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Scuba Diving in Skye, Scotland
Dive Site: Conger Crevasse
Location: An Dubh Sgeir, Isle of Skye, Scotland
Description: A quick drift dive around a small rocky island
Depth: 21 metres (68 feet)
Visibility: 6 metres (20 feet)
Rating: *****
This is one of the best dives in the area. Current is nearly always present here, so despite diving around the time of slack we still had an exciting and rapid drift dive through the gulleys that carve their way around the islands underwater. The dive site is called Conger Crevasse because at the around 20m there is a ledge that has been hollowed back a significant distance into the rock (at least as far as my torch beam would penetrate!). The ledge is home to a large number of lobsters and conger eels, although the congers don't seem to hang around for long when they see divers.
The point of this dive is to head down to the seabed to see the crevasse, but the rest of the dive site is also stunning. Seals lie all over the rocks at the surface and are in the water, but whilst we were there they seemed to be very timid around divers. According to our skipper the local fishermen are (or have been in the past) rather intolerant towards them so the seals have not yet learnt to play with divers, although as time goes by younger seals are showing more of an interest so there may yet be the chance of an encounter. Aside from seals, the rocks are decorated with jewel anemones as well as the usual dead men's fingers and kelp. Sizeable pollack glide in and out of the limits of visibility. Unfortunately due to the speed of the current here we didn't get many photos that do this site justice.
Reader Reviews:
An Dubh Sgeir or Black Rock sits in mid water, approximately 1/2 Km offshore. Its steep rocky cream coloured sides are awash with barnacles & limpets, whilst cormorants & seals rest on its top or flanks. It is a great dive to do, one of the best we did also. The sheer number of congers is bewildering and it seems the whole horizontal crevice all at 21m, is chock full of these alternating with big edible crabs, shrimps & velvet swimming crabs, and of course lobbies.
All the nooks and crannies are packed in tightly with sponges and deadman's fingers. We also moved slightly away from the crevice to explore some of the boulders in front. Current can be an issue, and the crevice seems to extend for at least 50-75m. Luckily we managed a good slack period and started and ended our dive at the western corner, where several small ledges provided interest and being buzzed occasionally by large seals.
The downside of this dive, certainly for us, was that we couldn't spend enough time here as we were diving on air!
Tony Gilbert
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