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Kinsale & Old Head · Ireland · Pinnacle

Ling Rocks

Offshore rocks topping out at 22 m, named for their plentiful ling

The Ling Rocks are a submerged offshore reef 9 km south-southeast of Kinsale, rising from the sea bed without breaking the surface. The offshore position, the depth and the chance of current make it a dive for experienced divers, and the rocks are named for the ling that are plentiful around them.

Also known as The Ling Rocks.

Where it is and how deep

Depth profile of Ling Rocks: typical dive 22 m (72–72 ft), deepest point 70 m (230 ft) 18 m · Open Water30 m · Advanced40 m · Recreational limit22 m22 m70 m maxtypical dive
Depths on a shared scale to 80 m (262 ft); dashed lines mark common certification limits.

51.6310° N, 8.4730° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.

The dive

The rocks do not show at the surface, so the descent is onto their shallowest point at about 22 m at low water; depths around the rocks go down to 70 m. The walls are encrusted with jewel, dahlia and plumose anemones, lobster, crayfish, squat lobster, brown crab and spider crab live on the rock, and sizeable conger eels lurk in the crevices. Shoals of whiting, hake, pollack and wrasse surround the rocks, along with plenty of ling.

Marine life and season

  • Reef fish swarms
Month-by-month season rating for Ling Rocks
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Season follows Kinsale & Old Head: Spring and summer bring the migrants, the egg-guarding lumpsuckers and the hydroid bloom; the sea is coldest in January.

Know before you go

  • There is a possibility of some current over the rocks, which lie offshore in open water.
  • Depths around the rocks reach 70 m, far below the top of the reef.

Dive videos

Scuba Diving the Ling Rocks, Cork, Ireland with UCC Sub Aqua Club · Daire Rush on YouTube

Sources

  1. Scuba Diving Sites Kinsale — OceanAddicts

More dive sites in Kinsale & Old Head

Reef

Black Head

Anglerfish and egg-guarding lumpsuckers on reef inside the Old Head

to 15 mbeginner

Wreck

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Sand slope

Oysterhaven

Calm sheltered bay used for first scuba dives

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Roberts Cove

Sheltered cove that deepens to about 12 m at high tide

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Sand slope

Sandycove

Sheltered sandy training bay with sand eels, shelving away from the slip

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Wreck

The Nellie

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The Sovereigns

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12–15 mbeginner

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