Dublin Bay · Ireland · Reef
Muglins
Plenty of seals around a rock riddled with lobster holes
Photo: Passps · CC BY-SA 4.0
A rock dive on the Muglins, the small islet just north-east of Dalkey Island in Dublin Bay. Crevices down the rock shelter lobsters by the dozen and conger eels, and seals are plentiful around it. Deeper down at the south end lie anchors and other remains of shipwrecks.
Also known as Muglins Rock, Muglins Beacon.
Where it is and how deep
53.2756° N, 6.0758° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The Muglins is an oval rock about 250 m long, just north-east of Dalkey Island, and the dive is timed to slack water. The rock drops to about 25 m and is full of nooks and crannies holding sponges, anemones, crabs, lobsters, conger eels, gunnels, dogfish, every kind of wrasse, bib, pollack and ling, with plenty of seals around the rock.
Marine life and season
- Seals & sea lions
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Dublin Bay: Club boats run from April to October; high summer brings the longest days and evening dives, while March has the coldest water.
Know before you go
- Strong currents run past the rock outside slack water. Every diver carries a rescue sausage, and each buddy pair at least one delayed surface marker buoy.
Dive videos
The Muglins · Mark Stanley on YouTube
Sources
- Dublin Bay dive guide — DUSAC (Dublin University Sub-Aqua Club)
- About Oceandivers — Oceandivers
- OpenStreetMap — OpenStreetMap
Photo credits
- A roofless stone church ruin on a grassy island, with a red and white beacon on low rocks behind it and grey sea beyond. by Passps, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
More dive sites in Dublin Bay
Wreck
A Norwegian motor ship lost on the Kish Bank in a snowstorm
The tide carries divers between Dalkey Island and the mainland
Wreck
A compact fishing-boat wreck full of marine life near the harbour
Two split rocks mark a nineteenth-century steamer off Lambay
Similar dives elsewhere
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A pink sea fan growing above a lost lobster pot on the reef
Nudibranch-covered reefs with sea lions from the next island
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