Day 27 – Conger Alley, Loch Long

28 November

Today we dived at Conger Alley on Loch Long, a sea loch that’s also home to the Faslane Naval Base. It’s a well-known shore dive site, popular with both locals and visiting divers. The weather was classic Scotland with torrential rain for most of the day, but this location, sheltered by the surrounding hills, was a great choice for such a wet day.

We kitted up on the roadside and walked a short distance to the entry point. As soon as we descended, the storm seemed to vanish. There was almost no tide, no swell, and no hint of the dreadful weather above. Underwater, everything was calm. We swam south from our entry point toward a small rocky reef sitting at around three metres. The marine life appeared instantly including starfish, small urchins, and sponges covering the rocks.

From there, we dropped down a steep slope to a depth of around 10 metres, zigzagging between eight and ten metres depth along the bank. The seabed was alive with scallops, sponges, and urchins, and we were thrilled to spot both lesser and greater pipefish. Some of the scallops were covered in sponges that gave them a bright orange hue, making them look like tiny bursts of colour against the darker background.

We also saw plenty of starfish, including cushion stars and spiny starfish, along with a variety of crabs: velvet swimming crabs, shore crabs, and numerous hermit crabs.

One of the most entertaining parts of the dive came courtesy of a group of blennies. Normally we see them darting around, but today they hovered in groups, lingering just in front of us. At one point, all of them appeared to be following us wherever we went, perhaps guarding territory, or curious about us, or simply hoping we’d stir up food. Their company added a lovely sense of character to the dive.

After about 45 minutes of following the bank, we swam directly south and descended to 24 metres. There, the world changed again. The rocks were covered in plumose anemones and firework anemones, ranging from tiny new growths to huge, fully developed ones. Their colours glowed vividly under our torchlight. We also spotted a very small sole in some rocks, a special and unexpected sight.

We lingered here for a while before making our way slowly back up the slope, heading northwest until we reached the shallows at around four metres. From there, we swam west to the small reef where we’d started and surfaced right back where we began, rain still pouring relentlessly!

Although we didn’t see any conger eels today, Conger Alley was bursting with life. The greater pipefish were the stars of the dive, so confident in their camouflage that even as blennies swam around them, they remained completely still, blending perfectly into their surroundings.

Visibility was variable at around 8–9 metres and the water was extremely dark at depth. The air temperature was 5°C, with the water at 10°C on the surface, dropping to 9°C below. The coldest sea dive of our trip so far.

We were in the water for just over an hour, though it felt like two distinct dives: the first exploring the shallows and the reef, and the second exploring the deeper world of anemones and sand. It was a rich and colourful dive despite the gloomy weather above, full of detail and quiet fascination. It felt like we’d escaped into another world, one where time slowed down and the Scottish winter weather disappeared completely.