Hamnavoe Harbour, Shetland

For those divers willing to venture as far north as Shetland, the harbour at Hamnavoe presents an easy shore dive. It’s a critter-lover’s heaven, giving a preview of the wealth of marine life that can be found throughout the isles. What’s more, it is ideal for getting back into the water after a while away, for testing kit or as a training dive.

If you are visiting Shetland on one of the liveaboards that now come from Orkney, you could use an evening to drive the 20 minutes or so from Lerwick and sneak this in as a little extra dive.

The car park is only few yards from the pier and the stone steps that lead down to the tiny beach.

A newly built breakwater has resulted in some of this beach being washed away, leaving the steps a little high and dry, but at a convenient height for donning kit. For a different entry point at high tide, simply jump off the pier.

Finning around under the pier is like being in an underwater forest, and each pier leg is akin to a giant tree trunk festooned with colourful life: blue splodges of elephant-ear sponge, pink clusters of baked-bean ascidians and shiny white plumose anemones. At the bottom of the legs, among rocks, bottles, jars and bits of scrap metal, are piles of starfish: from sunstars as big as dinner plates to cushion stars, Bloody Henrys and the small common starfish. Scorpionfish live here too, and one is often seen sitting on a weighing scale that has been at the end of the pier for years. Look closely and you will also find rosettes of nudibranch eggs along with sea lemons, the tiny white-and-yellow Limacia, and other, harder-to-identify species.

Small clumps of kelp fringe the pier. Pipefish wind themselves around the stipes and stalked jellyfish cling to the blades, where you may also find blue-rayed limpets and cowries. Decorator crabs, with seaweeds of all colours ‘threaded’ onto their legs, hide among them. A colourful lumpsucker or two will also be stuck there, and you may also find a butterfish weaving in and out.

The sandy bottom is home to razor shells, dog whelks, small flatfish and burrowing worms. Dahlia anemones cling to debris while hermit crabs scuttle around and velvet crabs wave their claws menacingly.

Fin across the sand for 10m or so and you will come to the new breakwater. Only a year old, it has already been colonised by pink encrusting algae, small clumps of red seaweed and large transparent ascidians. Velvet and shore crabs hide in the gaps between the rocks.

Depending on the time of year, visibility will usually be between 8m and 15m; with luck, the sun will shine through the water to create a wonderfully ethereal atmosphere. With a maximum depth of 6m on the pier legs and 9m around the breakwater, it will be the cold, rather than the lack of air, that will eventually drive you out from this very pretty site.

Exiting is easy: either walk up the beach on the breakwater side of the pier (not missing the chance to sit on the bicycle or pose on the skateboard at about 3m) or use the gradual – but sometimes slippery – slip on the other side.

NEED TO KNOW

DIRECTIONS
Take the north road out of Lerwick and, after a few miles, turn left at the sign for Scalloway. Just before entering Scalloway, turn left again at the sign for Hamnavoe. This road takes you over a small bridge, then across the island of Trondra and over another small bridge to the island of Burra. Keep following signs for Hamanvoe. Drive through the village and you will see the harbour on your left side.

Tidal and weather considerations Tides do not need to be taken into account, and this site can be dived in almost all weather conditions, with the possible exception of a strong westerly wind.

AIR FILLS
There is no recreational dive centre from which to obtain air fills in Shetland, but it is possible to arrange this with the local dive clubs – see bsac.com for details.

PARKING
There is a small car park opposite the harbour. It is also possible to park just by the side of the road at the harbour.

FACILITIES
There are public toilets just above the harbour area. A shop opposite sells a variety of snacks as well as hot pies for those feeling the cold. There are places to stay and to eat in the small town of Scalloway, which is just a few miles away, as well as in Lerwick, Shetland’s capital.

• Additional reporting by Fiona Watson and Linda Davis