach 35–45 m, with walls that are sheer in places. Gullies, coves, boulder plains and a dramatic drop-off to the north of the main pinnacle make up a complex landscape. On a flood tide divers can explore colourful gullies to the east; on an ebb tide the current carries divers south-west into a 30 m gulley running between two pinnacles. Several distinct waypoints are worth locating with an echo sounder before descending.

The rock faces are carpeted in jewel anemones in vivid purples, oranges, yellows and whites, dense sea fans, deadmen's fingers and yellow sponges. Congers and crustaceans occupy the gullies and coves, schools of bass and pollock hang near the surface, and cuckoo wrasse are characteristically bold throughout the site.