Kilkieran Bay, Republic of Ireland
Overview
Kilkieran Bay is where many Dublin University trained divers take their first little fin-strokes. The Novice Trip, their annual spring training trip, has been held here for close on ten years, and they just keep coming back. They also dive here in late December and early January on their annual New Year's Trip. Its main attraction lies in the extremely sheltered nature of the bay meaning one can dive in all weathers. Not only that but there's really good diving for both novices and experienced divers. Of course much of the fun of the place is having loads of fun with a huge crowd of people! Suffice to say, the more experienced members of the club look forward to the Novice Trip more than the novices themselves, happily taking the four or five days holidays every year. Experiencing is believing!
Contacts
All information supplied by Dublin University Sub Aqua Club Website
Info
You can get more information about the area from the following sources:
Admiralty charts 1820, 1924 and 2420
Discovery Series maps 44 and 45
Underwater Ireland book
Getting there
To get to K-bay from Dublin, follow the main road to Galway (ie the N4 and then the N6). Head for Galway on the main road out of Dublin (This is the N4). Keep on this road until you come to Kinnegad. Here you change onto the N6. Lots of signs telling you which way to go, you can't miss it. Head to Galway. When you come to Oranmore, take the 3rd exit from the roundabout. This puts you on the Galway bypass. Follow the signs for Clifden and Spiddal through the many many roundabouts here. Eventually, the signs will tell you that Spiddal is one direction and Clifden is another. Here you follow the signs for Spiddal. Go up a hill to a roundabout and keep going straight. Then take the next right turn for Spiddal. Stay on this road for a good long distance going through a couple of small towns, including Barna and Spiddal. There is also a very sharp right bend in the road followed by a crossroads. This tells you that you are getting close. At Costello, you will come to a Texaco garage on the right hand side. Immediately after this is a right hand turn. Take this turn onto a small bumpy road. Radio na Gaeltachta is on the right. Stay on this road. Eventually you will come to a shop and a pub on the right hand side followed immediately by a causeway. Cross this and then you will see the Hooker Pub. About 400m down the road, you will see the cottages on the right hand side. Turn right and then immediately left into the cottages.
Directions to Kilkieran Bay
To get to the pier that most divers use, turn left when leaving the cottages. Follow this road until you come to another left. Take it and keep going straight. The road turns sharply to the left, the pier is here on the right, basically when you see water.
Accommodation
It is recommended to rent a group of self-catering cottages which have open fireplaces as well as electric heating. They each have a washing machine and tumble dryer, fridge, microwave etc. There is also a games room which can be turned into a communal dining hall for a large group.
Amenities
There are a few small shops close by but you're better off arriving with all your food. Again, ATMs aren't too close, around twenty minutes drive, so bring cash.
Entertainment
There are two pubs in the immediate vicinity. First is the Hooker which has a full-size pool table. This pub is within walking distance back along the road towards Galway, just before you come to the causeway. The second pub is located in the golf club, which is just past the turn off for the pier. This consists of a long room and is the location for the annual boat race.
Boats
The fishing pier, Annavaghan Island. Please note this pier is a working slip! This means that you must give way to local boats and park your cars so that access is not blocked. Also, please be nice to the fishermen here as other divers depend on their goodwill. Please remember to ask permission before mooring the boats near the pier. It is usually given but it is courteous to ask.
In addition, there are difficulties accessing the pier at very low water as there is a lot of mud to wade through. There are also a lot of submerged rocks in the area so having boat handlers that are familiar with the area is a must.
Sites
Coral Beach, Carraroe
This is the first dive site that many novices will experience. Basically, head back towards Galway from the cottages and take the turn labelled Carraroe. It is protected from Northerly winds and to some extent Westerly winds allowing it to be dived throughout the year. It is an excellent area to bring novice divers as the water is usually very clear. The depth range for the shore dive is between six and ten metres. The bottom consists of sand, shale and coral. There are several small reefs and kelp beds with a variety of fish, crabs, lobsters etc. and keep your eyes open for several large conger eels that have inhabited the area for several years. Don't swim too far out into the channel on an outgoing tide, there are strong North/South currents mid-tide. Urban legened has it that on one novice trip, a pod of dolphins was seen in the channel. Novices all the way up to advanced divers were suddenly seen scrambling for that little used piece of diving equipment: the snorkel.
Yellow Rock
Yellow rock is the closest dive site to the pier and is probably the place at which most novices will experience their first boat dive. It consists of a large concrete obelisk sticking directly up out of the water marking the shallows. The water depth close in to the marker is about three metres at the base at high tide, dropping to away to six quite quickly. Heading towards the pier the water drops slowly to between twelve and fifteen metres, before dropping more rapidly to around twenty five.. Heading more southerly, the water depth drops quite quickly to around thirty metres in a broken boulder slope. The area abounds with dead men's fingers, crabs, wrasse (later in the year), some kelp, anemones of all descriptions. There is even the odd lobster, including a massive old fellow who lives at about twenty metres.
One thing to watch here is the currents on the flooding tide. The current will try and pull you towards the fish cages that are approximately 100 metres away. Try and avoid them if you can. You know you are getting close when the bottom goes flat and silty. Be careful with SMBs around the fish cages, as there are a number of underwater cables anchoring them for lines to catch on as well.
Novice Rock
Novice rock is one of the shallow sites in the bay and is great for carrying out training dives. At the rock, the water depth is about six metres on a high tide and this drops slowly away to fifteen at the edge of the channel (see below). The bottom consists of a fine silty sand with rocky outcrops sticking up creating little oasis of life. The area can often be quite kelpy and it is not unusual to see the little sacs that are dogfish egg pouches. This is a great dive for pottering around and seeing lots of marine life that would usually escape your notice. Rays, flatfish and scallops are amongst the various types of marine life that are often encountered here. This is a great place for novice divers to carry out some of their assessments as it is reasonably sheltered and the bottom is nice and flat. Great pottering around dive!
Bird Rock
Bird rock is a great dive! You drop into about twelve metres of water and wander gently down to around twenty metres where you see the edge of the channel. The bottom consists of mostly of sand with rocks sticking out running off in different directions. Anemones, sponges and hydroids cover these rocks and a good torch will turn the entire area into relative riot of colour! Thornback rays are often seen sleeping on the bottom and are usually not happy to be disturbed by divers poking at them. Various types of crabs and lobsters are often seen as are schools of pollack interspersed with wrasse. Again, this is a very nice pottering about dive. One of the most striking things on this dive are the vast colonies of tunicates (sea squirts) on the rocks facing south.
A good torch is a must for this dive in order to expose the various colours that make this one of the best dives in the bay.. Each diver should also carry a delayed surface marker buoy as strong currents can be encountered on the edge of the channel.
The Channel (between Bird Rock and Novice Rock)
The channel is one of the best dives in Kilkerian Bay that the newer members of the club will experience on the novice trip. This scenic dive varies from a reasonable steep slope to overhanging cliffs. It is really nice and depths of more than thirty metres can be obtained by the more advanced divers. One the flooding tide, great drift dives can be had here as you are swept past walls covered in anemones and watch crabs hanging on for dear life. In fact, on one memorable trip, divers drifted about a mile and a half in thirty minutes! Dead Mens Fingers wave gently in the current and wrasse hold their position effortlessly as you are pulled past.
The very bottom of the channel consists of an obviously exposed bed of cobblestones with a light scattering of anemones and spider crabs. Not a lot to see at the very bottom. As you make your way up the sides, this is where you will find all the exciting stuff! As the channel narrows (landward end) the bottom becomes more scoured, turning to a rocky road where in good visibility it is possible to see from one side to the other. This is where it gets shallower (approx twenty to twenty-five metres).
Most diving pairs prefer to get dropped into relatively shallow water on ether side of the channel and then make their way to the required depth. Some divers prefer to take a compass bearing on the surface and then drop all the way to the bottom before making their way up.
A delayed SMB is a must in each buddy pair for this dive as it is possible to get swept along a good distance due to the strong current.
The far end of the channel
The far end of the channel is only really for experienced sports divers and higher. With walls plummeting sheer to past forty-five metres, you want to be happy in your diving, especially your buoyancy. Normally, divers are dropped into approximately 15m of water where they immediately head for deeper water. The bottom gently shelves to about 20m where it then drops into the black abyss below.
Once you reach the deepest point on your dive, most divers begin a slow winding ascent up the face of the sheer wall that you just dropped past. Spider crabs, scorpion fish, wrasse, conger eels all inhabit the cracks that you shine your light into. Fan-tail anemones, jewel anemones and various marine growths cover the walls. Most divers arrange it so that they have climbed all the way back up to six meters in order to carry out any decompression stops without having to hang around in mid-water. This is a dive that needs to be experienced to be fully appreciated.
Please note that a good torch is a must for this dive as it can be very dark down there. Each diver should also carry a delayed surface marker buoy as strong currents can be encountered which can easily cause buddy separation.
Safety
You need the usual boat safety equipment: O2, 1st Aid Kit, flares, VHF, GPS. Also make note of the following:
Clifden Coastguard
VHF Channels 26, 16, 67, DSC 70
Emergency services
112 (or 999) on land
Recompression chamber
Galway, 091 524222
Dublin (private)
Weather
Weather Dial 1550 123 855 (or 853 for Ulster)
RTE Radio1 (88-89fm) at 0602, 1253, 1655, 2355
VHF 0103, 0403, 0703, 1003, 1303, 1603, 1903, 2203
Warnings on VHF (channel 16) 0033, 0633, 1233, 1833
Also, be aware of the following. Try and find out whether the tide is flooding or ebbing and plan your dive accordingly. Bird rock is hard work when the tide is flooding. Don't carry too much lead if you are planning diving any of the drop offs. If the tide is running through the channel, eddies can form at the sides that can send you off in the opposite direction to the tide. The boat coxswain needs to keep a very close eye out for their divers because they might not pop up where expected!
Local Facilities
There are no dive centres nearby. Bring your own compressors!
More Information:
Dublin University Sub Aqua Club:
Website
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