Travel about 2km beyond the village of Goleen, west of Schull, on the Crookhaven road take a junction on the left to ‘Rock Island’, which overlooks Crookhaven Harbour. Access to the shore is private, but there should be no problem using the small pier at the western end of the island and the Irish Lights caretaker will usually allow you to dive off the pier at the
lighthouse complex at the eastern end, but do ask.
The area is well sheltered from all but easterly winds. Although the bottom rapidly runs into mud/gravel there are some pretty outcrops covered with plumose anemones. However, the main reason for diving here is to search for items dropped off the old sailing ships which used to tie up here in the last century, in particular some fine bottles have been recovered.

Travel 5km west of Schull on the road to Goleen,take a left turn signposted “Schull , via Coast Road”. After 1.5km the road swings round to the east you will see a castle on a spit of land off to your right. Take a narrow road in the direction of this castle for 500m until you reach a sheltered little pier. Access into the water is easy and the little cove offers excellent conditions for real beginners with a shingle bottom and rocky walls with good marine growth. Although exposed to strong westerly winds the visibility is usually very good and it is an excellent
location for night dives. It is best when the tide is in, as the slippery lower steps are covered. Depths of 10m can be obtained.

About 1km south of Ballyrisode beach is a small group of rocks and outlying reef where interesting diving can be had on the eastern flank and in the shallows of the reef itself. The remainder of the dive sites in Roaringwater Bay are best reached by boat from Schull.

The white beacon standing on Copper Point at the eastern end of Long Island can easily be seen 2km from Schull Pier. The whole of the south side of the island offers good, easy diving in the range of 10–20m close to the shore, with the diving getting better and a little harder as you move west along the 3km coastline, so it is easy to select a site to suit your party’s experience.

Half way to Cape Clear Island and about 6km from Schull Pier lie the three Calf Islands. A few hardy families lived on these wild islands until the 1930s and some ruined houses still remain. The best of the diving is on the western end of West Calf, where the jagged rocks take the full brunt of the Atlantic weather. In 1848 a wooden ship, the ‘“Stephen Whittley” struck these rocks and a few encrusted remains can be found in the gullies just north the tip of the island in about 15m of water.
A little further off from here are marvellous deep broad gullies heading down gradually to 30m where there is an abrupt drop of 5m to the sandy floor of the bay. There is a tidal flow across this point and care should be taken when the tide is flowing hard, but the scenery is magnificent with extensive beds of deadman’s fingers and jewel anemones.
Just south of the point one gully has a massive rock jammed in it making a spectacular archway to swim through. Due to the potential problem of drifting off into wide open sea, good boat cover is important and use of SMBs is recommended. The north and south sides of West Calf offer good diving when it is too rough to dive the point itself. There is an interesting sheltered dive in the lee of the small group of rocks on the northern side of Middle Calf.

This 120m long 2400 ton ship carrying steel ingots and empty shell heads foundered under the cliffs south of the “Bill of Cape” in 1917. The wreckage is well spread out very close under the cliffs in 10–20m, but makes for an interesting wreck dive with nice scenery as well. Due to the closeness of the shore and the exposed westerly position, this is a dive for very calm days only!
Directions: Coming from the north, after passing the distinctive “Bill of Cape” head across the small bay for the next headland, which is actually the cape of Cape Clear but in fact is not very dramatic. One gully before the cape there is a large flat rock about 4m long looking like the sole of a shoe perched at the top of the cliff face and the wreck is directly below this. On the chart No. 2184 it is at the point where there is a depth sounding marked “12.8m”

The area between the islands of Cape Clear and Sherkin offer some marvellous diving with large pinnacles ranging from 10m down to 40m at the southeast corner of Cape Clear. There are superb areas of marine growth on the southern side of the Carrigmore rocks that are mid way across the sound. There are very strong tidal flows through the sound and the sea can get very rough when the wind is against the tide. The surface can appear to ‘boil’ as it surges over underwater rocks and ledges. Plan to dive either at slack water or well within a tidal shadow of the rocks and use a surface marker buoy whenever possible.
The best of the gullies at Carrigmore are close to the rocks in about 10–15m. There are a few dull patches especially to the west, so if you land in one move east a bit till you hit the right spot. For the advanced diver drift diving around these rocks to the east is spectacular but very demanding and requires excellent preparation. The other small islands close to the eastern side of the sound also offer excellent diving, as does the south side of Sherkin Island itself.

To the north of Calf Island Fast a 20m long fishing vessel called the “Mystique” was sunk deliberately to provide a sheltered wreck site close to Baltimore. She sits upright on a sandy bottom in the 22m hole shown on chart 2129 on the north of the island. She is an easy dive and is acquiring fauna rapidly.

In the village of Goleen take a turn to the left down to the small pier and slipway, which dries at low water, continue on the narrow lane to the outer pier where there is always water and is close to the open sea. Access is easy and the scenery reasonable and improves if you swim out further into the bay where depths of 15m can be found. This site is well protected from westerly winds.

About 1km south of the village of Goleen is a low headland and reef well protected from the west. It is easily reached from Goleen pier and fair diving can be found
close in when more adventurous sites are not available due to strong westerly winds. An easy site for beginners.

Heading west out of Schull harbour up Long Island Channel for 4km brings you to Goat Island which appears to be split into two pieces. There is an excellent reef running southeast from the southern most tip of the island where water depths of 20m on either side. Start right under the small white beacon on the island and watch out for the current when the tide is running.
Close in, the western side of the island has nice diving when it is too rough to dive off the point itself. The small islands and rocks which spread west from here have excellent diving on their south side but rapidly run into sand on their north sides. These sites are more suited to the experienced diver and trainees would do better off Long Island.

This rock, lying about 1km southeast of Copper Point, comes to within 3m of the surface at the end of the reef which runs out south-west from Castle Island. Beyond it the depth drops rapidly to the sandy floor of the open bay at 25m. There are impressive breakers here during rough winter weather but lovely gullies and marine life at 15–20m in the summer. There is a green navigation buoy about 100m SW of the rock, but as it wanders a bit, an echo sounder or dragged anchor should be used to find the edge of the reef. As divers will surface at least 1km from any land it is not really suitable for beginners.

Lying some 10km south of Schull is the large island of Cape Clear on which some 100 people still live. It is reached from the mainland by passenger ferries from either Schull or Baltimore. However, on a calm day it is no problem to make the journey from Schull by dive boat, but a convoy of two boats would make sense.
The main landing place is North Harbour which is in the hollow midway along the otherwise hilly island. It is a charming little harbour with several pubs, shops and guest houses. There is excellent diving out west from the harbour, under the cliffs and headlands right around to South Harbour, which is only a short walk across the narrow neck of the island back to North Harbour. Continuing east along the south cliffs there are good dive sites right up to the Gascanane Sound which separates Cape Clear from Sherkin Island.

About 1km east of South Harbour there is a large rock scree running down the cliffs below the old lighthouse. The ship seems to have ran bow first into this cove with the wreckage running out eastward. There are anchors and chain to be found in the bottom scree at about 8m and the boilers are still intact at about 22m along with a lot of plate.

The world famous Fastnet Rock with its impressive lighthouse lies 5km southwest of the end of Cape Clear Island and offers some of the best diving anywhere in Ireland. As there are strong and sometimes erratic tidal flows and deep water all around the rock, it means diving at the Fastnet is only for the experienced and then only with reliable boats and very calm weather.
It is 15km from Schull and it is advisable to charter a hard boat for the trip to give extra security and to benefit from local knowledge. For those “going it alone”, two substantial dive boats,
both with reliable engines and radios should be considered the absolute minimum. As it is very difficult to assess the weather conditions around the rock from shore, be prepared to abandon the dive and head for a less demanding spot and keep a sharp watch out for changing conditions when the tide turns.
All that said, when the conditions are just right, a trip to the Fastnet can give you a day to remember for many years. The visible rock is in the middle of a narrow reef running SW-NE about 1km in each direction with depths of 45m being rapidly reached on either side should you get swept off by the tide. The section of reef towards Cape Clear is the simpler to dive on and close to the rock itself there is some shelter from the tide if you have missed exact slack water. The section of reef outside the rock should be approached with great care as the tide rarely stops flowing and the diving is very demanding. Being an isolated rock, the underwater scenery is spectacular with huge shoals of fish and fantastic growths on every rock face. Due to the clarity of the water and the excellent scenery it is easy to misjudge depths and durations, so don’t get too carried away!
A suitable method of spotting divers who have surfaced a long way from the boat must be used, though due to the deep narrow gullies and tidal flows, a SMB can be difficult to use effectively. If the sea is absolutely flat calm, it is possible to land on the rock and inspect the lighthouse at c lose quarters, to marvel at the high quality of the stone masonry which has withstood 80 years of Atlantic storms. This is only for those who are nimble footed and prepared to swim back out to a boat if the swell suddenly picks up!

This is an excellent pinnacle that rises out of Long Island Bay from about 40m to 20m. This should only be dived in calm weather as any swell makes for an uncomfortable dive