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Inisbofin, Co. Galway

Inisbofin Island, West of Killary Harbour  at the joint of counties Galway and Mayo, is one place you have to go to fully prepared, with boats, engines, compressors, spares, oil, fin straps, etc.

The island ferry leaves from Cleggan, a small harbour near Clifden on the T71 Galway to Westport Road. From Cleggan, which seems to survive on the existence of the island, there is a daily "mailboat" to and from Inishbofin. On occasions they have been cut off for long periods at a time due to bad sea conditions. It is advisable to check the weather before making a day trip.

The island's only harbour being tidal, the ferry may not be able to tie alongside the sheltered harbour wall. Inflatables come to the fore in getting equipment onto land. you wait for the tide to rise to off-load the compressors and other heavy gear.

Stepping ashore the "Island of the White Cow", you have come to a world of heady, leisurely beauty, where there are no laws, only courtesies and conventions, beyond the clutch of the troubles left behind. The world is suddenly something to contemplate from a distance, or ignore.

At the harbour stands Days Hotel, one of the two hotels on the island, both being on the South end. The other one is Murray's Hotel, only a 15 min walk away, and they will transport your gear to it. The jeep used is only one of about 6 on the island. As with all the island people their welcome is extremely warm.

The inflatables are easily managed by mooring or bringing them ashore at the harbour area if you stay at Days Hotel or at the sheltered stony beach near Murray's Hotel. Some care needs to be taken when using the inflatables inside the protective peninsula due to some rocks and lobster pots.

1. Harbour Peninsula
A good first acclimatising dive for novice divers is just behind the peninsula under the ruins of the old castle which dominates it. You will find a flat sandy bottom, with lots of small rocks and sea life, at a depth of 5-8m. The area is sheltered from Southerly winds.

On the outer side of the peninsula there are many little gullies to dive, with one dive being quite different from the next, ranging from 5m to 30m, with some marvelous reefs. the one thing you appreciate is the amount of marine life around the island.

Visibility can range of course, according to weather conditions, from 5m to crystal clear waters with seemingly endless visibility.

2. North Beach Bay
Most of the better diving is found on the northern side of the island. Move your boats to North Beach Bay. They can be brought around by sea going to the West between Inishark and Inishbofin, taking about 30 minutes. Take care when rounding the Stags of Inishbofin on the North West as the sea can suddenly become very heavy with a large swell but, once passed, calms down again. The inflatables can also be transported overland using the jeep or just good old sweat and guts. The walk is about 1km.

The boats can be moored near an anchorage used by currachs or beached on the stony beach there. It is important to note impending weather conditions as you can choose which side of the island to dive, or whether to leave the boats moored or beached overnight.
North Beach Bay itself is a good dive site, at point A. Here you can get lovely 20/25m dives. The bottom is a mixture of large and small reefs and patches of sand. The kelp is well scattered and causes no hindrance to the diver.

Care should be taken to dive within 50m distance of point B, a small outcrop, to obtain 20m depth or less. Divers have been known to hit 45m on a little further out without reaching bottom, uncharted, affectionately known as "space diving". There appeared to be some sort of a deep hole or ridge further out near point C.

Finish your dive by taking a bearing towards point B and swimming into the gully or along the rock face behind it. The depth here is only around 9m, but the marine life is abundant in the whole area.

It is suggested that all movement in and out of North Beach Bay should be done on the Western side of the rock in the middle of the bay.

3. Glasilaun
Glasilaun is situated to the North West of North Beach Bay and is truly one of the better shallow dives of the island. It is also a good site for a night dive. Glasilaun is the name of a rock at the mouth of a gully.

Point A shows where you could start your dive, in about 20m, where the bottom is very rugged. If you take a Southerly bearing you will be brought between Glasilaun and the cliff face going to the arch. The depth decreases as you progress along a gully to the side of Glasilaun, to point X, which is a safe anchoring location if you wish to do a night dive here.
The gully is only about three times the width of an inflatable and a boat can easily clear the arch at all levels and navigate towards point B approximately 35m in. At point X the depth is about 12m at low water, and as you proceed into the gully which is almost spotlessly clean from kelp, you will be in a depth of about 9m. Proceed to point B which is the entrance (or exit) of a completely submerged tunnel, and bending a little Southwards.

It is approximately 15m long and leads you to the bottom of a cave on the other side of the rock face. A torch is required on this dive as no light penetrates to a section of the tunnel. It is roughly 6m high and 3m wide and can be negotiated very easily. There is also little discomfort felt by the small swell, if any.

A good night dive may be had in the cave. You dive to 15m and swim out along the cave itself. The depth at it's entrance is 12m at low water and about 10m at the back.

4. The Stags of Bofin
The Stags are at the NW tip of the island and provide for a fabulous dive with whatever depth you want. They can only b dived comfortably as the particular area is prone to a heavy swell making it unsuitable for less experienced divers. An alternative site to this one is White Rock

5. White Rock
Not a very spectacular site compared to the Stags. The channel at point is about 10m-15m gradually going out to any depth you wish. the bottom is rocky with plenty of fish life and small reefs.

6. Sunfish Rock
About 20 minutes boat journey to the East from North Beach Bay you find Sun Fish Rock. The tip of the rock is covered at high water and it is found by lining up two outcrops of land from Inishbofin and the Northern tip of Davillaun Island. It is at the mouth of a long narrow gully and careful study of your chart, or diving at low tide, will help you locate it.

It is like a thumb of rock sitting on the bottom, the top of it only 3m - 4m wide and widening as it goes down to 30m or more at high water. The rock face is decorated with reefs, overhangs and small tunnels made by fallen rocks.

7. Dooninaheena
This is a little bay between Sun Fish Rock and the North Eastern tip of the island. The best site is a sheltered cove at the Eastern side of this bay where the water appears to be flat calm no matter what the weather conditions. Dive to 15m and swim out along the rock face, and along the spectacular bottom. Take an East bearing around the corner at about 24m. Ascend to about 17m and continue East for about 15/20m distance until you come to an opening in the rock face of about 5m wide.

At the end of this crevice you ascend and surface to find yourself inside a chimney in the rocks which cannot be seen from the outside, although a small crack does let you see out. To get out you need only dive about 3m to fit out. The crack in the rock face runs from top to bottom. If your orienteering is "dodgy", it is simply found by counting to the third crack in the cliff face from the corner. See point A.

8. Davillaun
The Spanish galleon "El Falcon Blanco" is reputed to have struck Davillaun at it's Westerly end. This has not been proven but there is a large Spanish anchor about 50m off the "sunder" (the large split in the rock). A pile of large ballast stones was also located about 100m East of the anchor. The bottom is sandy and 25/30m deep.

There are many more sites available around the island, but one must not forget it's deserted neighbour, Inishark. To walk through the deserted village is, to say the least, eerie. Up to a few years ago there still sat in each house the furniture and fittings as they were left when it's inhabitants who (reportedly) left after a drowning disaster some 30 years ago. You can still imagine the ghosts of it's lost inhabitants walking the main path above which stand the church and school.

9. Bouchal Rock
Bouchal Rock is situated on the Western side of Inishark and can only be reached by a relatively long boat journey from either the North or South of Inishbofin. The dive itself is worth every single minute of it. The rock stands about 30m off the island, perfectly erect and round like a giant finger pointing to the skies from below. you have to enter the water very close to the rock as the bottom drops away very quickly. There is plenty to be seen in small crevices in the wall. Fish life are abundant, and the anenomes make their own Persian carpets on it's walls.