Stoney Cove is a large flooded quarry

Scuba diving quarry

Scuba diving quarries are depleted or abandoned rock quarries that have been allowed to fill with ground water, and rededicated to the purpose of scuba diving....

 which is a popular inland scuba diving

Scuba diving

Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....

 site. It is between Stoney Stanton

Stoney Stanton

Stoney Stanton is a village in the Blaby district of Leicestershire, England, with a population of over 3,454 in 2001. It constitutes a civil parish. The village is on a rocky outcrop and was the site of a quarry, which was closed in 1958...

 and Sapcote

Sapcote

Sapcote is a small village in the south west of Leicestershire, England, with a population of approximately 2,700. The well-known inland scuba diving site Stoney Cove is nearby.It was mentioned in the Domesday Book as Scepecote...

 in Leicestershire

Leicestershire

Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...

 in England. There is a diving shop

Dive center

A dive center is the base location where sports divers usually start scuba diving. Divers commonly refer to dive centers as dive shops. It is normally a shop selling diving equipment equipped with a gas compressor to fill the cylinders. Classrooms are sometimes available...

, a pub selling beer and hot food and a diving training facility there.

Background

The Stoney Cove quarry

Quarry

A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...

 was originally a granite mine that was begun at the start of the 19th century. In 1850 a train line was added to move the granite more easily from the Top Pit to the centre of Stoney Stanton. Spring water was a perennial problem for the quarry, but was a boon in 1958 when quarrying at the site ceased. By 1963 diving pioneers were using the quarry to practise their hobby. Over the next fifteen years Stoney Cove was used to train North Sea oil

North Sea oil

North Sea oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons, comprising liquid oil and natural gas, produced from oil reservoirs beneath the North Sea.In the oil industry, the term "North Sea" often includes areas such as the Norwegian Sea and the area known as "West of Shetland", "the Atlantic Frontier" or "the...

 divers and in 1978 Stoney Cove Marine Trials Ltd was formed to fully exploit the site on a commercial

Commercial Diving

Professional diving is a type of diving where the divers are paid for their work. There are several branches of professional diving, the most well known of which is probably commercial diving...

 basis.

Scuba Facilities

Stoney Cove is used for scuba diving training as well as pleasure dives

Recreational diving

Recreational diving or sport diving is a type of diving that uses SCUBA equipment for the purpose of leisure and enjoyment. In some diving circles, the term "recreational diving" is used in contradistinction to "technical diving", a more demanding aspect of the sport which requires greater levels...

. It has a range of depths from only a few metres to around 36 metres. Stoney Cove has a large dive shop, gas filling station

Diving air compressor

A Diving Air Compressor is a gas compressor that can provide breathing air directly to a surface-supplied diver, or fill diving cylinders with high-pressure air pure enough to be used as a breathing gas.thumb|right|Filling a cylinder from the panel...

 and scuba diving school all on site. There is also a complete pub (Nemo's) on site along with a function room for private events.

Diving Attractions

The floor of the dive site has the following attractions for divers to explore:

• Viscount Aircraft Cockpit
• Nautilus Submarine
• Archways Beneath The Pub
• A Wessex Helicopter
• The Bus
• The Monster (location unknown)
• The Galleon
• Small Aircraft Wreck
• Deep Hydrobox
• Submerged Trees
• Tower
• Blow-Off Preventer
• 4-metre Block House
• Wooden Boat
• Stanegarth
  Stanegarth
  The Stanegarth was originally built in 1910 as a steam powered tug by Lytham Ship Builders Company for service with the British Waterways Board. She was converted to diesel power in 1957...
  
  (the largest inland wreck in the UK)
• APC