The Hebrides & the west coast
Diving in Scotland
Scottish west-coast water is nothing like the tropics and that is the point. Summer plankton blooms in the Sea of the Hebrides draw basking sharks to the surface to feed, mouths agape, and for a few months a year the seas around Coll, Mull and Tiree hold one of the most dependable aggregations of the species anywhere. Encounters are usually by snorkel rather than scuba — a feeding shark stays at the surface, and bubbles push it away — with seal colonies, kelp forest and wreck diving filling the rest of the trip.
What you can see
Know before you go
- Best season
- April to October for the season overall, with basking sharks concentrated from roughly June to September when the plankton peaks.
- Conditions
- Cold and green: 12–15°C at the surface in summer, and a good deal less below the thermocline. A drysuit or a thick semi-dry is the norm, and visibility is plankton-dependent — the murkiest water often holds the most sharks.
- Getting there
- Fly or take the train to Glasgow, then about three hours by road to Oban, the main departure port. Trips also run from Coll, Barra and Tobermory.