Farne Islands

On a Thursday we dive at Farnes, we meet at Sea Houses around 6PM, the minimum requirement for divers is a Advanced Open Water Course. All divers must have their own DSMB.

Or why not come for an evening dive at Gladtides in a purpose built hardboat. Built with a hydraulic lift.
Dives on a Thursday range from Wreck Dives such as Somali, St Andre, Abessinia, and the Knifestone Wrecks.

We dive with the seals around the Hopper Rocks, or why not try diving on the Gun Rocks and see the old Spanish Galleons that sunk around the 1700's?
We also do an exciting Drift Dive through the Pipers Gut!

To book a place  in advance, or even if you want some dive information ring the dive shop on 0191-2370790.  We are more then happy to help!

Here is some information about some of the destinations we have mentioned:-

St. Andre.

Max. depth: 25 mtrs
Minimum grade: Novice
Currents: Negligible

The St. Andre was 70m long, 1100 tonnes and sank in 1908 after hitting the Crumstone and drifting here whilst carrying wrought iron to Grangemouth. Wrasse (which can be hand fed) can be seen on every dive and octopus and huge edible crabs are not uncommon.
If you lose your bearings, just head up the slope (north-west) to shallower water and safety. As for wreckage, like all the wrecks here it's flattened, the majority of wreckage is supported above the seabed by girders - leaving plenty of space for various critters beneath, cod, ling, wolf-fish etc.

Abessinia

Max. depth: 25+ mtrs
Minimum grade: Sports Diver
Currents: Avoid spring tides, slack preferred

Anemones, sponges, corals and indeed anything which relies on the plentiful food supply provided by the currents which swirl around here festoon every surface. The only identifiable wreck amongst many is the Abessinia - supposedly the largest vessel wrecked on the islands, she lies down the western slope of the Knivestone reef as deep as 17m, but unlike the St. Andre, her debris - bows close to the reef - appears to be piled up in a jumble and covered with life. Her boilers are the largest intact items to be seen and it's not uncommon to come across seals "dozing" amongst the wreckage.

Knifestone.

Max. depth: 22+ mtrs
Minimum grade: Experienced Sports Diver
Currents: Severe, slack water recommended.

The southeast side of Knivestone, unless dived at slack, can be quite restrictive as it's almost impossible to swim beyond the shelter of the reef - either west to the Abessinia or northeast towards Whirl Rocks with any tide running. However, it's possible to have an enjoyable dive to the north of the reef mid-tide; for a couple of hours either side of low-water the reef provides a sheltered site allowing access to the Abessinia and the numerous gullies on the north side.
So why dive close to the reef here? One popular reason is .... seals!

On almost every visit here divers are repeatedly teased by "gangs" of juveniles who seem to derive as much enjoyment from the encounters as we do. I've been told that blowing bubbles is a seal's way of expressing anger, so rebreather users have a distinct advantage over open-circuit divers who, unless they exhale very gently will tend to dicourage all but the most inquisitive. Strangely, some individuals aren't put off by eye contact - something usually guaranteed to end an encounter and should you come across a seal lying on the seabed, one method of approaching which I've used quite successfully, it is to gently drop down to the seabed yourself and edge yourself closer sideways - trying to appear uninterested in the seal as you do it (no guarantees).

The Hopper

Southeast side of Longstone - The Hopper.

Max. depth: 30+ mtrs
Minimum grade: Confident Novice
Currents: Avoid spring flood tide

This area, known as The Hopper, can be dived in most conditions except strong easterlies. The reef drops sheer from the surface to 20 metres then shelves to more than 30 metres but it's not worth going this deep as severe currents are encountered away from the reef. There are narrow canyons leading up and through into the small lagoon behind, seals zoom through these as they inspect you. In one of these there is what appears to be a cannon (but unfortunately it's just pipe) an old anchor and other bits of debris - perhaps there are more interesting things further down the slope?.

Southwest side of Longstone - Longstone Ends.

Max. depth: 30+ mtrs
Minimum grade: Confident, experienced Novice
Currents: Avoid spring tides

The southern end of this site can be covered at the end of a dive on the Chris Christenson; it may be dived in most conditions except strong westerlies/southerlies. Entry into Crawfords Gut, hard against the southwest side of Longstone into about 12 metres then keeping the reef on your left follow the reef south. As you near the end of the site, the reef is cut with dramatic gullys down to 18 metres. The rudder of the Chris Christenson lies on the slope at about 21 metres and her prop is above at about 19 metres. A pile of chain and various other bits of debris litter this area.
Severe currents are usually encounterd if you venture much beyond this at anything other than slack-water. Seals are common and in good conditions this is a very photogenic site.

Piper Gut.

Max. depth: 18 mtrs
Minimum grade: Sports
Currents: Severe at mid tide. Drift dive.

To the north of Staple is Brownsman, north of this are the Wamses and east of these is Piper Gut; on the east side of this lies Big Harcar. It was on the northwest corner of this rock that the Forfarshire struck and to which Grace Darling made her epic journey of rescue. A drift dive through the 'Gut is exhilarating, but don't expect to see any trace of the wreck on the featureless seabed.

Gun Rocks.

Max. depth: 13+ mtrs
Minimum grade: Novice
Currents: Slack water preferred


This is an old site (circa 1700), so old in fact that there's no wreckage just cannon and a few cannon balls. The area where the cannon are - the south side - is very shallow (4m) and heavily infested with kelp although a few metres to the west it drops rapidly into Staple Sound - more than 20m deep. This channel is scoured with strong currents - do not descend into it!
This can be an interesting dive with the ever present hope that you might discover something of historical importance. As it's usually a second dive - used to "finish off" a bottle it's invariably spoilt by divers being under-weighted, I'm sure you know the formula:- buoyant cylinder + shallow water = bums in the air. Quite a lot of archaeological work was carried out here in the '60's, sword hilts and other assorted bits were found including a small bronze cannon but alas, of the wreck itself nothing remains with the result that nobody can say with any certainty what nationality it was or how it came to be here.

(Credit for the information goes to D.Cordes)