Two RIBs, Three Waves and a Pocket Full of Scallops – West Bay (May 2026)

By Matthew Lai

It was only the first week of May, at the beginning of the diving season, and most of us were still shaking off the winter rust. Our glorious leader and first-time Dive Manager, Jaka, however, hit the ground running with our trip to West Bay. It was the biggest CliDive trip since pre-COVID times, with two boats and no fewer than 20 divers!

West Bay sits at the heart of the Jurassic Coast, surrounded by towering golden sandstone cliffs [including the one made famous by the TV drama Broadchurch a few years ago! Ed.] and was the launch point for our adventures on this long weekend.

We were split across four caravans at the West Bay Holiday Park. I still don’t fully get the whole caravan holiday park concept (why are they on wheels?), but that definitely didn’t stop us from appreciating the convenience! We were just minutes from the harbour, staying in accommodations that slept six, with full cooking facilities, and, most importantly, a seriously impressive hot shower. Creature comforts were definitely prioritised on this trip.

With Jaka and his helpers’ meticulous planning, and Ben keeping a watchful eye, Yellow and Blue ran like clockwork. They shipped out divers non-stop across three waves every day, letting us hit all the impressive dive sites in the area. We explored a great mix of reefs, wrecks, and yes… an empty seabed on the one dive where we completely missed the wreck and had a good laugh about it.

My personal highlight was definitely the M2 submarine – a wreck with a seriously wild history. (Heads up: there is a dedicated trip to the M2 in July, so it’s not too late to sign up!).

The M2 started life as a standard sub with a big gun but after WWI, the Royal Navy converted it into the world’s first aircraft carrier submarine. They ripped out the gun and replaced it with a watertight hangar and a hydraulic catapult for launching a single seaplane. The idea was to surface, launch the plane and then recover it with a crane once it landed on the water.

Unfortunately it seems like that was one of those ideas that should have remained a fantasy as it sank during what’s thought to be a launch speed record attempt. The hatch door submerged before it fully closed, taking the sub and everyone with it to 32-35m. The Royal Navy then sensibly decided that this whole “aircraft carrier sub” thing was a Bad Idea ^TM, and did not make another attempt, so the M2 remains the only prototype of its kind and a unique dive site.

For a more accessible option, we also visited the SS Baygitano – a merchant ship carrying coal that was sunk by a German U-boat while en route from Cardiff to France at the end of WWI. The ship has collapsed and is now playing host to a diverse community of marine life thanks to its relatively shallow depth (where the sun still shines).

Another stunner was the Chesil Cannons. This protected wreck, dived with permission from English Heritage, features a collection of 17 magnificent iron cannons from a merchant ship dating back to around 1700. We were too awestruck to even take pictures, so you’ll have to trust us on that.

But hey, it wasn’t just wrecks. There was also an abundance of … scallops. On a few dives, the sheer number of scallops on the seabed was so distracting, that some of us (naming no names, but you know who you are!) got so excited they nearly forgot we were there to dive!

And that’s a wrap! If you’re keen to get in on the scallop action, the club is also running a trip to Portland in August just for the scallops. Don’t miss it!