Kinsale & Old Head · Ireland · Sand slope
Oysterhaven
Calm sheltered bay used for first scuba dives
Photo: Colin Park · CC BY-SA 2.0
Oysterhaven Bay is a sheltered beach about 10 km from Kinsale whose calm water is used for first scuba experiences. It is a shallow shore dive where PADI confined water and open water skills are practised, over an expansive natural seagrass bed.
Also known as Oysterhaven Bay.
Where it is and how deep
51.7062° N, 8.4565° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The bay averages around 4 m, and high tide adds enough water for a possible 7 m. The seagrass bed is a nursery for smaller sea life such as nudibranchs and pipefish, and dogfish, congers, lobster and crab also live in the bay.
Marine life and season
- 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: Spring and summer bring the migrants, the egg-guarding lumpsuckers and the hydroid bloom; the sea is coldest in January.
Dive videos
Oysterhaven shore dive · CJ Crowley on YouTube
Sources
- Oysterhaven — Discovering Scuba
- Discovering Scuba — Discovering Scuba
- OpenStreetMap geocoding — OpenStreetMap
Photo credits
- A calm, grey inlet winds between green fields and wooded banks, seen from a grassy slope under a cloudy sky. by Colin Park, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
More dive sites in Kinsale & Old Head
Reef
Anglerfish and egg-guarding lumpsuckers on reef inside the 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
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
Gravel slopes with turbot and hermit crabs in the Little Belt
Sand flats east of Herrvik crowded with flounder and turbot
Rippled sand where Ocean Divers are introduced to the sea
Sand slope
Carrick Castle
Loch Fyne & Loch Long · United Kingdom
Rocky outcrops on a shingle slope below a castle