Scotland.

[DORSETBOY]

Dived Loch Fyne this weekend, anyone else up this way dive this area or does everyone seem to go up Oban way?
There is a general lack of fills and other amenities in Loch Fyne area but this is made up for by having very few divers if any on dive sites.
Not too far from Glasgow / Edinburgh area either.

 

[RSoper]

I dive Loch Fynne / Loch Long occassionaly, but i have to say i'm not really a huge fan. The only dive site i found there which i thought was worth the two hour trip was Stallion Rock, which i am led to believe is fairly similar to Kenmore Point. I can't help feeling that in both Loch Fynne and Loch Long, that you don't see a huge amount else but mud, and that there is much less light at any depth compared to the east coast. I guess i am fairly spoilt because i have St Abbs approx one hours journey away, and with a boat dive at £7.50, you can't really go wrong even if the conditions are not the best. What i like about St Abbs is that there is convinient / cheap boat diving, there are some amazing dive sites (Tynes Tunnel is my favourate,) there seems to be quite allot of light underwater, and during the summer there is masses of life to look at, especially (IMO,) compared to the likes of Loch Fynne / Long.

Oban is great, and also not too far from us, i would love to go more often, however the only place that i have found that will take two or three divers out to the wrecks, on a boat is Puffin, which is great but very expensive (last time i checked i think it was approx £37 for two dives.)

 

[Marvintpa]

Just out of curiosity, what are the dive conditions like in Scotland? I have family there and have considered doing some diving (would be a good excuse to visit).

 

[RSoper]

I'm afraid its one of those "how long is a piece of string" type questions, as the conditions vary so much.

I have heard people talking of 20m visibility at St Abbs, however, having dived there for four years now, at various different times of the year, i have never seen this. I have seen 12 - 15m visibility quite allot though, however, as a "rule of thumb" average (and others may disagree here,) i would say 6m visibility is a reasnable figure. The conditions at St Abbs are very dependant on wind strength and direction, if you have westerlies, even if they are quite strong it is not too much of a problem, however if you have any kind of easterly wind you probably won't be able to get wet, because of the swell.

From my experience on the west coast, you can pretty much get in somewhere in any kind of weather conditions. I have been driving up to Oban for a dive with Puffin Dive Centre, and it has been gale force winds and driving rain, and we have still had great dives, as there is always a sheltered dive site somewhere or other. If you fancy wrecks Oban is superb, and i would argue nearly as good as Scapa, with much less traveling and cost incurred. The only probelm with Oban (from my experience,) is that if there are only two or three of you looking to boat dive on the wrecks, the only operator who will take out such a small number are Puffin. Like i say, i personally think Puffin are a good operation, but they are too expensive for me to dive with regularly, but then i guess that comes down to how much money you have to burn.

There is Loch Fynne and Loch Long, but as i said, personally i would prefer to go to the east coast, but again this is to a degree a convinience thing as St Abbs is only an hour away from me.

 

[DORSETBOY]

Will have to give the east coast a try too... I was under the misconception that diving was limited out that way. I do know of a dive centre down at scoutscroft but that's about it.
I agree that the viz isnt fantastic generally around scotland but the large number of dive sites and general lack of overcrowding makes up this for me.

 

[peter k]

I dive Long and Fyne quite a bit, I live in Glasgow, and find them OK. St Abbs is better diving but it's too far to travel in the Winter on the off-chance the weather's going to be OK. There is better sites in Fyne but you need a boat to get there and I reckon there is still a few good sitews to be found in Long. I know of at least three I've never dived.

Marvinpta-I'd "guess" pretty much the same as Canada. Sheltered in parts, not in others.

Peter

 

[DORSETBOY]

you dived conger alley? heard it's supposed to be the dogs b*llocks, nice and close to shore too.

 

[RSoper]

Have dived Conger Alley, i was not hugely impressed with it though. Imagine a mud slope going down into the depths, and then a "reef" about 15m wide running down to about 25m (i think.) The reef basically consists of lots of boulders dotted around the place, which the congers live under, and lots more mud.

 

[DORSETBOY]

ah, mud being a deffinite feature then! anywhere you would recommend as a 'must do' dive in loch fyne?

 

[peter k]

I've dived Conger Ali more times than I possibly care to imagine and still find it great. It's an easy drive, an hour or so for me, an easy entry, an easy dive and the pub is only 2mins round the corner. What more do you want for an easy Sunday? It always seems to throw up odd wee fish as well!

Loch Fyne;
Depends on whether you have a boat or not. If you do then Stallion rock, Kenmore Point and Seil Island are alright. If you don't then Triple reefs, Anchor Point or the other one which name escapes me at the moment are worth a paddle. Again there's nothing too taxing and any qualified diver shouldn't have a problem.

Peter