One really only gets an appreciation of just how remote Kinlochbervie (also known as KLB) when you travel there. You watch the miles pass by and the roads get smaller and smaller until finally you arrive… it’s taken 11-12 hours and despite the stunning scenery on the way, you certainly can feel the isolation (especially watching your phone signal disappear as you drive away from the lights of civilization.
Wild, beautiful and more than a little blowy was how we arrived on the Sunday afternoon, after a day and half of travel with an overnight stop at our home for the week, Shegra house, which literally is at the end of the road (there isn’t much road left beyond) about 4 miles from KLB. Roomy, with enough space for 10 comfortably we settled in for the night after a good meal at the Old School house restaurant.
The morning dawned somewhat blustery, but still sufficient to get out of Loch Inshard towards more open water. After parking up close to the boat (a luxury in itself), and meeting up with Chris and Jasper the boat dog, we slipped the moorings towards our first dive of the week on the outer wall of Loch Inshard.
I had heard a lot from the previous trips about how good the visibility of KLB was, and I’ll admit it took some getting used to. The first couple of meters though reminded me of what it might be like diving in a teabag due to recent rain run off, then once below this, the visibility shot out to a good 15-20m over the large boulder field over the sea bed. Fairly pleasant at 13-15°C, it took a little getting used to not having to check every 30 seconds where you were in relation to your buddy.
I was diving that day in a three-ball with Peter and Liz as Catherine (who I had expected to be diving with) was not due to join us till later in the week, and I was able to indulge in photography focussing on the macro life without having to worry about losing my buddy (or boring them). After coming up, and a spot of lunch (being able to come back in was nice), we dropped in for our second dive a short distance up the wall from our first, and were treated to more wonderful visibility, but strangely not too much fish life.
The weather forecast for the next few days was truly looking grim and getting steadily worse (gusts of force 9 at points). Due to the position of KLB, we were still able to dive, but restricted to the waters of Loch Inshard. Diving with Sean for the next couple of days as Sue had unfortunately hurt her knee the day before jumping in, over the next few dives we explored the various walls of the Loch, again with the teabag effect but with clear but somewhat darker water below. Walls with various anenomes, nudibranchs, brittlestars and crabs could still be seen however and were lovely scenery.
On the Thursday, the weather started to clear, so we risked sticking our noses out of the loch towards more open water. The first dive of the day, with Sean and Sue (whose knee had recovered sufficiently) was on the site of Bodha Ceann Na Sale, using the attached shipping buoy as an entry point. This dropped us down to a beautiful wall covered in anenomes and sponges at ~20m again in the usual excellent visibility. We got lucky on that dive as well, spotting our first Octopus of the trip, although he proved to be a bit camera shy.
On Friday, the weather had moderated even further, allowing us to properly get out of the Loch, and we headed slightly north of KLB towards Mhor Island. Catherine had finally joined us, so I was diving with her for the final two days. Mhor Island showed us just how good KLB could be, walls of sponges and anenomes, fantastic visibility as well as shoals of fish made for wonderful diving days. The only downside to the final couple of good weather days was it allows that blight of the Scottish Highlands, the midge to get out in earnest. Outside the lodge was thick with them to the extent Peter was dashing out to do 2 minutes of jobs on his rebreather before coming back inside.
The end of the trip unfortunately necessitated a very early start back (5.40am), and more than 13 hours to get back in one day… a long drive and one I was glad to be over.
Was the trip worth it – a definite yes, to get it that continuously dive after dive is something truly special – yes it’s a long drive, but I will most certainly go back in the future (as soon as I buy shares in midge repellent!).
By Steve Merrick
