Cold Water · United Kingdom
Kinlochbervie & the North-West Highlands
Gullies, swim-throughs and a blowhole cave on Scotland's far north-west coast
Kinlochbervie is a fishing harbour on Loch Inchard near Cape Wrath, in the far north-west of Scotland, and the rock coast around it is cut into gullies, swim-throughs, pinnacles and walls in clear Atlantic water. Boat dives reach Handa Island, the Roin sites, the Am Balg blowhole and Duslic Rock off the Cape, while Kylesku Narrows and Fanagmore on Loch Laxford are dived from shore. A wreck at Sgeir Eorna lies inside a Historic Marine Protected Area.
About diving in Kinlochbervie & the North-West Highlands
Boat diving runs from a 10 m hardboat based at Kinlochbervie Marine, with a heated cabin, a toilet, a dive lift and a compressor on board, chartered for trips around the north-west. The choice of ground follows the weather: the exposed sites such as Duslic Rock off Cape Wrath when the sea allows, the sheltered sea lochs when it does not and through the winter months. Shore sites include the wall and boulder slope at Kinlochbervie itself on Loch Inchard, Fanagmore on Loch Laxford and the narrows at Kylesku.
The rock is the dive. Handa Island and the Roin sites are a run of swim-throughs, overhangs and deep gullies; Whale back Rock is a large stack of boulder slopes and vertical walls covered in soft corals, and Black Rocks adds more walls and pinnacles. The gullies, walls and channels are lined with jewel anemones, sponges, tunicates, hydroids and bryozoans, fed by a fairly constant flow of water. At Kylesku a large volume of water pushes through the narrows, so visibility there is usually very good.
It suits divers at home in 7 °C water and on deep rock dives; Roin runs to 45 m and the Sgeir Eorna wreck lies at 25 to 30 m on the exposed south-west side of its islet, 4 km from the harbour. Kylesku Narrows is no place for a careless plan: an ebbing tide carries down currents over the drop-off to the west. The wreck sits inside the Kinlochbervie Historic Marine Protected Area, where responsible recreational diving is encouraged and a short report of each visit to Historic Environment Scotland helps monitor the site.
Best time to dive Kinlochbervie & the North-West Highlands
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Fair |
Winter diving keeps to the sheltered sea lochs; the exposed north-west sites belong to the rest of the year.
Best months: March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November
Dive types & marine life
Seals, dolphins and porpoises are regulars on the boat trips, with the occasional whale. Underwater, shoals of fish and dogfish fill Roin and Bodha Cailleach Pinnacle, and spring should suit nudibranchs at Fanagmore on Loch Laxford, where orange-clubbed, polycera, fried egg and sea lemon turned up without much searching.
- Reef
- Wall
- Drift
- Wreck
- Cave & cavern
- Nudibranchs
- Reef fish swarms
- Seals & sea lions
- Dolphins
Best dive sites in Kinlochbervie & the North-West Highlands
- 1
Handa Island
Several rocky sites to 30 m with large swim-throughs, overhangs and huge gullies.
- 2
Roin
Sites from 10 to 45 m, often busy with shoals of fish and many dogfish.
- 3
Am Balg
A large underwater channel leading into a cave and blowhole.
- 4
Sgeir Eorna wreck
Historic wreck remains at the foot of an underwater cliff, 25–30 m down.
- 5
Kylesku Narrows
Drift dive under the bridge in Loch Gleann Dubh, where feather stars replace dead man's fingers.
- 6
Duslic Rock
Exposed rock just off Cape Wrath, covered in brightly coloured soft corals.
- 7
Bodha Cailleach Pinnacle
Pinnacle threaded with swim-throughs and channels, with dogfish in numbers.
- 8
Fanagmore
Shore dive on Loch Laxford with nudibranchs: orange-clubbed, polycera, sea lemon.
Site guides
Orange-clubbed, polycera, fried-egg and sea-lemon nudibranchs on one dive
Large swim-throughs and huge gullies cut into the island's rock
Wall
Cliffs and boulders covered in loch anemones and peacock worms
Drifting beneath the Kylesku bridge on the tide
Reef
Gullies and swim-throughs, often teeming with shoals of fish and dogfish
Wreck
Wreck site of the largest Italian Renaissance pottery find in Scotland
How to get to Kinlochbervie & the North-West Highlands
Durness bus 805 runs from Inverness via Bonar Bridge, Lairg and Laxford Bridge to Kinlochbervie in about 2 hr 30 min. The dive boat sails from Kinlochbervie Marine, and the shore sites at Fanagmore on Loch Laxford and at Kylesku lie to the south.
Photos from Kinlochbervie & the North-West Highlands
Stuart Logan · CC BY-SA 2.0
Stuart Logan · CC BY-SA 2.0
Dive videos
A long weekend of brilliant scenic diving with Dive KLB at Kinlochbervie, Scotland in October 2025 · Andrew Leng on YouTube
Exploration dives North of Kinlochbervie with DiveKLB (North East Dive) · Dive KLB ' on YouTube
Questions divers ask
Is there shore diving near Kinlochbervie?+
Yes. Kinlochbervie on Loch Inchard has a wall and boulder slope from shore, Fanagmore on Loch Laxford is a scenic shore dive, and Kylesku Narrows is a drift under the bridge in Loch Gleann Dubh, entered from the shore.
Can divers visit the Kinlochbervie wreck?+
Yes. The wreck at Sgeir Eorna lies in a Historic Marine Protected Area where responsible recreational diving is encouraged, and divers are asked to send Historic Environment Scotland a brief report of each visit.
When should Kylesku Narrows be dived?+
To drift from the bridge to the slip, divers enter one hour before high tide. Never on an ebbing tide: the drop-off to the west carries down currents then.
Is there diving in winter?+
Yes. The boat can generally dive in all weathers, and through the winter months the diving moves into the sheltered sea lochs rather than the exposed far north-west.
Sources
- https://diveklb.co.uk/ — diveklb.co.uk
- https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/HMPA3 — portal.historicenvironment.scot
- https://diveklb.co.uk/dive-sites/ — diveklb.co.uk
- https://finstrokes.com/shore-dive/kylesku-narrows — finstrokes.com
- https://www.seatemperature.org/europe/united-kingdom/ullapool-average.htm — www.seatemperature.org
- https://finstrokes.com/shore-dive/fanagmore — finstrokes.com
- https://diveklb.co.uk/about-us/ — diveklb.co.uk
- https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Kinlochbervie — en.wikivoyage.org
- https://finstrokes.com/shore-dive/kinlochbervie — finstrokes.com
- https://diveklb.co.uk/dive-charter/ — diveklb.co.uk
Photo credits
- Several white sailing yachts moored at a pontoon on calm grey water, with rocky islets and cloud-capped hills behind by Stuart Logan, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Green fields with grazing sheep slope down to a blue sea inlet between rocky headlands, with a small islet offshore by Stuart Logan, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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