East Coast Diving
Craigleith Island: The closest island to North Berwick harbour, provides good drift dives, depths are around 20-25mtrs, with boulder fields, walls and reefs, sealife is as above congers, cod, wrasse etc, usual crustaceans, and an abundance of urchins and starfish.
Lamb & Fidra Islands: Good training sites or relaxed second dive sites with shallow gullies, sandy and boulder seabeds. Angler fish have been seen on the sandy seabeds as well as the usual sealife for this area. Good drift dives are possible when spring tides are running.
May Island: 12 miles offshore makes this the furthest island to get to but is well worth the effort, with shear rock faces dropping in and below the surface, caves, gullies, reefs and wrecks to explore, along with all the sealife as described previously makes this a very memorable dive site
Dunbar Area
Seacliffs: Large sandy bay with two pinnacles on the East and West sides, the smaller west pinnacle (The Gegan) is dived by entering at the gully, or jump entry from old harbour wall, this is obviously best done at high tide and this goes for most of the shore dives on the east coast. Heading out from the the gully there is quite alot of kelp and some nice gullies, nooks and crannies with lobsters,edible crabs, starfish and wrasse, due to the shallow depth (10mtrs) it is possible to dive right round The Gegan to the beach.
The second pinnacle (St Baldreds Boat) on the east of the bay is usually dived by boat but has been know to have been dived from shore, St Baldreds Boat stretches further out into the Forth so a bit more depth can be achieved, at the point there is some wreckage, good gullies to explore on both sides again loads of lobsters, flat fish,crabs etc. There can be quite strong currents at the point so best dived high water slack.
Bathe Reef / Old Swimming Pool: Accessed by cardiac inducing steps from Marine Road (on the way back up in particular), enter at either the west or east gullies, into a fantastic system of gullies all long the reefs seaward side, as well as some on the shore side, on the north west side of the reef you'll come across a break in the reef, called coral canyon, around the back of this there is a large hollow at 15mtrs, great life around the main attraction is seals that are quite common in this area.
Harbour Reef: Jump entry from a concrete ledge at the mouth of the harbour, extreme care should be taken as this is the fairway to the harbour, stick close to the harbour reef. On the way round there is a chimney to swim up and through one at a time, as it comes out quite close to the surface, this should not be attempted if there is a swell. Diving round onto the north east face (air supply allowing) it is possible to head out onto Johnstons Hole a fantastic large gully and cave, retrace your steps back onto the harbour reef carry on clockwise and finish the dive at the pebble beach, again great life around, deadmans fingers, anemones, shoals of small and larger fish and a resident wolfish. Average depth 8-15mtrs.
MUSAC takes no responsibility for any of the following and subsequent information on dive sites, these are a rough guide, proper investigation and dive planning should be sought prior to diving any of the dive sites mentioned on this website.
Old Harbour Reef & Battery Reef: Both can be done from shore, shallow reefs with a thick kelp covering, sponges, soft corals and the usual sealife,the later air permitting can be finished as above at the pebble beach. Max depth 8-10mtrs
The Yetts & Outer Rocks: Have been done from the shore a better option is from a boat, as strong currents can run. With this the gullies are full of filter feeders, soft corals and anemones, as well as good sized shoals of fish and a again seals.
St Abbs Area
Petticowick: Sheltered from easterly winds, this makes for a good alternative if St Abbs is blown out, follow sign post 1/2 mile before St Abbs. Dive sites here are Wick Gaut, Peanut Boat, and Staple Rock, the first can be found by taking a bearing of 300
°
from the slipway and is about 150 metres of the shore across a shallow, sand, gravel and boulders seabed, thick kelp at low tide can make this abit of a struggle, circumnavigate the rock at about 12mtrs depth, here you should see sea slugs, velvet swimming crabs,lumpsuckers and loads of squat lobsters, retrace your dive back to shore.
The Second dive mentioned lies in Broadhaven Bay in about 5-10mtrs, the wreck of the SS Odense was carrying a cargo of peanuts, hence its more common name the Peanut Boat, it is well broken up, but plates and cross members can still be seen covered with kelp and sponges.
The third dive is found by heading north of the slipway, through a small tunnel at Wheat Stack, bear right across boulders onto Staple Rock, this consists of underwater cliffs that drop down to 8 mtrs, slightly offshore is 2 pinnacles with a bottom depth of 10 mtrs and are covered marine plants and animals, further offshore is a good boulder slope on a sandy bottom, large dahlia anemones and the occasional seabird can be seen here.
Seagull Rock or Maw Carr: 100mtrs north from divers car park, is this large rock that stands in 11-13mtrs of water, on its south side is vertical rock face onto a sandy bottom, here you can see plaice, gobies and shoals of white-fish, diving round clockwise on the north face there is a large split and cave, home to all different kinds of crabs, sea-squirts and an abundance of urchins. Care should be taken coming round the east side as this is quite close to the harbours fairway, also at lower tides it can be a bit of a scramble over shallow rocks and kelp beds.
Broad Craig & Big Green Carr: Rewarding and spectacular dives (after the long walk round the harbour from the car park), enter from the rocks at the junction of the harbour wall and breakwater, head clockwise or anticlockwise over a 6 mtr sandy patched seabed, around the back, north east side of Big Green Carr, is the amphitheatre at 15 mtrs on sandy bottom with a semi circular wall, riddled with nooks and crannies that hold all kinds of marine life, head back round Broad Craig through a large gully between Broad Craig and Scott's Rock, fantastic dive in the right sea conditions.
Cathedral Rock: Probably on of the best and most talked about site in the area, this consist of two arches one on top of the other, festooned with soft corals and plumose anemones and resident wrasse, care should be taken when swimming through the arches as not to damage any of the marine life, but take your camera as this is a very photogenic site if you find it. Either snorkel to it as the top of the rock protrudes even at high water, or swim through the gully at Scott's Rock, turn right and take a compass bearing of 120 ° over a boulder strewn seabed, Cathedral Rock is 30 mtrs ahead.
St Abbs Head: To many dive sites to mention, Ebb Carrs, Wuddy Rocks, Tye's Tunnel and The Barnyard to mention only a few, the best idea is charter one of the hard boats in the area (see links) and let the knowledgeable skippers inform you of the dives, most are around the 25 mtr mark, but tides can be strong and the sea state and weather can turn quite quickly.
The main wreck in this area is the Glanmire a cargoship caring carrots (!) now lies 300 mtrs of from the lighthouse and is completely broken up in 30 mtrs of water, what is left is covered in soft corals anemones and sponges and makes for an excellent deep dive, currents run very fiercely round the head so this is a slack water dive.
Eyemouth Area
These dives are in a marine reserve only take pictures and leave bubbles
Weasel Loch: Accessed from a fenced car park at Barefoots caravan site, purchase a ticket from reception area before hand, well worth the money as the dive sites here a spectacular, enter the water via a steep set of steps from the car park, (some might remember when it was a scramble down a muddy slope), Weasel although quite shallow 6-9mtrs is a fantastic dive in its own right, shear rock faces drop either side onto a sandy bottom, with a few large boulders and some kelp, some great marine life can be seen here dispite all the traffic from divers going in and out.
Conger Reef: Heading out approximately 30 meters from shore, from the north east corner of Weasel Loch brings you onto the Cresta Run and Conger Reef. You have to navigate round some boulders and ridges as this is not a direct swim. The reef runs parallel to the shore and is covered with dead mans fingers (DMF) and soft corals. Of course hidden in the many crevices don't forget to look for congers! The sea bed consists of narrow white sandy channels through large boulders and kelp, hence the name Cresta Run. Heading south onto the shore side rock face, this is covered by magnificant array of soft corals and dead man's fingers. Follow the rock face back to the enterance of Weasel Loch. Care should be taken as tidal currents can run quite fast here, knowledge of this site allows you go with the current eastwards, past Hairy Ness and exiting in Leeds Bay.
Leeds Bay: Good site for trainees. A scramble down the rocks on the right hand side will lead you to the entry point for this sheltered, relatively shallow dive site. A thick kelp forest at low tide can make the entry a hindrence. Sea bed between 9 and 11 metres consists of a mixture of kelp, boulders and sand. Hermit crabs, shore crabs, spider crabs, flat fish, anenomes and sea slugs are all in abundance here. It is possible at high tide, with no swell to circumnavigate clockwise round Hairy Ness point by swimming through diver's hole, a large split in the rock which takes you back to the tail end of conger reef and round back into Leeds Bay (see map).
Greenend Gulley: Accessed by a dirt road from the new harbour area, up onto a grassy field. Two entry points, the first is small gully to the left (north west facing) this is over some boulders and kelp and then it drops quickly to 11mtrs into a steep sided gully with undercuts, cracks and ledges, housing lobsters,crabs, squatties, gobies and the occasional octopus. further out you come to a gully on your right this takes you through another narrow gully that opens out onto a sandy bottom, loads of other gully's and large boulders covered in kelp and soft corals to explore here, it is also possible to swim round into the next bay, and exit via the old sewage pipe. Care should be taken as currents can run quite strong here. Going straight on at the gully passed a large boulder, the gully widens out and then comes to a 't' junction, turning left it shallows out and eventually you end up at the breakwater for the new harbour, (this used to be the exit point), turning right this takes you around via a network of gullies to the next bay, again take care for currents and don't go to far north as this takes you into the harbour fairway.
The second entry is of the old sewage pipe, onto a dense kelp bed with breaks onto sandy patches, heading west takes you round into the network of gullies as above and back into greenends, heading east takes you into some shallower bays and gullies.
