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Roaring Water Bay, Co. Cork

Roaringwater Bay lies between Crookhaven to the West and Baltimore to the South-East and includes the "Carbery 100 Isles" and it is these islands that offer the varied and sheltered diving which makes this area so attractive.

Schull is the ideal base for diving the area and is 20km West of the town of Skibbereen on the N71/L57. It is a very popular holiday destination and in the high season accommodation should be booked well in advance. It has an excellent range of facilities with many pubs, restaurants and shops including the area's only dive shop. It also has a fine harbour with the best slipway in West Cork.

There are a variety of dive sites ranging from shore dives for the absolute novice to demanding dives off the famous Fastnet Rock 12km out to sea. Tides need to be watched at a few exposed points, but in general diving can be carried out at any state of the tide.

Shore Dives

As the main attraction of the area is the range of islands there are not many interesting shore dives, however some are worth mentioning:

1. Rock Island
16km West of Schull is the village of Goleen, 2km beyond here here on the road to Crookhaven take a junction on the left to "Rock Island", which overlooks Crookhaven Harbour. Access to the shore is private but there should be no problem using the small pier at the western end of the island and the Irish Lights caretaker will usually allow you to dive off pier at the lighthouse complex at the Eastern end, but do ask.

The area is well sheltered from all but Easterly winds. Although the bottom rapidly runs into mud/gravel there are some pretty outcrops covered with plumose anenomes.

However the main reason for diving here is to search for items dropped off the old sailing ships which used to tie up here in the last century. Some fine bottles have been recovered.

2. Goleen Pier
In the village of Goleen take a turn to the left down to the small pier and slipway which dries at low water. Continue on the narrow lane to the outer pier where there is always water and is close to the open sea. Access is easy and the scenery reasonable and improves if you swim out further into the bay where depths of 15m can be found. This site is well protected from westerly winds.

3. Castle Point
5km West of Schull on the road to Goleen take a left turn signposted "Schull via Coast Road". After 1.5km the road swings round to the East and you will see a castle on a spit of land off to your right. Take a narrow road in the direction of the castle for500m until you reach a sheltered little pier. Access into the water is easy and the little cove offers excellent conditions for beginners with a shingle bottom and rocky walls with good marine growth.
Although exposed to strong Westerly winds the visibility is usually very good and it is an excellent location for night diving. It is best when the tide is in as the slippery lower steps are covered and depths of 10m can be reached.

Boat Dives

The best place to launch boats of any size is Schull where even the biggest of RIB's can be easily launched at all but low water spring tide. It is also possible to tie off a boat overnight on a running mooring beside the pier. Smaller boats may be launched at Goleen (above half tide) for Spanish Point or across the sand at Ballyrisode beach for Amsterdam reef (take the road West out of the village of Toomore towards Goleen for 1.5km, past a gift shop on the right and then take the next turn to the left which brings you to the beach and carpark in 1km.)

4. Spanish Point
About 1km South of the village of Goleen is a low headland and reef well protected from the West. It is easily reached from Goleen pier and fair diving can be found close in when more adventurous sites are not available due to strong Westerly winds. An easy site for beginners.

5. Amsterdam Reef
1km South of Ballyrisode beach is a small group of rocks and outlying reef where interesting diving can be had on the Eastern flank and in the shallows of the reef itself.

The remainder of the dive sites in Roaringwater Bay are best reached by boat from Schull.

6. Goat Island
Heading West out of Schull harbour up Long Island Channel for 4km brings you to Goat Island which appears to be split in two pieces. There is an excellent reef running South East from the Southern most tip off the island where water depths of 20m rapidly run off to on either side. Start right under the small white beacon on the island and watch out for the current when the tide is running.

The Western side of the island, close in, has nice diving when it is too rough to dive off the point itself. The small islands and rocks which spread West from here have excellent diving on their South side but rapidly run into sand on their North sides. These sites are more suited to the experienced diver. Long Island is better for novice divers.

"Lady Charlotte"
Somewhere in the vicinity of the Barrel Rocks, 1km West of Goat Island, lie the remains of the Lady Charlotte, which floundered in shallow water on 23 October 1838 en route from Peru to Liverpool with a valuable cargo of silver bullion. £70,000 worth of silver was promptly salvaged, but it is likely that not all was recovered. Indeed many years ago a silver dollar was found washed up on a beach on Long Island. Many divers tried their luck with looking for this wreck, but without success so far!

7. long Island
The white beacon standing on Copper Point at the Eastern end of Long Island can easily be seen  2km from Schull Pier. The whole of the South side of the island offers good, easy diving in the range of 10-20m close to the shore, with the diving getting better and a little harder as you move West along the 3km coastline, so it is easy to select a site to suit your group's experience.

8. Amelia Rock
This rock, lying about1km South-east of Copper Point, comes to within 3m of the surface at the end of the reef which runs out South-west from Castle Island. Beyond it the depth drops rapidly to the sandy floor of the open bay at 25m. There are impressive breakers here during rough winter weather but lovely gullies and marine life at 15-20m in the summer.

There is a green navigation buoy about 100m SW of the rock, but as it wanders a bit, an echo sounder or dragged anchor should be used to find the edge of the reef. As divers will surface at least 1km from any land it is not really suitable for novice divers.

9. West Calf Island
Half way to Cape Clear Island and about 6km from Schull Pier lie the 3 Calf Islands. A few hardy families still lived on these islands until the 1930's and some ruined houses still remain. The best of the diving is on the Western end of West Calf, where the jagged rocks take the full brunt of the Atlantic weather. In 1848 a wooden ship, the "Stephen Whittley", struck these rocks and a few encrusted remains can be found in the gullies just North of the tip of the island in about 15cm of water.

A little further off from here are marvelous deep broad gullies heading down gradually to 30m where there is an abrupt drop of 5m to the sandy bottom of the bay. There is a tidal flow across this point and care should be taking when the tide is flowing hard, but the scenery is magnificent with extensive beds of Dead Man's Fingers and Jewel Anenomes.

Just South of the point one gully has a massive rock jammed in it making a spectacular archway to swim through. Due to the potential problem of drifting off into wide open sea, good boat cover is important and the use of SMB's is recommended. The North and South sides of West Calf offer good diving when it is too rough to dive the point itself. There is an interesting sheltered dive in the lee of the small group of rocks on the Northern side of Middle Calf.

10. Cape Clear Island
Lying 10km South of Schull is the large island of Cape Clear on which 100 people still live. It is reached from the mainland by passenger ferries from either Schull or Baltimore. However, on a calm day it is no problem to make the journey from Schull by dive boat, but a convoy of 2 boats would make more sense.

The main landing place is North Harbour which is in the hollow, midway along the otherwise hilly island. It is a charming little harbour with several pubs, shops and guest houses. There is excellent diving West, out from the harbour and under the cliffs and headlands right round to South Harbour which is only a short walk across the narrow neck of the island back to North Harbour. Continuing East along the South cliffs there are good dive sites right up to the Gascanane Sound which separates Cape Clear from Sherkin Island.

11. "Nestorian"
This 120m, 2400 ton ship, carrying steel ingots and empty shell heads, floundered under the cliffs South of the "Bill of Cape" in 1917. The wreckage is well spread out very close under the cliffs in 10-20m, but makes for an interesting wreck dive with nice scenery as well. Due to the closeness of the shore and the exposed Westerly position, this is a dive for very calm days only!

Directions: Coming from the North, after passing the distinctive "Bill of Cape" head across the small bay for the next headland which is actually the Cape of Cape Clear but in fact is not very dramatic. At one gully before the Cape there is a large flat rock about 4m long looking like the sole of a shoe perched at the top of a cliff fade and the wreck is directly below this. On the chart No. 2184 it is at the point where there is a depth sounding marked "12.8m".

12. Illyrian (Lighthouse Wreck)
About 1km East of South Harbour there is a large rock scree running down the cliffs below the old lighthouse. The ship seems to have ran bow first into this cove with the wreckage running out Eastward. There are anchors and chain to be found at the bottom the scree is about 8m and the boilers are still intact at about 22m along with a lot of plate.

13. Gascanane Sound
The area between the islands of Cape Clear and Sherkin offer some marvelous diving with large pinnacles ranging from 10m down to 40m at the South-East corner of Cape Clear and superb areas of marine growth on the Southern side of the Carrigmore Rocks that are mid-way across the sound. There are very strong tidal flows through the sound and the sea can get very rough when the wind is against the tide. The surface can appear to "boil" as it surges over underwater rocks and ledges. Plan to dive either at slack water or well within a tidal shadow of the rocks and use a surface marker buoy whenever possible.

The best of the gullies at Carraigmore are close to the rocks in about 10-15m. There are a few dull patches especially to the West, so if you land in one move East is spectacular but very demanding and requires excellent preparation. The other small islands close to the Eastern side of the sound also offer excellent diving, as does the South side of Sherkin Island itself.

14. Fastnet Rock
The world famous Fastnet Rock with its impressive lighthouse lies 5km South-West of the end of Cape Clear Island and offers some of the best diving anywhere in Ireland. As there are strong and sometimes erratic tidal flows and deep water all around the rock, diving at the Fastnet is only for the experienced and then only with reliable boats and very calm weather.
It is 15km from Schull and it is advisable to charter a hard boat for the trip to give extra security and to benefit local knowledge. For those "going it alone", two substantial dive boats, both reliable engines and radios, should be considered the absolute minimum. As it is very difficult to assess the weather conditions around the rock from shore, be prepared to abandon the dive and head for a less demanding spot and keep a sharp watch out for changing conditions when the tide turns.

When the conditions are just right, a trip to the Fastnet can give you a day to remember for many years. The visible rock is in the middle of a narrow reef running SW - NE about 1km in each direction with depths of 45m being rapidly reached on either side should you get swept off by the tide. The section of reef towards Cape Clear is the simpler to dive on and close to the rock itself there is some shelter from the tide if you missed exact slack water.
The section of reef outside rock should be approached with great care as the tide rarely stops flowing and the diving is very demanding. Being an isolated rock the underwater scenery is spectacular with huge shoals of fish and fantastic growths on every rock face. Due to the clarity of the water and the excellent scenery it is easy to misjudge depths and duration, so don;t get too carried away!

A suitable method of spotting divers who have surfaced a long way from the boat must be used. Due to the deep, narrow gullies and tidal flows, an SMB can be difficult  to use effectively. If the sea is absolutely flat calm, it is possible to land on the rock and inspect the lighthouse at close quarters to marvel at the high quality of the stone masonry which has withstood 80 years of Atlantic storms. This is only for those who are nimble footed and prepared to swim back out to a boat if the swell suddenly picks up!