SeaLogIreland · wall · advanced
A shore dive into kelp-topped gullies and pebble-ground overhangs beneath Clare's last surviving sea arch.
The Bridges of Ross is a headland on the north side of the Loop Head peninsula in west Clare, about 8 km due west of Carrigaholt at the end of the R478, in the townland of Ross near Kilbaha. The name is plural for historical reasons: there were three natural sea arches and two have collapsed. The surviving bridge cannot be seen from the road, and walkers reach it a few hundred metres west along the footpath from the car park. The rock it is cut in is the Upper Carboniferous Ross Sandstone Formation, and the Geological Survey lists the site as of National Importance for the Ross Slide, a deformed slump unit with sand volcanoes on top of it.
Underwater it is a shore dive rather than a boat site. Finstrokes, which carries the only authored dive description we found, gives about 14 m and calls it a dive for an experienced club diver. From the car park you walk 50 m back to a small path down to the shore, or go out along the slab rock and make a jump entry. The route is out along the gully, looking under the overhangs, then west around the point into the Bridges of Ross and back. The bottom is small pebble; walls rise on both sides, topped with kelp and undercut by overhangs the pebbles have ground out. Far enough in, the walls close to within touching distance on either side.
The gate is swell. A wind from the north puts sea into the gully, and there is only one exit point once you are committed to it. The advice is to dive it after several days of calm weather, on a slack tide. There are no facilities here at all: parking for about ten cars where the road ends, no cafe, and the nearest air and nitrox listed is Waterworld away in Co. Kerry. Above water the headland is one of Ireland's best-known autumn seabird passage watchpoints, so expect birders in the car park in September even when the sea is unworkable.
Drive the R478 to the end of the road, about 8 km due west of Carrigaholt; there is parking for around ten cars where the road stops. From the car park walk 50 m back to a small path leading down to the shore, or walk out along the slab rock and do a jump entry. The surviving arch is a few hundred metres west along the footpath and is not visible from the road. Recorded site position 52.591491, -9.867486.
You can reach the site independently.
No permit or fee. Bridges of Ross is a designated County Geological Site in Clare and the Geological Survey rates it of National Importance under the Upper Carboniferous theme, noting that the sand volcanoes on the foreshore need protection and that public access appears to exist. That is a heritage designation on the rock exposure, not a diving restriction, but it is a reason not to hammer or collect here.
No source gives months for this site, so none are set. What the dive description gives instead is a condition: several days of calm weather and a slack tide. DUSAC make the same point about the neighbouring Kilkee sites - very weather-dependent, and clear when it goes. Because the gate is settled Atlantic weather rather than water temperature, watch the forecast rather than the calendar. Above water, the seabird passage that the headland is famous for peaks in autumn, when the sea is least likely to cooperate.
Cold, exposed and weather-gated. The seabed in the gully is small pebble; the walls are kelp-topped and undercut. When the Atlantic settles, the water on this stretch of Clare is usually very clear - DUSAC say as much of the neighbouring Kilkee sites, which are the same coast 25 km east - but the same guide notes how weather-dependent the whole area is. When a northerly is running the site simply does not go.
On current: Swell, not tidal stream, is what decides this dive. The published advice is to go after a few days of calm weather on a slack tide; a northerly wind puts sea into the gully and there is a single exit point. Sources disagree on depth: aggregator listings circulate an 18 m maximum and describe the site as sitting beside the Diamond Rocks, which are actually 25 km away at Kilkee, while the only authored dive description gives 14 m. The 14 m figure is the one used here.
Both. It is a well-known Wild Atlantic Way viewpoint and autumn seabird watchpoint, and it is also a documented shore dive. The dive works the gully and the overhangs below the arch, out along the gully and west around the point into the Bridges themselves and back. It is not a commercial dive site; no centre sells trips here.
The only authored dive description gives about 14 m. Some aggregator listings circulate 18 m instead, and those same listings misplace the site next to the Diamond Rocks at Kilkee, 25 km away, so we have taken the conservative 14 m. The dive is about topography rather than depth: gullies with kelp-topped walls and eroded overhangs on a pebble bottom.
From the car park at the end of the R478 you walk 50 m back to a small path down to the shore, or walk out along the slab rock and make a jump entry. The critical point is that there is only one exit, so a change in swell while you are out in the gully is a serious problem rather than an inconvenience.
No. The published guidance is that it suits an experienced club diver. The reasons are the single exit point, the jump entry, the narrow overhung gullies where the walls close to arm's reach, and the fact that a northerly wind puts swell straight into the site. Cold-water experience and a settled forecast are both prerequisites.
No source gives months. The published condition is several days of calm weather and a slack tide, which on this Atlantic-facing coast means waiting on the forecast rather than picking a season. DUSAC make the same point for the nearby Kilkee sites: very weather-dependent, but usually extremely clear water when it does go.
Essentially none. There is parking for about ten cars where the road ends, and picnic tables near the viewpoint. There is no cafe close by and no dive shop; the nearest air and nitrox fills listed for the site are at Waterworld in Co. Kerry. Bring everything, including a plan for a diver who gets into trouble.
We found no permit requirement for recreational diving. The headland is a designated County Geological Site rated of National Importance by the Geological Survey for the Ross Slide and its sand volcanoes, which the report says need protection. That is a heritage designation on the rock rather than a diving restriction, but treat the foreshore accordingly.
| Species | How often | Records |
|---|---|---|
| Limanda limanda | common | 206 |
| Halichoerus grypus | common | 195 |
| Tursiops truncatus | common | 139 |
| Merlangius merlangus | common | 125 |
| Sprattus sprattus | common | 109 |
| Eutrigla gurnardus | common | 105 |
| Scomber scombrus | common | 63 |
| Callionymus lyra | common | 61 |
| Clupea harengus | common | 60 |
| Trachurus trachurus | common | 57 |
| Cancer pagurus | occasional | 47 |
| Trisopterus minutus | occasional | 43 |
| Echiichthys vipera | occasional | 39 |
| Pleuronectes platessa | occasional | 38 |
| Delphinus delphis | occasional | 26 |
| Dasyatis pastinaca | occasional | 24 |
| Alloteuthis subulata | occasional | 24 |
| Solea solea | occasional | 21 |
| Loligo forbesii | occasional | 19 |
| Squalus acanthias | occasional | 18 |
| Balaenoptera acutorostrata | occasional | 18 |
| Callionymus maculatus | occasional | 16 |
| Scyliorhinus canicula | occasional | 15 |
| Lophius piscatorius | occasional | 13 |
| Lesueurigobius friesii | occasional | 13 |
| Fabulina fabula | occasional | 13 |
| Melanogrammus aeglefinus | occasional | 11 |
| Phorcus lineatus | occasional | 11 |
| Phocoena phocoena | occasional | 10 |
| Raja clavata | occasional | 9 |
| Raja montagui | occasional | 9 |
| Trisopterus esmarkii | occasional | 9 |
| Nucella lapillus | occasional | 9 |
| Patella vulgata | occasional | 9 |
| Chamelea striatula | occasional | 9 |
| Cetorhinus maximus | occasional | 8 |
| Merluccius merluccius | occasional | 8 |
| Calliostoma zizyphinum | occasional | 8 |
| Tetronarce nobiliana | occasional | 8 |
| Raja brachyura | occasional | 8 |
| Necora puber | occasional | 7 |
| Asterina gibbosa | occasional | 7 |
| Polybius holsatus | occasional | 7 |
| Porcellana platycheles | occasional | 6 |
| Xantho hydrophilus | occasional | 6 |
| Crangon crangon | occasional | 6 |
| Palaemon serratus | occasional | 6 |
| Lophius budegassa | occasional | 6 |
| Mola mola | occasional | 6 |
| Littorina littorea | occasional | 6 |
| Mytilus edulis | occasional | 6 |
| Polybius depurator | occasional | 6 |
| Marthasterias glacialis | occasional | 5 |
| Echinocyamus pusillus | occasional | 5 |
| Steromphala cineraria | occasional | 5 |
| Steromphala umbilicalis | occasional | 5 |
| Bathyporeia pelagica | rare | 4 |
| Botryllus schlosseri | rare | 4 |
| Maja brachydactyla | rare | 4 |
| Carcinus maenas | rare | 4 |
A rock rising from 40 m to within 5 m of the surface, dived as a spiral from the bottom up.
A narrow rock canyon west of Kilkee worked at about 15 m, with kelp on the rim for the safety stop.
The seaward rock of the Kilkee pair, listed by the local club as its own boat dive and summed up in four words: only for the curious.
Kilkee's shallow training reef off the Duggerna Rocks — a sand runway from 2 m, kelp on top, and about 10 m at the deepest.
The Kilkee wall you dive as one long ascent: cracks and overhangs from 35-40 m with something to look at all the way up to 6 m.
A gently sloping kelp-and-boulder bay on the far side of George's Head, and the Kilkee site that stays divable when the others do not.
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