Recreational Diving to 40M.....

The Laurentic was a white star liner that became an armed merchant ship during World War 1.  She hit a mine and sank in 1917 while leaving Lough Swilly.  At the time of her sinking she was carrying 43 tonnes of gold some of which was never recovered.  The wreck lies in 40 Meters and is for the experienced diver only.

Photos of wreck of the Laurentic at 40m courtesy of Jan Egil Heiersjo

A steam bulk carrier, which was torpedoed in 1943, she caught fire and drifted ashore, she is scattered and broken in 25 meters of water. 

If poking around rocks and holes is your thing these sites are great, they have great visibility most of the time and the sea life is fantastic and generally varied. 

Tory Island There are a number of excellent sites around Tory Island with some incredible rock formations, gullies, walls and drop offs.  If the weather is favourable its worth getting a couple of dives around Tory the visibility is usually excellent to 20 meters at times.

Inishdooey Island is a hidden paradise for divers.  There is a shallow 10-meter dive here through some beautiful caves.  Seals are often seen underwater.  Its worth snorkeling into the centre of the cave before descending, the bird life is also diverse around the island. 

Horn Head The boat trip alone is worth the trip to horn head the spectacular cliffs are an incredible sight from the Dive boat.  Diveology has dive sites on the Western Northern and Eastern side of the head ranging from 16 to 30 Meters.  There is a sea arch on the Westside of the head and Pollaguill Bay the diving is great here but not accessible as much as the Eastern side of Horn Head due to the Large swell.  Skate Bay on the Eastern side is also a great dive site; there are many caves and interesting rock formations.  Visibility is usually good up to 20 meters at times but bring along a dive light for looking in the nooks and crannies. 

The Limebruner The Limebruner is a pinnacle that rises from a depth of 40 meters to 2 meters below the surface.  The marine life here is prolific, crayfish and lobster are abundant the drop offs are spectacular and the visibility is usually very good.  Sunfish have been spotted in this area. 

Melmore Head Melmore head marks the west entrance to Mulroy Bay.  This is a relatively sheltered dive site with depths from 15 to 25 meters.  The rooks on the head taper out to a sandy bottom, at 25 meters. 

Sheephaven Bay There are a number of dive sites just outside Port Na Blagh pier and they are all worth exploring and are suitable for all grades of divers.  These sites include Breaghy Head, Wherryman Rocks, the Black Rock and the reef outside Port Na Blagh including the sea cave at the back of the harbour.  All this sites offer great marine life and good visibility.  There is even a wreck, a slate boat the Florence in approx. 10m. 

The Arch Port Na Blagh a swim through with a rocky bottom and excellent visibility, Depth is from about 15m outside the arch to 6m near the end of the swim through.  There are some beautiful colours on the rocks in here so bring a light to show up the reds. 

The Port Na Blagh Cave at the back of the harbour with a rocky bottom at 15 meters and a swim into a small cave which is a bit dark before initially when entering then get brighter as light enters through the blow hole in the rocks.

Breaghy Head has a number of dive sites from the shallow 5 or 6 meter sandy beach at Pat Mc Gees which is excellent for training and practicing skills to deeper 15 or 20 sites at the head, it’s a bit more kelpy here but there are great little gullies full of interesting life. 

Wherryman Rocks and the Black Rock out side Downings, these sites are sheltered in Easterly winds and have stony bottoms with depths to 18 meters.