Kinlochbervie & the North-West Highlands · United Kingdom · Drift · Wall
Kylesku Narrows
Drifting beneath the Kylesku bridge on the tide
Photo: Geni · CC BY-SA 4.0
Kylesku Narrows is a shore-entered drift dive through the tidal channel under the Kylesku bridge in Loch Gleann Dubh. A large volume of water passes through the gap, so the visibility is usually very good, dead man's fingers grow thick on the reef, and divers ride the tide past a sloping reef beneath the bridge.
Also known as Kylesku bridge.
Where it is and how deep
58.2571° N, 5.0234° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The current drifts divers north-eastward beneath the bridge while they keep the sloping reef and wall on their right. The channel reaches 40 m at its deepest, but staying shallower, where the light is better, makes it possible to look up and see the outline of the bridge overhead on a clear day.
On neap tides the current runs light enough to stop and look at anything on the reef. Further along, the dead man's fingers give way to a carpet of colourful feather stars, often with significant numbers of nudibranchs, before the ebb carries divers back towards the entry.
Marine life and season
- Nudibranchs
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Fair |
Season follows Kinlochbervie & the North-West Highlands: Winter diving keeps to the sheltered sea lochs; the exposed north-west sites belong to the rest of the year.
Know before you go
- Depth and current are the two hazards; getting the tide wrong is the main risk in the channel.
- There is a drop-off to the west with down currents, so the site is not dived on an ebbing tide.
Dive videos
Diving under Kylesku Bridge, North East Dive · Dive KLB ' on YouTube
Diving Kylesku · Highland Divers on YouTube
Questions divers ask
When is Kylesku Narrows dived?+
On the tide: the current carries divers north-east under the bridge, neap tides keep it light, and the ebb is avoided because of down currents over the drop-off to the west.
Sources
- Kylesku narrows — Finstrokes
Photo credits
More dive sites in Kinlochbervie & the North-West Highlands
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
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
Similar dives elsewhere
A drifted wall under a 200-year-old Spanish watchtower
Black coral on the deeper reef, dived as a drift
A deep drift to 40 m with groper out of the shadows
A current-washed plateau at 25–30 m, pelagics one day, pygmies the next