The great thing about Pembrokeshire is that it has two coasts. If it's stormy from the south you can dive the north coast, and vice versa. And if it's so stormy you don't want to be at sea at all, there are sites in Milford Haven sheltered from just about any direction.
This all makes Pembrokeshire a pretty safe bet if you're organising a club diving holiday. At the south-west corner of Wales, it's the chunk of land that separates the Bristol Channel from the Irish Sea. As the tide changes, massive amounts of water storm past the end of Pembrokeshire, leading to strong currents and prolific marine life. Find the right spot and dive at slack water, and you can be sure of a good time.
That takes care of about 25 per cent of UK divers, which leaves the 75 per cent who wouldn't consider going anywhere without scrap metal. No worry, with major ports at Fishguard and in Milford Haven and lots of traffic between the Bristol Channel and Irish Sea, plenty of ships have bumped into the rocks around here.
Pembrokeshire has also seen its share of wartime wrecks. During WW1, U-boats would lie in wait outside the harbours and pick off targets with torpedoes. During WW2, aerial mines were dropped in the harbours to sink ships at random.
But the diving gem in this part of the world is Skomer Marine Nature Reserve, an area of water and coastline surrounding Skomer Island and nearby parts of the mainland. It boasts a terrific variety of marine habitats, ranging from current-swept walls, channels and pinnacles to sheltered bays.

BREAKING THE SURFACE
Favourite dives of mine in the reserve are the Garland Stone reef at the north-west corner of Skomer, and Tusker Rock and Wooltack Point at the north end of Jack Sound. (Diver, October 1998 and September 2000).
The Garland Stone is an enormous rock and easy to spot. About 20m north of it are a few shallow rocks that just about break the surface at low-water slack. The reef runs north from here.
A ridge of rock rises on both the east and west sides to 10-15m from a 35-40m seabed. At any time but two hours after low water Milford Haven, the current piles over the reef. If you're there at the wrong time, it's easy to see it.

TUG OF WAR
I like to drop in just north of the rocks, then swim over the shallow reef to the north-east or north-west until I hit the wall, follow it round to the other side, then go back across the top of the reef to the starting point. As a bonus, there is a nice little boulder cave in a narrow gully at about 25m on the west side of the reef.
Also on the north side of Skomer is the wreck of the Lucy, a 450 ton coaster wrecked in 1967 (Wreck Tour 3, May 1999). And if sea conditions are good, seven miles offshore from the west of Skomer lies Grassholm, a flat hump of rock that you can smell as you approach from downwind, thanks to its massive seabird colonies. A further seven miles brings you to the Smalls (Diver, April 2000), with the Hats and Barrels reefs in between.
Although there are a number of wrecks here, these rocks and reefs are better considered as marine-life dives, with the bonus of seals, which might pay a visit during the dive. Another location that can be good for these creatures is Stack Rocks, a few miles back into St Brides Bay. The south side is the best place to find pretty marine life.
On the next headland north is St Davids, Britain's smallest city. On one trip we took an afternoon off to visit its agricultural fair, only to be humiliated when our scratch team of divers lost the tug-of-war to the local pub's women's team.

BISHOPS AND CLERKS
St Davids Head has its own collection of rocks and islands, Ramsey being the biggest. The rest are referred to as the Bishops and Clerks. The current in Ramsey Sound is as strong as that in Jack Sound, but a little less confused. The half-intact remains of the steamship Count d'Aspremont lie upside-down in 28m and can be dived at slack water.
I made the effort to dive the South Bishop lighthouse a few years ago. Considering the strong currents and whirlpools, the north-east side proved surprisingly silty but the south side was completely different.
It had none of the spectacular walls found around Skomer, but a shelving rocky reef with a good selection of life.
If you want something technical, there are a number of wrecks south of Skokholm island in 55-65m or so, all nicely lined up on the route to Milford Haven and picked off by torpedo during WW1.
After such a deep dive, the wreck of the Bury in St Paul's Bay on the south side of Skokholm is shallow and out of the tide. There are more shallow wrecks in against the cliffs all along the southern coastline of Pembrokeshire. Most are well broken, but can still be worth a dive.

SILLIEST WRECK NAME
Tight in against Hooper's Point lie the remains of the cable ship Faraday, bombed during World War Two, set on fire, then broken against the cliffs.
Lying in against St Anne's Head at the entrance to Milford Haven is the Adamantios J Pithis (Beachcomber should run a competition for the silliest wreck name), a well-broken and dispersed Greek steamship that hit the rocks in 1940.
You have to be in close to the cliffs in only 6-8m to find the intact boilers and steam engine.
Restrictions placed by the Army firing range limit access to much of the coastline between Milford Haven and Tenby. However, when the range schedule permits, there is some good shallow diving, with wrecks including the flat but not dispersed remains of the steamship Nicola Virginia, a very pleasant dive in usually excellent visibility and less than 10m deep.
Among the sheltered sites in Milford Haven, most visitors dive the Dakotian at some time (Wreck Tour 19, September 2000), but other equally good but less celebrated wrecks include the cable ship Behar and the Thor, an intact but inverted landing craft covered in plumose anemones.
The wreck of the Behar is particularly easy to find, because it lies about half way between a channel buoy with the name on it and Great Castle Head.
I belong to one club which has run two-week trips to Pembrokeshire for more years than I have been diving. Each holiday provides a chance to say hello again to some regular sites, introducing them to that year's intake of new divers.
But we're still finding new places to dive, some of them genuine discoveries, others by swapping notes with local divers.

Busy day on the beach at Martin's Haven

the engine is one of the few recognisable parts of the Adamantios J Pithis,


even in a well-splattered wreck there are holes to explore


strong currents feed a good spread on marine life in diverse habitats, such as anemones


a spider crab above the reef


at the top of the reef

GETTING THEREFollow the M4 and A40 to Haverfordwest, then the B4327 to Dale and Martin's Haven or the A487 to St Davids. DIVING DETAILS: Pembrokeshire Dive Charters 01437 781569, St Davids Dive Centre 01437 721788, West Wales Divers 01437 781457 and Dive Pembrokeshire 01437 781117. Boats can be launched at Whitesand Bay, Porthclais, Broad Haven, Little Haven, Martin's Haven, Dale, Neyland. Many launch sites are tidal and Martin's Haven is suitable only for smaller boats. ACCOMMODATION:Tourist information 01437 763110, www.pembrokeshire.gov.uk FOR NON-DIVERS:Day trips to Skomer Island from Martin's Haven, tours of the coastline and islands with Dale Sea Safaris. Trips round Ramsey Island are run from Whitesand Bay beach. Windsurfing, dinghy sailing and kayaking lessons at Dale and Neyland. Coastal walks, horse-riding, theme park at Oakwood. BEST TIME TO GO:Summer. WATER TEMPERATURE:6-18°C. DIVING SUITABLE FOR: Marine life and wrecks at depths to suit all divers. COST:Charter boat and RIB diving £20-30 per day. Camping from £2 per night, B&B starts from £15.

PROS: Many easy-to-find sites for boats that will appeal to wreck and reef divers. Somewhere to dive whatever the weather. Wide selection of accommodation in area.

CONS: For dives into deeper wrecks, trimix is not available locally. Less experienced divers should take often strong and unpredictable currents into account.