Kinsale & Old Head · Ireland · Reef · Muck & macro
Black Head
Anglerfish and egg-guarding lumpsuckers on reef inside the Old Head
Black Head is the headland just inside the Old Head of Kinsale, and the dive below it is a mix of rocky reef and sandy gullies. It is a macro site where something different turns up on every dive, and every rock crevice holds a critter, some as large as lobsters and congers.
Where it is and how deep
51.6040° N, 8.5347° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The ground under Black Head is rocky reef cut by sandy gullies, and although the maximum diving depth is 15 m, the best of the diving is at approximately 13 m. Anglerfish, also called monkfish, lie on the sand, and in springtime lumpsuckers can be seen here guarding their eggs.
The Canyon, one of the best dives at Black Head, is a run of narrow passages that open into wider bowl-shaped gullies. In spring and early summer the gully walls are covered with oaten pipes hydroids, which are home to many nudibranchs and give photographers plenty to work on.
Marine life and season
- Macro critters
- Nudibranchs
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair |
Season follows Kinsale & Old Head: Lumpsuckers guard eggs in spring; oaten pipes hydroids and their nudibranchs peak in spring and early summer.
Dive videos
Diving Black Head · Jon Mathers (ChilledCorky54) on YouTube
Sources
- Scuba Diving Sites Kinsale — OceanAddicts
- OpenStreetMap geocoding — OpenStreetMap
More dive sites in Kinsale & Old Head
Broken-up 1892 liner with swim-throughs under the Old Head cliffs
Pinnacle
Offshore rocks topping out at 22 m, named for their plentiful ling
Calm sheltered bay used for first scuba dives
Sheltered cove that deepens to about 12 m at high tide
Sand slope
Sheltered sandy training bay with sand eels, shelving away from the slip
Wreck
Dutch trawler wreck to potter around under the Big Sovereign
Reef
Two big rocks near shore with a swim-through grotto lined in jewel anemones
Similar dives elsewhere
Orange-clubbed, polycera, fried-egg and sea-lemon nudibranchs on one dive
Blue-ringed octopus and frogfish among coral boulders
Reef
Iguri
Oki Islands · Japan
Two fused rocks where yellowfin amberjack swarm around the group
Tiger tail seahorses and nudibranchs around the island's jetty