Skye Diving
A leap off Greshornish Cliff
by Geoff Hide

The scenery of Skye is some of the most rugged and breathtaking in Scotland. The Cuillins are visited, each year, by hundreds of people striving to climb their vertical rock faces to reach the summits. Underwater, the scuba diver is plunged into surroundings that are no less dramatic.

One of the most spectacular dive sites of Skye is the vertical underwater cliff on Greshornish Point.

The drop off can be found towards the northern extremity of Greshomish Point along the north-west facing shore. This part of the headland is very isolated and there is no shore access and the cliff can only be reached by boat. The position of the drop off is at Grid Reference NG344560. The site is easily recognised, from your boat, by a large gulley leading through a small waterfall into a cave. To the left (north) of this gulley there is a small area of beach enclosed on the left by a rock face which protrudes out toward the sea. The drop off lies off this breach very close to shore.

Underwater, the scenery is spectacular. Initially, you drop down into 5-10m of water onto a kelpy boulder slope. At 10m the cliff drops away vertically beneath you.

"Leaping off" the edge of the cliff you can descend, through the gin clear water, to a depth of around 50m before the cliff bottoms out and turns into a slope Looking back up from the slope, the visibility is (usually) good enough to see the edge of the cliff at 10m. Other divers on the cliff can be seen milling about doing their own thing. What probably makes the cliff so more spectacular than other drop offs in coastal Scottish waters is the visibility. This area of Skye, like the far North West of Scotland and the West coast of Ireland, is bathed by the clear oceanic waters of the Gulf Stream. In fact, much of the marine life observed in this area is more characteristic of the coasts of Donegal rather than more typical Scottish dive sites like the Sound of Mull or Oban.

Diving and Air available from Hebridean Diving Services, Shorepark, Lochbay, Waternish, Isle of Skye, 01470 592219. email: gordon07@globalnet.co.uk

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