DIVE SITE REPORTS ON THE INTERNET

Mod Reff, near St Catherines, Loch Fyne
The AKKA, in the Firth of Clyde	The WALLACHIA, in the Firth of Clyde
The SS BREDA, in Ardmucknish bay, near Oban (Ardmucknish bay map)	Cathedral rock, St Abbs (And others)
General article on Loch Fyne	The Hispania, in the Sound of Mull
The Kronprinz Wilhelm, at Scapa Flow	The RONDO, in the Sound of Mull
Scapa Flow - various
	St Abbs 2
Wreck reports complements of BUCHAN DIVERS
Dive sites from BSAC resource centre

Diver suitability: - Not recommended for newly started trainee’s, or very inexperienced divers. Confident buoyancy control a necessity. Otherwise suitable for all other levels of divers.

What’s of interest? - If you enjoy an abundance of marine life, this is for you. The clarity of the water is crystal clear, and minimal torch lighting is required. At 20 meters there is plenty of life to be seen within the nooks and crannies of the rock face and lots of activity whilst swimming out . Below us we noted a group of fish of varying sizes, then realised that above and in front of us was a shoal of fish (type unknown?). At the wall we observed a variety of small fish, various types of starfish, large squatties, an impressive crab, a beady eyed conger eel, a variety of plant life / crystie and we also noted a small flat fish leisurely flounder past plus much more. Stallion Point was an exhilarating dive, with a abundant underwater life and activity which the writer enjoyed from first entering the water to the depth of 20meters. She is also led to believe, from fellow diving colleagues within the party, that 35 meters is as enjoyable. A dive definitely to be repeated.

Access to dive site: - After parking the car there is a moderate walk down to the point of entry. A well-established path leads through a forestry area to reach the rocky waters edge (easy entry from there). The path is not particularly difficult, but may require a couple of journeys with kit! Don’t be put off by the effort as the dive that lies a head far out weighs the ‘hike’.

How to find the wall? - Easy. Swim out at right angles for a short period of time (not much distance needs to be covered to find depth), and at around 10-12 meters turn left. The wall falls away within a short distance. Deepest depth is unknown? (40meters plus?).

How do you get there? - Accessible by car, although low-level cars are not recommended and good suspension a necessity! Take the A814 to Arrochar, left onto A83 to Inverary past through Inverary up to Furnace. Turn Left into Furnace and left at bottom of junction to head towards the Quarry. Pass behind the Quarry, and continue along single-track road for quite a while. This road becomes pretty rough and avoidance of pot holes recommended! You will pass a few houses on the right continue on until you reach an obvious ‘Y ‘ junction in the road and take the right hand track (The "Y" junction is exactly 2.1 miles past the Furnace Inn). This leads into a dead end clearing. There is enough room for approximately 7-8 cars, but remember this is a popular site and an early start is recommended to avoid disappointment.

Social aspect: - The George Hotel in Inverary is a good stop for a debriefing session and a must for light refreshment! (The foods pretty good too!).

Finding your way there: It‘s on the east bank of Loch Long between the BP oil terminal and Glenmallan jetty. (Exactly 1.5 miles north of the Green Kettle Inn on the A814 road to Arrochar) There is sufficient parking spaces for about a dozen cars and the car park is right on the shore. There’s a red telephone box by the car park. (Click for map)

Getting into the water: As you go to enter the water there is fairly clear access. The entry point in to the water is quite sheltered from the elements of the Scottish weather.

The Dive: As you head straight out in to the water to about 10 – 15 metres you will come across an ‘A’ frame. As the ‘A’ frame has been there for a long time its oozing with sea life, which is much better as a night dive, as the sea life like to come out at night time. Also in the area there is other large objects, which attracts a lot of different sea life. From this point it is better if you head North East as this will keep you away from the oil terminal. As you head up the loch there are various things that you will see which will attract your attention, making this an interesting dive. You will come across various types of fish and lots of squat lobsters and crabs. Head up the loch from the ‘A’ frames for about twenty minutes, then they will come across an old bottle dumping ground where they will be able to help themselves to any bottle that interests them. From this point if you head South – South – East it should take you back to the entry point of what was hopefully a very enjoyable and interesting dive.

Diver Suitability: The depth of water goes down to 35m quite rapidly, so this site is not recommended for divers who still have trouble sorting out buoyancy. Sports Divers and above are recommended for this dive.

Finding your way there: The "Caves" are located along the A814 between Garelochead and Arrochar. Travelling from Garelochead, you pass a sign for "Glen Douglas" (The public road - not the Armaments Depot road), the car park is 1.8 miles further on or 0.4 miles past the white house on the right. The car park is good for three cars maximum; however the roads are fairly narrow so make sure your car is fully off the driving line. Click for Map

Getting into the water: The entry and exit is a challenge and should be done slowly. Once kitted up in the car park, go down bank by side of road, then through the tunnel under the road (make sure you lower your bottle so as not to catch the top of the tunnel). As you come out of the tunnel keep to the left and proceed down the rocks, there is a blue rope attached on the left to help you. When wet the rocks are VERY slippery so make sure you place your feet appropriately. This dive is easier towards high tide however can be dived at any time.

The Dive: Dependant on the Height of Tide, as you descend there is a ledge at approx. 6 m to sort out any last minute straps, once sorted follow ledge down rock face to your desired depth, the rocks and overhangs are at 15 m to 30 m so depth is variable and a shallow dive (i.e. a second dive) will not detract from the dive. At the desired depth turn left and keeps rock face on your left. As you swim out you will notice the rock formation to your side and above you with lots of nooks and cranny’s for you to investigate. Swim out for your dive plan then ascend to between 6 m and 10 m. You will now swim over the rock keeping any other rock formation to your right. You will notice an increase in sea life at this depth with ample Anenomaes, dead man fingers etc. Once you reach the sandy / broken shelly bottom you will have reached your entry / exit point.

Cautions: This area is used frequently by anglers and consequently there are numerous abandoned fishing lines around this area. They can be picked out fairly easily by torch.

Debriefing: Nice food in the "Village Inn", Arrochar although a wee bit pricy. V Good real ale.

Diver Suitability: A sloping sea bed and max depth of 25 metres at the bottom edge of the reef means this is suitable for all grades of diver. Maximum depth in this area is 70m but this is well away from the reef and should not be a problem.

Finding your way there: "Conger Alley" or Ardgarten Reef is located along the A83 between Succoth on the outskirts of Arrochar and the "Rest and be thankful". Travelling north through Arrochar, pass the Esso garage on the right and round the top of the loch pass the car park on the left at Succoth. A mile or so further on stop in the big lay-by on the right immediately before the white house called "Lochside Cottage". Parking on the verge close to the house is wide enough for most cars but vans need to use the lay-by itself.

Getting into the water: Almost directly opposite Lochside Cottage is a small path that leads to the beach. You have to cross a low wire fence so care is needed - especially if you're heavily laden.

The Dive: Head straight out from the huge boulder on the beach. Swim out to a depth of about 15 metres over small silty stones. You're likely to see hermit and swimming crabs. At the 15/ 17 metre mark turn left up the loch and follow the bank at that depth. You will soon come to a large area of anemone covered rocks marking the start of Conger Alley.

Explore the reef as you please between 20 and 10 metres. Look in all the holes and under rock shelves and you're bound to see at least a few conger eels. Other life is varied with crabs, starfish, urchins, anemones, "dead mans fingers" There are also two large wrasse which will come close if you're lucky.

All in all a good dive, a good beach for a BBQ if the weather's right. But get there early before other divers churn up the sea bed.

Cautions: Visibility can be poor if other divers have been there before you. The main danger is the speed of the traffic on the A83!

Debriefing: Like other dives round the top end of Loch Long try the "Village Inn". Nice food and V Good real ale.

Diver suitability: Sports and above. Not recommended for newly qualified Ocean Divers - good buoyancy control required due to steepness of the wall and the depths involved.

Finding your way there: Head for the village of Furnace, about 7 miles south of Inverary on the A83. Turn into the village from the main road and shortly past the Furnace Inn the road turns into a dirt track past the quarry and beyond. Head north on this track for 3.2 miles beyond the pub. Park here on the right. A path takes you down to the waters edge 100 yards away through the trees. (This is the same track mentioned in Lee's report on Stallion Rock - it's in very bad condition. Some of the locals at Kenmore are trying to repair the road themselves but it's hard. If you're in a car you can't go fast - if you're in a jeep / 4WD etc don't try to go fast you'll only spoil the repairs. This is a bloody awful road!)

Getting into the water: I prefer to take 2 trips from the car and get kitted up at the water's edge - but then I'm not the fittest person in the world. Walking down from the car you'll see white painted houses on the right and a grassy common with 5 trees in the middle. Turn to your left, you'll be looking north, back up Loch Fyne and over a little bay. Keep to the right of the bay as you enter the water. At higher states of the tide you can walk in along a stony kind of a wall, sit on the edge and fall in! Descend immediately into shallow water and follow the wall sharply round to your right. The cliff will quickly fall away to your left. Descend sharply to about 20/ 25 metres. Fin south along the wall for about half your planned dive time or less. Then return, rising steadily back to the deco stop / surface. (NB: kitting / dekitting at the track side is mucky and the midges are real mean SoB's)

The Dive: Upon entry there's a very nice field of weed in 3 metres of water after which the water deepens very quickly. The wall/ rocks drops quickly to 25 / 30 metres. (the chart shows depths of 70 meters not far from the waters edge so beware!) All the way down are plenty of holes in the rocks and little overhangs which are home to crabs & squatties. On my last dive here small shoals of mackerel ignored us. Like Stallion Rock you're likely to see congers and wrasse, starfish and squat lobsters. The sandier / flatter areas hide a few "flookies" (Flounders in English!) The landscape under water is great. I thoroughly enjoy this dive.

Debriefing in the George hotel in Inverary is recommended by Lee and I agree. However the Furnace Inn is nice too - it's got a nice beer garden in the summer and an open fire in the winter.