Inveraray Pier - 31st August 2025
Report by Eddie Adie
Divers: Eddie, Annabel, Wiebke, Aimee, Steven, Becky, Angela and Tony
A few DBS members arranged to meet in Inveraray for a couple of shore dives near the pier. This was a new site for us all, so we were grateful that the DBS Dive team were there with some recently certified drysuit divers. After a site brief from Tom Lewis, we all got kitted up and went diving.
Entry is via a gently sloping beach. Care needs to be taken as there are a number of boulders and quite a bit of seaweed. Once everyone was happy, we descended and headed in an Easterly direction before heading more south. The bottom is very silty and on the day we dived, visibility wasn’t much more than 1 or 2 metres so we kept in a tight group. Although the bottom is fairly barren, there are a couple of pipes that run perpendicular to the entry point, and these harboured a wealth of life: Squat lobsters, crabs, shrimp, gobies, and at least one enormous Conger Eel. Carrying on in a southerly direction we came across one of the things that this site is renowned for; Fireworks anemones, and in big numbers. They are truly mesmerising creatures, and are not commonly found in shallow dive sites. The maximum depth on our first dive was about 14 metres, with a runtime of 49 minutes. As we ended our dive it was clear that the weather was changing as the exit was ‘interesting’ to say the least.
After a leisurely 90 minute surface interval it was time for dive 2. Angela and I spent most of our time on the pipe to see what critters we could find, whilst Wiebke and Annabel went on a successful cat shark hunt!
The viz didn’t improve on the second dive, still 1 or 2 metres, so we slowly followed the pipe back up the slight slope, and surfaced very close to our chosen exit point. My maximum depth was about 12 metres (at the end of the pipe) and the runtime was again 49 minutes.
After a quick change it was time for hot chocolate at the handy cafe, and a chat about what we had seen. My impression of the site is that it is suitable for all levels of diver, however care needs to be taken on entry and exit. Additionally, I would recommend having a compass with you on the dive as it is easy to get disorientated.
(Thanks to Annabel & Eddie for the pics)