Buck Island (North), off Portavadie, Loch Fyne

Type of Dive:                       Shallow sandy scallop dive from a shingle beach reached by boat.

Experience suggested:    Suitable for sports diver.  Seabed depths to 20m.

Getting There:                     Eilean a’ Mhuic (Buck Island) lies just north of Portavadie on the SE side of Loch Fyne.

Tides:                                                Reference Port is Greenock.

                                                Flood is northerly, ebb is southerly.

                                                Tidal speed is up to 1 knot

Map:  http://www.multimap.com/maps/?hloc=GB|portavadie#map=55.87777,-5.3296|13|4&loc=GB:55.87327:-5.30665:14|portavadie|Portavadie,%20Millhouse,%20Tighnabruaich,%20Argyll,%20Scotland,%20PA21%202

Underwater directions:    There is a small shingle beach on the NE side of Buck Island.  Fin from there around the north side of the Island onto a gently sloping sandy seabed.  There are rocky plates from the island, covered in weed to 5m but below this it is sand.  Swim out and back picking your depth and time accordingly.  There are scallops on the sandy seabed and the usual small sealoch life, crabs and squatties in or under the occasional boulders.

At the end of the dive you should be close to the island so can ascend by following the slope ever more shallowly and finning back to the shingle beach.

There are better dives close by.  This is put in for completeness.

Version:                                1.0

Created by:                          alex maclennan

Date:                                      June 2008