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STAR BARS The Good Dive Pub Guide
Scotland
Gavin Anderson
Scotland is full of interesting places to quench your thirst. Many popular pubs are by the harbour, and you'll have no problem finding which one your mates have gone to, as it will be the only one for miles around!
Oban has many pubs, but divers make a beeline for the Oban Inn. Voted the most atmospheric pub in town, it's a real fisherman's hideaway, dating back more than 200 years, with ship's wheels and artefacts dotted all round the room.
It has games machines, newspapers and a wide selection of malt whiskies and beers. Order a delicious bowl of garlic mussels if you're feeling hungry. The pub gets busy on Friday and Saturday night, so if there isn't much room downstairs, try the lounge bar above.
The inn is within stumbling distance of the harbour and live-aboard dive boats. Remember to help your buddy back; divers have been known to wake up on the wrong boat, in the middle of the Sound of Mull, come morning!
On the Island of Mull, on the north-west shore of the sound, is the colourful village of Tobermory, home to one of Scotland's favourite diver's pubs. The Mishnish, owned and run by the Mcleod family since 1869, looks just as it did in the old days. Its stone walls, large fireplace, old snugs and nautical artefacts give it a rare character, and there is live music every night.
Like the Oban Inn, the Mishnish is only a short distance from the dive boats.
Some two and a half-hours' drive north, the little town of Achiltibuie and the incredibly scenic Summer Isles are old favourites with divers. The only pub for miles around is the bar of the Summer Isles Hotel, which has a cosy atmosphere.
A stove sends out welcoming heat on a cold evening and local musicians play with abounding energy. Apart from a variety of draft beers, if you're partial to a wee dram you'll be dazzled by the choice of malts on offer! Pub grub is excellent, with the seafood platter particularly good value. Large groups wishing to eat are advised to phone ahead.
The remote island of St Kilda is one of the most spectacular dive destinations in the British Isles, and the Puffin pub is the only drinking place for many miles around. Not surprisingly, it is rather popular.
The pub was until recently subsidised by the armed forces, who were responsible for the early-warning radar system on the island. You could get a bottle of beer for less than 50p. Sadly it is now privately run, so you'll have to pay London prices!
Only the handful of Army personnel, volunteers from the National Trust and the pub-owners live on the island, so when a boatload of divers arrive they are made to feel most welcome.
A large fire is usually burning, and many tall diving stories are told. Most divers leave their mark on the roof, so take a marker pen. And bring a hat if you come on Thursday. That's hat night!
A bit closer to the Scottish mainland and far less remote is the island of Islay, and the Ardview Inn in Port Ellen is the place Dive Islay and its visiting divers frequent. This is a typical fisherman's pub, full of brass bits and pieces and old pictures of puffers.
A peat fire burns all day and locals sometimes turn up with their bagpipes, accordions or mouth organs!
The cocktail bar is the favoured haunt of divers. You can talk about Islay's amazing number of wrecks well into the wee hours. You might even find yourself next to the local bobby - off-duty of course, and watchless!
Another wreckers' hideaway is the Inverkip Marina bar on the Firth of Clyde. The Chartroom is the favourite of the two bars. Sitting on the hill overlooking the marina, you can enjoy your favourite pint surrounded by model ships and old nautical prints, and watch the boats through a porthole window.
With its stone houses, attractive slips and piers, and winding cobbled streets, it is in picturesque Stromness in the Orkney Islands that you'll find the Ferry Inn, where many divers visiting Scapa Flow stay. Its bar is mahogany, like the inside of a schooner, and has always been a popular haunt for divers. The local dive boats and live-aboards use it a bit like an office!
As in most great pubs there is always a degree of story-swapping and larking around, especially on the last nights of trips. You'll spot the divers; they're the ones wearing identical Scapa Flow T- shirts and singing club songs. And you can always be sure of an excellent steak..
In winter, Scotland's sheltered sea lochs are often the place to be. At the top of Loch Fyne is the tiny village of Cairndow and the old Stagecoach Inn, a great little place to hide from lashing rain and cold winds.
Queen Victoria and Dorothy Wordsworth stopped there, but today it is popular with hill-walkers, fishermen and divers. Newspapers lie on the solid oak tables, a real fire toasts visitors and wholesome pub grub is served all day.
On Loch Nevis, which enters the Sound of Sleat (separating Skye from the mainland), an increasing number of adventurers, including divers, are discovering the Old Forge. Britain's most remote mainland pub, it's in the tiny village of Inverie on the Knoydart peninsula, and you'll need to contain your thirst because you can reach it only by boat from Mallaig, some seven miles away, or by trekking 18 miles over some of Scotland's most rugged terrain from Kinlochourn.
The pub has recently had to expand, with new moorings to cater for the those who come to enjoy its friendly atmosphere and stunning views.
Over the water from Knoydart, in the northern half of Skye, is Waternish peninsula, and in the village of Stein you'll find one of the friendliest little pubs. The Stein Inn is picture-perfect, and overlooks some of best local dive sites. At weekends and during summer weeks it's a hive of activity, with divers and walkers often joining in a singsong with family groups. Tasty bar meals are served most of the day.
The Moray Firth, with its wrecks, scenic drop-offs and dolphins, is a popular dive spot for those in the know. The place to catch all the gossip is at the Pennan Inn, made famous by Local Hero. Outside the inn, the old red phonebox that played an integral part in the movie is protected from the sea spray by a special paint developed by the North Sea oil industry!
There is a strong nautical theme to the inn, with its old ship's bell to signal last orders, and the Smugglers restaurant famed for its Cullen Skink (thanks to TV chef Gary Rhodes). If you're into whisky it offers some rare bottles to sample. Remember to sign the visitors' book - you'll be in good company.
St Abbs and Dunbar are popular East Coast dive spots, just over an hour south of Edinburgh. The Volunteer pub in Dunbar is a fisherman's haunt dating back to the mid-1860s. A large open fire helps divers thaw on a winter's day, and in summer you can enjoy the views outside and, of course, a pint of the local ale. Upstairs the seafood restaurant is popular with the locals and visiting divers.
There is no pub in St Abbs but the Anchor, one of two in nearby Coldingham, is a good place to meet other divers. It's a small, cosy place with atmosphere, and on the wall are many old pictures of wrecks and local characters such as Tarbrush - a fishermen who, believe it or not, painted everything with tar! In the lounge you'll find a porthole taken off the wreck of the Glen Mire, which sank in 1910.
SOUTH WEST | SOUTH | EAST COAST AND CENTRAL | SCOTLAND | WALES | INTRO
Appeared in DIVER - May 1999
