UK Diving Places To Dive

Almost anywhere on St Kilda will be a good dive; where you end up going is very much dependent on wind, weather and the skipper’s assessment of where it is safe to put down and retrieve divers. Although the islands are very exposed, and strong winds frequent, there is usually a lee side. Stay away from cave roofs if there is any swell; fatalities have occurred. Strong currents are not often a problem on most sites. Here are four of the best to whet your appetite.

Kay’s Cut, Hirta

The cut has two entrances, narrow and deep on one side and shallower on the other, with large boulders in the base. It can be dived either way according to conditions of sea and light. Sheets of green and yellow sponges, big dahlia anemones and seals abound. At the end of one June dive here, we ascended beneath sea bird cliffs and, while doing safety stops, were surrounded by 20–30 guillemots and razorbills flying underwater, hoping our bubbles might turn out to be a sand eel supper.

Mina Stack, Hirta

This is a typical cut with lots of encrusting life. When we moved out on to a rocky sea-bed to the north-east of the stack at about 25m, a darkening made us look up from our recording slates; a vast shoal of silver herring had gathered above us, and continued to stream past for about five minutes. We had previously seen a minke feeding in this area, as well as gannets arrowing down from the sky to feast on the abundant fish. Moving in to shallow water behind the stack at the end of the dive, several seals came to join us – one tried the pinniped equivalent of fetching sticks, vigorously shaking a kelp stipe in its mouth!

Scarbhstac Arch, Boreray

A sheer wall on the north-west side, covered with jewel anemones and other encrusting life, leads down to the top of the archway at around 25m. The archway roof is covered with oatenpipe hydroids with sea slugs grazing them, and there are small caves in the roof with white trumpet anemones and filigree worms. The south side above the arch is covered with a carpet of orange and white plumose anemones.

Village Bay

If you are storm-bound in Village Bay, this is an option. Quite barren by day, with part-buried, thick-shelled bivalves, but alive on a night dive, especially after the supper scraps have gone overboard (biodegradable only, of course). This attracts flatfish, octopus emerge and we saw two species of cuttlefish hunting for crustaceans in the sand. Watch where you put your hands, as tiny weever fish lie buried here with only their dark eyes and black, poisonous tip of the dorsal fin showing. Curious by name and by nature, little pogge with big eyes, lumpy heads and a beard of barbels will sit on your hand. These small fish (Agonus cotaphractus) are also known as hooknose or armed bullhead fish.