Alternative Names: Ferry point
Type of Dive: Bonawe ferry point is a shore dive in Loch Etive.
Suggested experience: Confident Ocean Diver upwards
Travel directions: Situated on the North Shore of Loch Etive, past Bonawe Village.
Distance from Oban: 15 Miles 35 Mins Google Glasgow: 102 Miles 2hrs 31 mins Google
Parking directions: Park considerately by the wreck of an old boat at the car parking area. Google
Lat & Long: N56.447143 W-5.228779 Postcode PA37 1RL Google
Tides: Tide tables Make sure you get the tides right for the dive you are doing.
Depth: 30m available, tho’ we stayed around 15m for the bright sunlight.
Site entry/exit: Enter either from the old slipway or over the rocks to the left. At certain times of the tide, you can simply step in and out.
Underwater directions: Swim along the wall/slope to the left to your turn around point. There’s a mix of bottom structure from kelp in the shallows to coarse Granite sand with a copious amount of fingered sponges (Halichondria bowerbankii) and large outcrops of solid rock hiding deeper chasms on the other sides. Watch your timing on the way back to the entry point and begin ascending appropriately halfway back to come up into little bays of coarse sand and kelp, otherwise, you may be taken past the end of the slipway and round the corner where exit becomes more difficult as the rocks are larger and more vertical.
Air & Nitrox: Puffin divers & The underwater centre
Site Hazards: Rocky entry, currents at all mid tide times, Anglers use the site to fish from.
Nearest Public phone: None close to here.
Mobile Network service: O2 works fine
Accommodation: Plenty of good B&Bs around Connel, also plenty of good, quiet midge free wild campsites along this side of the loch. Plenty of wood around for campfires. Scottish Tourist Board, Edinburgh. Tel: 0131 332 2433.
Other comments: This can be a fun dive when done on the first two hours of the Ebbtide as there’s an Eddy current in this area that takes you on a gentle drift UP the loch, as you’ll see from the sponges all leaning that way, When you get to 9-10 metres depth when it reverses completely and then takes one DOWN the loch. Again, you’ll see the sponges bending in that direction too. Also, NOTE, this won’t happen on a Flood Tide, the underwater topography doesn’t allow it, IE, you’ll HAVE to swim against the current to come home.
Pub: We took our own as we were camping
Cafe: A couple of good cafes in Benderloch
Created by: Darryl Mayer
Date: 29-01-11
Revision: 1
Thanks To: UK Hydrographers Office for producing nice accurate charts so we can plan dives like these.
Links: None
Surface Photos:
Underwater Photos: By Darryl Mayer
Dive Map: Not required
Dive Report: Comment in the box below.