WINDY ISLE - Scottish West Coast
Windy Isle isn’t about big pelagics or colourful reefs. It’s a different kind of dive, one that we’ve come to really appreciate on the Scottish West Coast. This fishing vessel, deliberately grounded at Bholsa Point, offers a raw, honest experience. She lies half-exposed, her stern a tangle of plates and beams that we’ve seen shift with winter storms, and her bow still has an eerie integrity. What we love here is the light. On a sunny day, it slices through the shallow water, illuminating the rust-coloured steel. It’s a wreck dive for every level, really. Beginners can explore the shallower sections, weaving through the superstructure, while more experienced divers can poke around deeper into the holds, where cod and pollock often lurk, sometimes a curious seal too. The true charm is seeing how quickly the cold water marine life claims its territory. Dead man's fingers anemones cling to every surface, soft corals bloom in surprising patches, and we’ve spent hours just watching the hydroids pulse gently in the slight current. It's an intimate wreck, one that feels very much a part of the landscape now.
- Location
- Scottish West Coast, United Kingdom, Mediterranean & Europe
- Coordinates
- 55.927677, -6.196828
- Type
- wreck
- Maximum Depth
- 0m
Marine Protected Area: Rubh' a' Mhail to Uamhannan Donna Coast
Nearby Dive Sites in Scottish West Coast
- ACCORD - 9m (wreck)
- ADONO - 10m (wreck)
- ADROLIS - 5m (wreck)
- AGATE - 10m (wreck)
- AGIOS MINAS - 10m (wreck)
- AKKA - 28m (wreck)
- ALBIA - 10m (wreck)
- ALEXANDER - 10m (wreck)
- AMY JANE - 52m (wreck)
- AMY (POSSIBLY) - 38m (wreck)
- ANGELA - 5m (wreck)
- ANNIE JANE - 29m (wreck)
- ANNIE MC FADYEN - 7m (wreck)
- ANNIE MELLING - 54m (wreck)
- ANWOTH - 0m (wreck)
Nearest Dive Centres to WINDY ISLE
- Aquaholics - ["PADI"]
- C&C MARINE SERVICES
- Eagle Divers NI - ["PADI"]
- Field Studies Council Millport
- Freedive Northern Ireland
- Fyne Diving - ["PADI"]
Marine Life in Scottish West Coast
Home to 127 recorded species including 50 reef fish, 15 whales & dolphins, 10 seagrass & algae, 9 sharks & rays, 8 other, 7 crabs & lobsters.
Notable Species
- harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) - Whales & Dolphins
- Common minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) - Whales & Dolphins
- Common sea star (Asterias rubens) - Starfish
- Devonshire cup coral (Caryophyllia (Caryophyllia) smithii) - Hard Corals
- Cowfish (Tursiops truncatus) - Whales & Dolphins
- basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) - Sharks & Rays
- Common shore crab (Carcinus maenas) - Crabs & Lobsters
- Common brittlestar (Ophiothrix fragilis)
- Short-beaked Common Dolphin (Delphinus delphis) - Whales & Dolphins
- Acorn barnacle (Semibalanus balanoides)
- Light-bulb sea squirt (Clavelina lepadiformis)
- bladder wrack (Fucus vesiculosus) - Seagrass & Algae
- Blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) - Clams & Mussels
- Norway Lobster (Nephrops norvegicus) - Crabs & Lobsters
- Sand mason (Lanice conchilega) - Worms
- Dog whelk (Nucella lapillus) - Sea Snails & Nudibranchs
- knotted wrack (Ascophyllum nodosum) - Seagrass & Algae
- Edible periwinkle (Littorina littorea) - Sea Snails & Nudibranchs
- Star ascidian (Botryllus schlosseri)
- Common whelk (Buccinum undatum) - Sea Snails & Nudibranchs