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Shetland
West Coast Shetland
West Coast Shetland August 2004 saw the Halton working the west coast of Shetland, something of a surprise as I was meant to be in Lerwick! When we left Orkney it was thick fog (a common partner of SE winds) and strong winds forecast from the east, so rather than go to Lerwick and risk missing diving, we ventured to Scalloway on the west side from where we would gain a lee from the land. The Northlink ferry pulls into Lerwick but it is a short hop across land to Scalloway, maybe 10 mins in a taxi, so a couple of phone calls and the troops were soon aboard the boat! From Scalloway it is a short steam to a number of Skerries The scenery around Scalloway is superb: deep cut voes, small islands and a mass of small skerries make the potential for diving immense. As a shakedown a couple of these skerries were dived at the start of each week, each one providing something unique. Depths quickly drop off in Shetland, frequently getting to 60m plus within a stones throw of the beach, and revealing the best of the sheer drop offs. Visibility was not the best it could be when we were there, probably a function of a slight algae bloom, but never the less hovered around the respectable 12-15m mark. Skelda Ness marks the emergence point from the relative shelter of islands around Scalloway, a reasonably sheer wall and a slight tide making for another pleasant drop. When it came to Foula, we struck things very lucky. Due to the exposure of this small island in the Atlantic, conditions need to be absolutely perfect to even attempt diving here, especially over the Oceanic.  The west side of Foula The cliffs here are some of the tallest in Europe and we managed to get several drops in at their base. Depths here were not as dramatic as expected but a respectable 30m could be reached with ease.  Sheer wall at Foula Foula is also home to the Hoevdi rocks, last resting place of the Oceanic.  Dive 17: Oceanic!! Papa Stour proved to be rich ground for exploration. The island is surrounded by numerous sea stacks and deeply cut with geos and caves. First drop was amongst the arches of Fogla Skerry, on the north west point and is akin to diving the through the legs of a spider: three rows of five or so pillars drop into the sea supporting the rock roof.  Fogla Skerry The rock formations on the west side of Papa Stour itself look like elephants knee deep in a watering hole, especially with the distinctive reddish ochre rock.  Elephants watering hole One stack had two caves running at right angles through it, bisecting in the middle to form a cross around a central atrium. We never managed to dive here (time constraints) but this is defiantly a site for future exploration.  A cave through stack that is bisected at right angles by another in the middle We dived the obvious geological features, frequently using the inflatable in the poorly charted water close to the shore. Marked on the chart are a number of underwater rocks that undermined my confidence for taking the Halton close in: these obstructions would be a rich source of diving if properly explored in the future. Lack of time proved the biggest constraint so that we often just scraped the surface of what was there.  Halton in the distance. At the north western tip of Papa Stour is the longest tunnel through the rock that I have come across. A measurement on the chart puts it's length at just over half a kilometre. The roof is at head height when sat in an inflatable, depths range from 7m at the shallowest in the middle to 14m at the entrance and width enough for 2 or 3 divers to swim side by side. 
At first glance there is just cliff face and shadows. The entrance is deceptive; because of the overhang the shadows disguise the opening so it was only by feeling the cold air draught that we twigged that there was a tunnel at all. Luck was with us as there was absolutely no swell, and I provided surface cover with the Zodiac whilst the others dived. 
Curiosity killed the cat. In the middle of the cave there is absolutely no light so it was really eerie to sit floating on the inflatable in absolute silence and darkness apart from the diver's torches swimming under the boat. 
Just back from the entrance, light starts to creep round the corner. Papa Stour is also home to the Highcliffe, a site we only dived once despite being on the agenda early on. There was that much else to dive we just never seemed to get there..!  Highcliffe Papa Stour is about 3 hours steam from Scalloway and having spent time exploring here it was time to head further north. We anchored in Busta Voe for one night, shops a short inflatable ride away, and explored Muckle Roe the next day. Here we had mixed fortunes. The troops were dropped at the base of the cliffs below the lighthouse but were met with poor (3m) vis. With a disappointing first dive it was in the inflatable to do some exploring and it was then that Shetland showed that not all things come easily. Set into the cliff face were three deep gashes, running back about 150m. A dive showed that these gashed were joined through a series of interconnecting caves and bizarrely, the visibility in the caves was superb. It was this small complex that we had missed in the poor vis.  In the cut.  Entrance to the middle cut. Most of the time there is air, not rock, above so exploration was safe enough without full cave diving paraphernalia whilst depths were mostly shallower than 25m.  It was at this point that our luck with the weather ran out. With the Thursday spent on the Goodwill Merchant we ran south back to Orkney and spent a windy Friday in the Flow 
Bob Anderson: bob@mvhalton.co.uk Tel:(01856) 851532
©Halton Charters
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