St Abbs
St Abbs is one of the top diving sites in the UK, offering fantastic shore and boat diving, everything from tunnels, archways, gulleys, wrecks and fantastic wildlife. It remains one of my favourite places to dive.
Struggling against the slight swell as it washes over the barnacle encrusted rocks, we spot the opening. Wordlessley we drop into the black foreboding slit, into the darkness which is Tye’s Tunnel.
Our torchbeams illuminate the smooth rock walls as we drop through the shaft and then into the tunnel which runs through the huge splinter of rock. Smooth stones, worn by an eternity of pounding winter seas litter the bottom. We follow the path of the cave, green shafts of light showing us the way out. Mirror drops of exhaled gas, flow like mercury on the stone ceiling, the only legacy of our passing.
Getting there.
St Abbs itself is a small village, situated around one mile from Coldingham, and around 3 miles from the town of Eyemouth just north of the Scottish Border on the East Coast. Access is via the A1 from both the north and south, taking the turning marked either Coldingham or Eyemouth. St Abbs itself is tiny, with a small village shop and little else. The harbour is accessed via a short steep road, please drive carefully as it is only one car wide and chaos can easily occur if people dont allow others to pass.
Car Parking
Car parking in St Abbs is a hot topic. There are currently two car parks, one owned by the council, and the other owned by the Harbour Trust. The Council one is very expensive, at £10 a day. Not much if you have driven the length of the country and intend to boat dive, but a fair amount if you live just down the road and intend on a shore dive every weekend! This car park does have a warden, so dont be tempted to try and skip paying - you will get a fine.
The other car park is owned by the Harbour, and is situated to the left of Rock House Dive Centre. There are a limited number of spaces in this car park, so it may be worth arriving early to secure a space. This car park costs £5 a day, payable to Lenny the harbour master who will no doubt accost you for cash when you roll up. If he is not there, please use the honesty box which can be found on the shed door.
Facilities, air, boats etc
There are toilets at St Abbs itself, the block is a small white building on the right which you pass on the steep road down to the harbour way to the car park. They are clean and usually have toilet roll/paper towels in them.
Air is the only gas available in St Abbs itself, although this may soon be changing. You can get a fill from Brian who’s small shed at the top of the slipway is open throughout the summer. You can also meet his two mad labradors, Gilas and Storm (both friendly and Gilas will chase a ball/frizbee for hours). Billy at Rock House also offers air fills, with cylinders being deposited in the yard for filling. If there is no-one there please go into the conservatory and speak to Alison as to if you can get a fill.
If you want nitrox you need to go to Scoutscroft, which is in Coldingham around 1 mile away. Prices are good, at £10 a twinset for anything up to 40% (well it was, might have changed now!). Amanda runs the small but well stocked shop here which offers self service air fills via a pre-purchased key (means you can get a fill early and until around 10pm).
The small village post office in St Abbs stocks a good range of bits for diving, mainly the things you tend to break and lose on dives. They also offer limited suit repairs which is very handy. They stock all the usual bits and bobs, food, ice cream, water etc.
If you fancy a cafe lunch then Springbank offers and excellent variety of food for hungry divers. This can be found at the end of the car park, the large white house with chairs/benches in the garden, and usually a plethora of drysuited people hugging mugs of special hot chocolate!
Hot food can also be supplied by Alison at Rock House, her paninni’s are fantastic, as are her bacon sandwiches!
Boats in St Abbs are all very good. The skippers are all excellent and are as follows:
Billy Aichison - Alikai - large boat steel catamaran, loads of space and benches, diver lift, hot drinks and sweeties after dives. Picks up from the harbour wall (dependant on tide as to where if its low, then it will be the end). - 01890 771288
Pete Gibson - Selkie - smaller boat, but highly manoeverable. Very knowledgable skipper, fins off ladder. Hot drinks and sweeties after dives. Fins off ladder. Picks up from the slipway. 01890 771681
Alistair Crowe - Lazy-G-Diver - small boat, similar in size to Pete’s, kitting up off benches, very good dive breif. Fins off ladder. Picks up from either the harbour wall or slipway. 01890 771412
Paul Crowe - Topline - the new boy at St Abbs, i have dived with Paul a fair bit. A member of the lifeboat crew, he is an excellent skipper and a diver himself. The boat has plenty of room and he makes a cracking cup of tea. It is a fins off ladder, but lower to the water than the other boats. 01890 771945
Dives.
St Abbs offers so much to all divers. Depths range from snorkelling to trimix if you so wish.
My favourite dives are as follows:
Shore diving.
Cathedral Rock
- 2m - 12m
- Weak tidal.
Accessed either via the shore or if you can, via boat.
From the shore, walk around the south side of the harbour to the entry point over the rocks. Beware of any swell in this area as it makes it very difficult to get in and out and can be very dangerous if you get caught out.
This is a spectacular double archway in around 12m. Lots of life around this area, with the reefs heading out and down to around 20m where it flattens out. Lots of friendly wrasse, but please do not break open the urchins to feed them, soon there will be none left! I have come across many octopus in this area so keep your eyes open. Nudibranches are frequent amongst the kelp beds.
Seagull rock
- 2m - 15m
- Non- tidal.
This is accessed via a short scramble over the rocks from the Harbour Trust car park to the north of the harbour. The rock itself is spectacular, with underwater boulders and gullies being full of life. There is also a large cave at the rear of the rock which is well worth a mooch around.
Please be careful while doing this dive that you do not get lost and surface in the “fairway” - the main channel in and out of the harbour. This is very dangerous as it is such a busy place with ribs and the small boats.
Boat dives
The Black Carr -
- 6m - 30m.
- Tidal.
a set of boulders cascading down to 30m and beyond, pick your depth from around 6m to wherever you feel comfortable. There can be tide running on this dive, so be warned if you are uncomfortable with this. The boulders hide many octopus, and beyond 20m wolf fish can be found. There are fantastic gullies and swim throughs, with spaces under boulders well worth a look.
The West Hurkar
- 6m - 20m
- Tidal
The very north of St Abbs head is called the West Hurkar. This is an excellent dive, with entry into a short gully which is narrow (swim in single file). On exiting this if you keep to the right you will come across a cave entrance. Smooth boulders mark its enterance. Be very careful in here, as it is very silty and one misplaced fin will reduce the visibility to nill. If you have no overhead environment training i would advise against going in. There are frequently large lobsters at the back, but you will certainly need a torch. Continue south in whatever depth you fancy, either heading down to 20m for the large anemones or staying shallow and hunting for octopus and nudibranches.
The Skelly
- 15m - 25m
- Tidal.
this is an area slightly offshore from the West Hurkar. A series of gullies and boulder gardens, there are octopus and all manner of life here. I have also seen a *very* big lobster! This is often done as a drift dive and can have a fair current running on it.
Tyes Tunnel - this is a dive right below the lighthouse itself. Again, it is not a novice dive, as it is not the kind of place you want to find that you really dont like dark enclosed spaces! Only accessible around high water, the enterance is to the south side of the sliver of rock. Descending down a short shaft the tunnel bellies out and heads north. The insides are festooned with all manner of sea squirts and lobsters can be found hiding in the crevices. The exit is signalled by the green glow ahead, and you pass under a huge bellied boulder into a gulley. from here, head out and then go with the tide or whatever your skipper has advised. A torch is definatley needed, as is good buddy awareness.
The Glanmire
- 28m - 32m
- Very tidal
The Glanmire is the main wreck at St Abbs and lies directly off the head. Visibility can be very variable, with me having had over 15m here once, and again had only 2m. It is a highly tidal dive, so be warned. We ascended the shot to 6m and then bagged off to do 20 minutes deco on this dive once and were picked up over a mile from the wreck! It is not a novice dive! The wreck itself is very broken up, but has incredbile life on it - conga eels and enourmous anemones and lobsters cover its surface. Make sure you have a powerful torch to make the most of this dive.
Other stuff.
As already stated, St Abbs does not have its own pub. However, Coldingham does! The Anchor has an excellent bar menu, but is frequently booked up in advance, so it is well worth phoning ahead and booking them. They have the largest vegetarian menu i have ever seen in a pub.
St Vedas is walkable from St Abbs itself via the Clifftop path (be careful on the way back - take a torch!). They do a good value range of food, but has a slightly restricted menu.
Scoutscroft has an excellent bar which has a late licence (always a bad idea!). They also have Creels which does very good food.
If you are self catering in one of the caravans, Eyemouth has a large (well, large by up north standards anyway) co-op in the town centre. Beware of the one way system in Eyemouth itself though! Eyemouth also has a fabulous Indians, loads of chippies and pub food.
Important stuff.
Scottish Dive Doctor please be aware this may well have changed and not be up to date on help cards etc - the new number is 0845 4086008
Nearest hyperbaric centre is Aberdeen.
Scoutscroft Dive Centre number - 01890 771669
Accomodation -
I can highly reccomend Billys Bunkhouse, although this is probably booked from now until eternity. He has recently added another bedroom, so it now sleeps 10. A conservatory has been added with seating etc so this will be even more popular! The cottage is also very very nice, but again is probably booked up.
Springbank cottage has a number of rooms available, but again is probably booked up. Give Irene a phone to check.
Scoutscroft do caravans which sleep 6 people. Very good value.
If you are stuck then phone the Scottish Tourist Board, they can arrange accomodation and do the phoning around for you 
very handy!
