Scapa Flow is a natural harbour that is found in the Orkney islands, some 15 miles off the northern tip of Scotland, John O Groats.
In November 1918, 74 warships of the German High Seas Fleet were escorted into Scapa Flow as part of the Armistice. In June 1919, fearing breakdown of the armistice talks, the Germans scuttled the fleet to prevent the British getting their hands on the ships. The ships ranged from 900-ton torpedo boat destroyers right up to the 656 foot long, 26000 ton battle cruisers. These ships had 12" armour plating as well as 12" guns which are an awesome sight to see.

Over the years, many of the boats have been salvaged but several of the ships remain. For anyone that enjoys wreck diving this has got to be the place to go. Some of the wrecks are massive and one dive on them just does not do them justice.
The diving is varied and a good week can be had diving sub 35 metres. Visibility is good and with very little tidal flow, most of the wrecks can be dived by reasonably competent divers. Our base for the week was Stromness and we used the 75-foot converted trawler Three Sisters. We were close enough inland to go ashore between dives. On a couple of occasions we were taken to the war museum at Lyness on the island of Hoy. This was the site of the English naval base and contains lots of stuff from H.M.S. Royal Oak.

We were blown out one day with 100 mph winds that were unbelievable. We took the opportunity to hire a car and explore the Orkneys a bit more. We did the tourist bit and visited some of the monuments, stone rings and distilleries that can be found on the islands. The next day, the wind had died and suprisingly the sea was flat calm so the the diving resumed in water that still had good visibility. If this is what the weather is like in June, I wouldn't want to be here in the winter.