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Chapel Port East

Alternative Names: Isle of Whithorn

Type of Dive: Simple shore dive in and out of shallow gullies.

Suggested Experience: Novice

Travel directions: From Dumfries take the A75 west to Newton Stewart then south following signs to the Isle of Whithorn. At the sea on main st turn left and follow the road to the harbour.

Parking directions: Park in the carpark just past the Harbour as in the picture below

Car parking

Lat & Long:  54.696598, -4.361771 Postcode DG8 8LL  Google

Tides: Tide tables

Depth: 20m

Site entry/exit: Walk south 80m to the picnic table which can be used to kit up and walk towards the water and enter at the cleared path as in the pictures below. If you mistakenly end up in one of the dead ends the easiest thing is to ascend, re-orientate yourself and dive down again to navigate back to the cove.

Chapel Port East picnick tableChapel Port East entry/exit

Underwater directions: Head out on a northwesterly bearing. The bare cobble sea bed soon gives way to a band of  mermaid’s tresses, which in turn is followed by a dense kelp forest covering large boulders and rocky outcrops.  The kelp fronds are usually covered in a fine layer of silt and careful finning is required if visibility is to be maintained. To the right, a gap between the rock wall and a large boulder emerges and the bottom drops away to a depth of around 12 metres.  The kelp here has thinned and the sea bed is rocky but covered with silt.  Finning ahead you come to a large rock outcrop lying diagonally in front of you.  This has plumose anemones attached to it and is a good place to look for brown crabs.

Air & Nitrox: There are no shops near here but the nearest is in Newcastle or Glasgow.

Site Hazards: There are no major hazards here except for boat traffic.

Nearest Public phone:

Mobile Network service:

Accommodation: Harbour house

Other comments:

Pub: The Steam Packet Inn  

Cafe:  St Ninians Tearoom

Version: 2

Thanks To: Newton Stewart Sub-Aqua Club

Links: Chapel Port East

Created by: Chris Harrison 

Date: 18/1/20

Surface Photos:     

Underwater Photos: Contact me

Dive sitemap: By Chris Harrison

Chapel Port East dive map

Dive Report: Comment in the box below.