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Fairy Cove
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Fairy
Cove, South Quay, The Harbour, Paignton, Devon Adjacent to Paignton Harbour |
Photos due soon! | |
| Ordinance Survey | ************** |
Post Code |
| Directions and Parking Details |
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Travel along Paignton sea front with the sea on your left
hand side. At the end of the sea front the main road turns to the right.
On the corner is a left turn that takes you up a small hill to the
harbour. At the far side of the harbour take the left turn and drive down
towards the sandstone cliff at the far end (by the start of the pier). The
short path down to the beach starts by the sandstone cliff. Drop off all
of your equipment and buddies here and then park in the Multi-storey
carpark that is just up the road from the harbour entrance. One of the
pedestrian exists from the car park leads directly onto the harbour side. You can not normally park by the harbour as it is normally a hive of activity - even during the winter. |
| Site Description |
| With the beaches in this part of Torbay being largely composed of fine sand visibility is not normally great in this area. Fairy Cove is a good dive site because after a few days of calm weather visibility can be great. Swim out from the sandy beach over the small kelpy reefs and drop down over the rock shelf to the sandy bed (at about 8m). Swim along with the shelf on your right hand side and explore the numerous inlets and caverns. Look out for the remains of the 3 wrecks that came to grief here. The only wreckage you are likely to find is metal plates from the German Torpedo boat destroyer - between 1 & 200 yards from the beach. |
| Wheelchair Access |
| Very difficult |
| Toilets | At pubs and cafes on the harbourside, |
| Café | On the entrance road by the harbour |
| Fills available on site | yes - available from Nautique - see below |
| Dive Center on Site |
Well equipped dive shop with helpful staff right there on
the harbour side! Nautique, Diving & Watersports, South Quay, The Harbour, Paignton, Devon TQ4 6DT Shop 01803-550278 Pete's Mobile 07971-827225 Sandra's Mobile 07790-148852 |
| Nearest Full size Dive Center | see above |
| Nearest Pub | There are numerous bars around the harbour side |
| Nearest Restaurant | There are numerous restaurants around the harbour side |
| Wreck / Archaeological feature Details: |
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This site is the final resting place for 3 major ships.
Very little can be found nowadays from the two older wrecks (HMS Savage a
144 Ton Sloop-of war that was driven ashore in 1762, and HMS Venerable a
Man-o-War with a crew of over 550 men which ran aground during
a storm in 1804) however there are still occasional finds from them.
The most recent wreck is a different story. The German E boat destroyer T189 was being towed to the scrappers in 1920 when she broke free in a gale and ended up on the rocks. Although totally broken up there are numerous steel plates remaining, |
| Marine Life Details |
| Conger eel, wrasse, and fan worms among the rocks. Flatfish and scallops are found on the sandy sea bed. |
| Other information |
| A good dive when the visibility is decent. Great facilities around the harbour. Plenty for the non divers to do. |
| BBC WEBCAM View from Torquay harbour | Admiralty Tide Table Links | BBC 5 Day Forecast | Ordnance Survey Maps | back to O.S. Ref for site | Back to Postcode for site |
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