Resting just beyond the Northern tip of mainland Britain - with the scuttled German Fleet laying in Scapa Flow as well as many other shipping casualties, stunning underwater wildlife and scenery - Orkney has a truly unique underwater environment. With a vast amount of individual islands, Orkney has many miles of coastline and wherever you are you will never be more than a stones throw from a great diving location. Sitting on the edge of the Atlantic Gulf Stream Orkney benefits from clean nutrient rich waters which in turn feed the diverse marine life. This vast and varied amount of marine life, combined with a huge number of wrecked ships, create one of the best cold water diving locations in the world. The diving in Orkney is probably most famous for the German Fleet of World War One which was scuttled in Scapa Flow. Whilst Orkney is famous for its wreck diving, there is also a large amount of scenic diving available. It is outside Scapa Flow and around the many smaller islands that Orkney’s scenic diving is at it’s best. Sites such as Inganess, the Old Man of Hoy, or the North Shoal are popular dives. As with a most scenic diving, the best marine life is in the shallows but for those who wish to go a little deeper there is the opportunity to do so. Orkney can also be a great place for spotting marine mammals. There are colonies of both grey and common seals, several types of whale are also seen regularly as well as large amount of harbour porpoises and occasional dolphins. This is also an area famous for it’s important bird colonies and species such as Puffins, Guillemots and Skuas are all annual visitors to the area.
