Huge pollack are common, so are wrasse of over 5kg and more than 2ft long. Big bass are often seen. Salmon can be encountered near the mouths of the rivers Avon and Erme, which flow into the bay. Sole and plaice are to be found on the mud plains further out, along with scallops. Crabs are particularly common in May and June, when the spider crabs come inshore.
Basking sharks are regulars during summer.
All this life makes the bay great diving, and divers in the know come to explore it from launch sites as far away as Plymouth. Most divers, however, take hard boats out of Salcombe, or launch RIBs from Salcombe, Hope, Thurlestone Sands and Challaborough to explore the wrecks. Moving from the bay's eastern tip at the 226ft-high cliff, Bolt Tail , the first place of importance for divers in the bay is Hope Cove . Two miles out of Kingsbridge, Inner Hope is the original old village, with its thatched roofs tucked right in behind Bolt Tail. It is signposted to the left just before you start to enter Outer Hope .