Loch Fyne & Loch Long · United Kingdom · Muck & macro · Sand slope
Torpedo Station
Small life hiding in the debris under an old pier
Photo: John Ferguson · CC BY-SA 2.0
Torpedo Station, also known as Ardgartan, is a Loch Long shore dive on a silty slope under and around an old pier. Small life lives in the wreckage and rubbish below the pier. Tides do not matter here, so it can be dived at any time, and it suits trainees.
Also known as Torpedo Station Pier, Ardgartan.
Where it is and how deep
56.1965° N, 4.7629° WApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
From the trees beside the parking spot, divers drop onto a silty slope that runs under and around the old pier, reaching about 15 m. The dive is best done at high tide, finning round in a circle to meet the end of the pier. Old jars, bottles, shoes, roof panels, tyres and wreckage from the pier hold plenty of small life for divers who look closely.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good |
Season follows Loch Fyne & Loch Long: Diving runs all year with no standout month; long spells of rain leave the water dark and murky, and settled weather clears it.
Know before you go
- Visibility can be poor on the silty slope.
- The entry through the trees is very slippery.
Dive videos
Diving Torpedo Testing Station Loch Long · Peter Gunn on YouTube
Sources
- Torpedo station — Finstrokes
Photo credits
- A derelict pier building on stilts stands in a calm loch below green and brown hills, seen from a rocky, weedy shore by John Ferguson, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
More dive sites in Loch Fyne & Loch Long
Sand slope
Rocky outcrops on a shingle slope below a castle
Wreckage of an old dynamited pier on a gentle reef slope
Reef
Giant boulders on a steep slope, capped with plumose anemones
Similar dives elsewhere
Black sand to 20 metres with regular rhinopias sightings
Debris slope from 3 to 18 m, dived for frogfish and nudibranchs
Spring cuttlefish in water with almost no current
Coleman shrimp on fire urchins, and the coast's smallest finds