SEA-LOCH DIVER

Continuing his tour of some of the best elements of Scottish diving,ROSS MCLAREN takes us on a tour of Loch Long on the west coast

I’M NOT SURE WHY, perhaps it’s just me, but I think we sometimes overlook what we have right on our doorsteps. Rather than being appreciative we can become indifferent, and in some cases even contemptuous, of things we see and experience regularly.

When it comes to diving on the west coast of Scotland, I think this tendency is particularly relevant to Loch Long.

If you’re a diver from Scotland who dives home waters it’s pretty much guaranteed that you’ll have dived in this loch, whether it be on training courses or for fun.

I also think it’s safe to say that if you’re a regular diver there, you’re probably a little fed up with diving in Loch Long.

But when I sit down and think about it, I do wonder if we should be showing this body of water more appreciation.

It’s 20 miles in length but Loch Long doesn’t get its name from its dimensions. Loch Long in Gaelic translates to Ship Lake, and the name dates back to 1263 when the Vikings saw Arrochar, at the top of the loch, as a key target from which they could drag their ships across land to attack the unprotected settlements of Tarbet.

Brief history lesson over, back to diving. There are 13 Loch Long dive-sites listed on the website Finstrokes, a surprising number for one body of water, and all within an hour’s drive of Glasgow city centre.

Until I started researching this piece I hadn’t realised that there were so many, and I admit that I have yet to dive all of them.

In my opinion, however, there are four that stand out as being well worth a visit if you’re up this way.

As with other dive-sites around the country, different clubs and dive-schools sometimes seem to have their own names for each location, but I’ll try to include as many of them as possible.