Kimya is a shore accessible salt water dive site, located in Anglesey, United Kingdom. The maximum depth is 41-50ft/12-15m. The average visibility is 11-15ft/3-5m.
Kimya
SOME WRECKS ARE DIFFICULT TO FIND. You spend the first few minutes of a dive following a shotline down, just hoping there is a wreck at the end of it.
The
Kimya is just the opposite. Close in to the sandy bay of Port
Twyn-Mawr, at low water the bow just clears the surface. Be careful not
to knock your head on the wreck as you roll in.
Given calm sea
conditions to the south-west of Anglesey, this is an ideal wreck with
which to start the season. It’s one to show the new crop of beginners,
but also one to help the old crusty divers get back into things after
the winter.
As the bow breaks the surface at low water and even at
high water, in good visibility it can be seen simply by looking over the
side of the boat, so this is the easiest place to start a dive
(1).
What
slight current there is will be pushing a little over the bow, so it is
best to enter the water on the upcurrent side of the wreck.
The bow
deck is intact, with the usual collection of bollards, though the anchor
winch itself has been pulled from the deck to leave empty mountings
(2).
Marine
life consists of fronds of the very green kelp found in shallow water,
with mussels and starfish in between. Deeper and shaded parts of the
wreck are home to a few plumose anemones.
To the port side of the bow a few deck plates are missing, providing a hole that looks down inside the forecastle.
Over the side of the bow, but staying near the front, the anchor hawse pipes are empty
(3).
Further down at the seabed, the Kimya has a very pronounced bow bulge
(4), now half-buried in the sand, at 9m on a low tide and a few metres deeper on a high tide.
Just off the port side, the anchor-winch is on one side and half-buried
(5).
Reports
from 1991, when the Kimya was towed here and beached, note that the
anchor-winch used to break the surface. Perhaps it was pulled loose by a
large dive-boat tying off to it.
Returning to the bow deck, at the rear of the forecastle are rectangular lockers to either side
(6). In the centre, a guarded ladder
GETTING THERE: Follow
the A55 across North Wales to Anglesey. Once over the bridge, take the
slip road and turn right to Menai Bridge (the town, not the bridge
itself). Turn towards the waterfront by the newsagent and post office
opposite the HSBC. The boat picks up from the pontoon in front of the
harbour office.
TIDES: There is little current over the wreck of the Kimya, and it is diveable at all states of the tide.
HOW TO FIND IT: The
GPS co-ordinates for the Kimya are 53 09.520 North, 004 26.932 West
(degrees, minutes and decimals). The bow points north-west, at an angle
to the shore of Porth Twyn-Mawr. A green starboard marker buoy marked
’Kimya’ is offshore from the wreck.
DIVING & AIR: Scott
Waterman, Quest Diving Charters, operates a Lochin 40 for group
bookings and a 7.5m RIB shuttle. Telephone 01248 716923, mobile 07974
249005, www.questdiving.co.uk
ACCOMMODATION: Scott
Waterman can put you in touch with a whole range of local
accommodation, from B&B in the pub by the harbour office to camping
outside the town.
QUALIFICATIONS: A nice easy wreck shallow enough for basic training dives.
FURTHER INFORMATION: Admiralty
Chart 1970, Caernarvon Bay. Ordnance Survey Map 114, Anglesey. Anglesey
Wrecks and Reefs, Andy Shears and Scott Waterman. Underwater Guide to
North Wales, Volume 1, Barmouth to South Stack, Chris Holden. Anglesey
tourist information, 01407 762622,
www.anglesey.gov.uk/english/tourism/tourinfo.htm
PROS: Pretty much intact, except for the superstructure.
CONS: Surge can be a problem, especially with some sharp edges of wreckage.