Capernwray Dive Centre facts for kids

Capernwray Dive Centre is a really cool place in Lancashire, England. It used to be a big rock quarry, but now it's filled with water! It's a popular spot for people to learn and practice scuba diving. You can find it near the village of Over Kellet.

A Look Back: How Capernwray Began

This huge area, about 22 acres, was once a limestone quarry. Workers dug out rocks here for many years. After they stopped using it as a quarry, it slowly filled up with water. Later, someone had a great idea to turn it into a fun place for divers.

Exploring Capernwray: What You'll Find

A platform for divers at Capernwray.

Capernwray is a fantastic place for divers of all levels. The water goes down to about 24 meters (80 feet) deep! There's a small shop where you can get diving gear. They also have a special station to fill up your air tanks with regular air or nitrox (a special air mix for divers). After your dive, you can grab a bite at the restaurant.

For new divers, there are two training platforms. These are at easy depths of 2 meters and 6 meters. In 2010, about 30,000 people visited the centre each year.

Underwater Wonders at Capernwray

The quarry is not just full of water; it's also home to many fish! You might see trout, perch, and even some large sturgeon. But the most exciting things are the objects placed underwater for divers to explore.

Here are some of the cool things you can discover:

• Several boats, including a former minesweeper ship called HMS Podsnap.
• A large airplane (a Hawker Siddeley HS 748) and a smaller plane (a Cessna 150).
• Two helicopters.
• A special diving bell called a vidor.
• A big metal shipping container.
• Two plastic horses.
• A small yellow submarine, just like Thunderbird 4 from the TV show!
• A devil statue.
• Two plastic pigs.
• Lots of different garden gnomes.