CHESIL BAY | TINKER SHOAL | THE SKELLY | LOCH LONG | FALMOUTH
5 easy dives

THE ROAD TO CONGER ALLEY LOCH LONG, ARGYLL

The sheltered waters of Loch Long in western central Scotland are just the place to ease you back into diving after the long winter break. It would be a lie to claim that they provide the best diving in the country, but certain parts of the loch are home to some very big creatures, and these are frequently found in the shallow 8-25m range.
Loch Long lies 40 miles north-west of Glasgow. Bring your air with you, as there is nowhere to fill up close by, and follow the signs and good roads up the bonny banks of Loch Lomond. On reaching Tarbet, head for Arrochar at the head of the loch. There's a good cafe here, known as the Greasy Pit in diving circles, and after your pitstop it's just two miles down the western side of the loch to your destination.
Ardgartan Reef is a good site if you hit it right. You'll find a car park big enough for 20 cars at the side of the road. Kit up here, cross the road (take care - cars speed along this stretch) and walk 100m along the pavement to a small promontory.
Cross the knee-high fence and go down the path worn by the boots of a thousand divers onto a small rocky beach, where a stream enters the water. To find the reef, submerge and swim straight out to a depth of 15m, then turn left, heading back up the loch and maintaining this depth.
Follow these directions and you will hit the reef every time - veering slightly left on your swim out will shorten the trip, but you risk missing the reef if you misjudge it.
Below you is mud and more mud. It covers most of the sea floor in Loch Long, unless there is some wreckage or a geological feature to alter it. The mud is home to many creatures, and if you are lucky you might come across a dragonet. The males can grow to around 30cm and have elongated dorsal fins covered in vivid yellow and blue splodges.
They are not, however, the reason for diving this site. After you have finned around 50m up the loch, boulders appear, some the size of small cars.
These are surrounded by schools of goldsinny wrasse and covered in beautiful peach-coloured anemones, which thrive in such numbers that they cover every bit of rock protruding from the mud.
The variously sized boulders that make up the reef sink into the ooze, some leaving gaps underneath. Other holes have been burrowed to accommodate the reef's larger residents, which give it its popular name, Conger Alley.
If you enjoy close encounters with very large congers, this is the place to do it. The eels seem fairly used to seeing divers, though if the site is busy they might slither further back into their holes, out of sight. But it is not unusual to see a dozen congers of various sizes around the reef in one dive.
The reef is only some 15m wide. It slopes up at 45* from around 25m before petering out at about 8m. Last year I found a very large conger at the upper end surrounded by some sizeable prawns, so there is no need to go deep.
The shallows are interesting in their own right. Small two-spot gobies dart around the weed, and nudibranchs, common whelks, scallops, hermit and swimming crabs are all common sights. The only drawback of the shallows is the freshwater run-off from the surrounding hills, which can cover the surface of the loch in cold, peaty water.
Where this fresh water mixes with salt water (usually at around 6m, but 4m in winter/spring) the viz deteriorates, and it is hard for your eyes to focus, but you can drop below it to find clearer if dark viz. From the congers below to the profuse life in the shallows, there is enough of interest to guarantee getting your season off to a good start.

- Mike Clark


Appeared in DIVER - May 1999