Stoney Stanton, England, United Kingdom

Stoney Cove

Stoney Cove is a flooded former granite quarry near Leicester in the English Midlands and one of the most iconic inland dive training sites in the United Kingdom. Open since 1959, it claims to be the National Dive Centre of the UK and trains thousands of new divers each year. The site is a clean freshwater lake reaching 36 metres at its deepest point, with three distinct depth shelves at 6, 20 and 36 metres that allow staged training. Submerged attractions include a Wessex helicopter, a Cornish fishing boat called Defiant, several training platforms, an underwater cave system, a sunken cabin, the wreck of a Stanegarth tug and the historic Nautilus submarine. Marine life is freshwater: rainbow trout, brown trout, perch, roach, freshwater crayfish and ducks at the surface. Visibility is generally 4 to 10 metres and water temperatures range from 4 degrees Celsius in winter to 18 degrees in late summer at the surface, with reliable thermoclines at 12 metres dropping to 6 to 8 degrees year-round. The site offers a dive shop, classrooms, cafe, air and nitrox fills, accommodation and runs throughout the year.