We rarely review websites, but this online guide is a significant arrival for all divers who have enjoyed, or plan to visit, Great Britain’s most famous diving location.
Scapa Flow Historic Wreck Site has been put together by Fourth Element, a company usually associated with keeping divers well-insulated in cold waters such as those off the Orkneys. It has been impressively supported by its subsidiary 3deep Media, which has produced excellent interactive 3D models of the wrecks.
With further help from local archaeologists, historians and dive-boat operators involved with the Scapa Flow Landscape Partnership Scheme, the result is a free resource that should delight all wreck-divers.
The launch-pad is an interactive map of Scapa that leads you into details, historic photos and clippings, underwater images and all sorts of interesting information about the wrecks, from Grand Fleet battleships to fishing smacks. You can browse the history of each wreck, obtain detailed diving information and, with the bigger wrecks, tour them yourself, stopping at points of interest to check out the photos. It’s all slick, intuitive and shows how far diving websites have come.
Further sections cover the history of the location and its wildlife.There are historic maps and downloadable guides, and you can check out the local charters and book your diving from here, as well.
But why am I still describing the contents of this site? You’re probably already there.
Review by Steve Weinman
Fourth Element/3Deep Media
www.scapaflow wrecks.com