Diving

Berwickshire’s coastal waters have long been renowned for their abundance and diversity of marine life and spectacular underwater scenery. Grey seals, harbour porpoises, bottlenose dolphins and minke whales in the summer months over 45,000 nestling seabirds occupy the cliffs of St Abb’s head. Bellow the waves lies a spectacular kelp forest, home to an array of sea urchins, sea slugs and territorial fish. As you descend deeper colourful soft corals swathe reefs and wolf fish lurk in cracks and crevices.

This is intended to be an introduction to the stunning underwater habitats found in the St Abbs and Eyemouth Voluntary Marine Reserve and the range of marine life they support. Due to its worldwide reputation as one of the top scuba diving destinations in the UK some specific dive sites to visit have been described. By doing this we hope to increase the visiting diver’s enjoyment of the marine reserve and ensure the protection of the marine environment. Finally, a few simple ways in which visitors can help the Voluntary Marine Reserve achieve its aims have been suggested.

Code of Conduct

In 1984, a wide range of users of the sea worked together to declare the coastal waters off St Abbs and Eyemouth a Voluntary Marine Reserve (VMR) creating the very first marine protected area in Scotland. The marine reserve aims to conserve marine wildlife, raise awareness of the marine environment through education and promote responsible recreational use use of coastal waters in conjunction with a sustainable fishery.

You can assist the VMR in achieving its aims by adhering to the Code of Conduct when visiting. Some of suggested dive sites in the guide lie outside the boundary of the VMR, but we hope divers will abide by the Code of Conduct at the adjacent sites and indeed wherever they dive.

  • Leave animals and plants where you find them and take care not to damage them
  • Do not tamper with lobster pots – it is illegal and dangerous
  • Divers – control your buoyancy and do not use spearguns and hooks
  • Take your litter home with you and do not pollute the sea
  • Avoid losing fishing tackle by using gear suitable for the ground and an appropriate rig design
  • Keep tour distance from seabirds, seals and dolphins to avoid disturbing them
  • look out for your safety at all times, check the tides and keep back from cliff edge

Diving sites