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Donegal Point
Ireland · cave · advanced
7–30 madvancedAOWboat entry
MEDIA5 items
Donegal Point
A through-cavern under a small headland north of Kilkee: in at 14 m, dark at 18 m, out at 24 m on the far side.
Max depth7–30 m
Required leveladvanced
Entry typeboat
Visibilitynot sourced
The dive
Donegal Point is a small headland on the open coast north of Kilkee, and the dive is a cavern that runs underneath it. Dublin University Sub-Aqua Club dived it in June 2009 and their write-up is the clearest account of the route: the entrance is on the north side of the headland, you drop in and go down to about 14 m to find it, and there is a small gully at the mouth that was full of very large spider crabs. Keeping the cave wall on your right, the passage gets quite dark at around 18 m, continues down, and opens out again at about 24 m on the other side of the headland. It only takes a few minutes to swim through and is wide enough for two divers side by side. The bottom is sand rather than silt, which is why the visibility inside held up.
Kilkee Dive Centre, which runs the trip out of the East End pier, describes the same place from the other end: an inlet with a kelp forest starting at 7 m, a wall that drops to a maximum of about 30 m with life in the cracks and overhangs, and an airy cavern that brings you back around to the anchored boat. Between the two accounts the picture is a wall dive with an overhead section in the middle of it, worked between roughly 7 and 30 m.
The life is what you would expect on a cold Atlantic reef, but there is a lot of it. DUSAC saw an enormous lobster inside the cavern and several more around the site, on top of the spider crabs at the entrance. The dive centre lists crabs, lobsters, anemones, sponges, sea fans and nudibranchs, with wrasse, pollack, butterfish and gurnards over the rock. Occurrence records at this pin are thin — a single survey's worth — but they do include butterfish, a reticulated dragonet, several nudibranch species and a range of encrusting sponges, which matches.
This is the furthest north of the Kilkee boat sites, roughly five to ten minutes beyond Illaunabaha by DUSAC's reckoning. There is no shore access, no shortcut, and no reason to attempt the cavern without a light and the training to be in an overhead environment.
- A wide through-cavern under the headland, in at 14 m and out at 24 m
- Very large spider crabs in the gully at the cavern mouth
- Kelp forest from 7 m down onto a wall with cracks and overhangs
- Sandy rather than silty bottom, so the cavern holds its visibility
Please note before you go
- Overhead environment: the cavern is entered at about 14 m and gets quite dark at around 18 m — a light and overhead training are not optional
- Depth: the wall runs to about 30 m, beyond Advanced Open Water's 30 m planning limit at the bottom end
- Boat only on an exposed Atlantic coast, further north than any other Kilkee site, with no shore exit
- Kilkee diving is weather-limited; DUSAC describe the coast as taking the full force of the Atlantic
Access & rules
Mandatory requirementsGetting there
Boat only. DUSAC put it north of the harbour, about five to ten minutes beyond the reef they call Oileán na Beatha, which is itself 10 to 15 minutes out from Kilkee. Oceanlife runs the dive centre, shop and café at the East End pier beside the slip and public car park. Anyone bringing their own boat should note DUSAC's practical notes: the slip is tidal and best used within about three hours of low water on springs, there are no public moorings, local by-laws forbid compressing cylinders at the pier, and the car park has a 2.1 m height barrier. Nearest recompression chamber is Galway.
Operator
Access to the site runs through a local operator.
Season
Oceanlife, the dive centre on Kilkee's East Pier, opens May to September, seven days a week; Kilkee Sub Aqua Club is most active March to October. This is the longest boat run of the local sites, so it needs a settled day more than the others do, which in practice means the summer months.
Conditions
Visibilitynot sourced
Currentlight
Surgenot sourced
WaterSalt water
Depth range7–30 m
Environmentcave
Coralnot sourced
Crowdsquiet
Cold Atlantic water on an exposed headland north of Kilkee. DUSAC found visibility great inside the cavern in 2009 and put that down to the sand bottom rather than silt, but no source publishes a typical visibility or water temperature for the site, so both are left blank. Currents are not the planning problem — the club records these sites as non-tidal — but swell on this coast is, and there is no shelter to retreat to once you are this far north.
On current: DUSAC record the Kilkee dive sites as non-tidal, with the dive boats running in and out all day, so there is no slack-water window to time. The two published accounts differ on maximum depth: DUSAC's cavern route bottomed out where the passage opens at about 24 m, while the dive centre publishes a wall to 30 m. We take 30 m as the working maximum. The dive centre anchors the boat and brings divers back around to it, whereas DUSAC swam the cavern through to the far side of the headland and back, so ask which version you are being taken on.
Best months: May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep
Dives & underwater footage
Questions & answers
How deep is Donegal Point?
Kilkee Dive Centre publishes a kelp forest starting at 7 m and a wall running to a maximum of about 30 m. Dublin University Sub-Aqua Club's 2009 cavern route entered at 14 m and came out at about 24 m on the far side of the headland. Take 30 m as the working maximum and 7 m as the shallow end.
Is Donegal Point a cave dive?
It is a cavern dive rather than a cave dive. DUSAC describe entering on the north side of the headland at 14 m, keeping the wall on the right, passing through a section that gets quite dark at around 18 m, and coming out at about 24 m on the other side. The passage is wide enough for two divers side by side and takes only a few minutes to swim.
Do I need a torch at Donegal Point?
Yes if you are doing the cavern. DUSAC specifically note that it gets quite dark at about 18 m in the middle of the passage before it opens out again. Anyone diving an overhead section should have a light, a buddy plan and training appropriate to a cavern, and be comfortable with the depth at the exit.
How do you get to Donegal Point?
By boat only, from the East End pier in Kilkee where Oceanlife runs the dive centre. DUSAC place it north of the harbour, roughly five to ten minutes further on than the reef they call Oileán na Beatha, which is itself 10 to 15 minutes out. It is the longest run of the local sites and there is no shore access at the point.
What will I see at Donegal Point?
DUSAC found very large spider crabs in the gully at the cavern mouth, an enormous lobster inside the cavern itself, and several more lobsters around the site. The dive centre lists crabs, lobsters, anemones, sponges, sea fans and nudibranchs on the rock, with wrasse, pollack, butterfish and gurnards over it. Occurrence records at this pin include butterfish, a reticulated dragonet and several nudibranch species.
Is Donegal Point suitable for beginners?
No. The dive involves an overhead passage entered at 14 m that goes dark before it opens at 24 m, and the wall outside runs to about 30 m. Both the depth and the overhead put it past what an Open Water diver trains for. Newfie, inside Kilkee Bay, is the local site built for that level.
When is the best time to dive Donegal Point?
May to September, when Oceanlife on Kilkee's East Pier is open seven days a week; the local club runs March to October. Because this is the furthest north of the Kilkee sites and fully exposed to the Atlantic, it wants a settled day rather than just a dry one, and the summer months are when those turn up.
Life recorded at Donegal Point
35 species within 1.5 km · OBISClavelina lepadiformisrare · 1 records
Aslia lefevreirare · 1 records
Pollachius pollachiusrare · 1 records
Callionymus reticulatusrare · 1 records
Pholis gunnellusrare · 1 records
Dysidea fragilisrare · 1 records
All 35 species recorded in this area
| Species | How often | Records |
|---|---|---|
| Clavelina lepadiformis | rare | 1 |
| Aslia lefevrei | rare | 1 |
| Pollachius pollachius | rare | 1 |
| Callionymus reticulatus | rare | 1 |
| Pholis gunnellus | rare | 1 |
| Dysidea fragilis | rare | 1 |
| Axinella dissimilis | rare | 1 |
| Hemimycale columella | rare | 1 |
| Hymedesmia (Stylopus) coriacea | rare | 1 |
| Pachymatisma johnstonia | rare | 1 |
| Thymosia guernei | rare | 1 |
| Cliona celata | rare | 1 |
| Stelligera stuposa | rare | 1 |
| Polymastia boletiformis | rare | 1 |
| Polymastia mamillaris | rare | 1 |
| Suberites carnosus | rare | 1 |
| Tethya aurantium | rare | 1 |
| Corella parallelogramma | rare | 1 |
| Aglaophenia tubulifera | rare | 1 |
| Nemertesia antennina | rare | 1 |
| Nemertesia ramosa | rare | 1 |
| Sertularella gayi | rare | 1 |
| Asterias rubens | rare | 1 |
| Marthasterias glacialis | rare | 1 |
| Luidia ciliaris | rare | 1 |
| Echinus esculentus | rare | 1 |
| Diaphorodoris luteocincta | rare | 1 |
| Polycera faeroensis | rare | 1 |
| Crimora papillata | rare | 1 |
| Calliostoma zizyphinum | rare | 1 |
| Mycale (Aegogropila) rotalis | rare | 1 |
| Myxilla (Myxilla) fimbriata | rare | 1 |
| Myxilla (Myxilla) incrustans | rare | 1 |
| Haliclona (Rhizoniera) viscosa | rare | 1 |
| Holothuria forskali | rare | 1 |
Nearby sites in Ireland
Explore all sitesBiraghty Mor2.7 km
An offshore rock north of Kilkee whose wall runs from a boulder field at about 30 m all the way up to the surface.
Illaunabaha3.0 km
A reef that dries out at low water, with a sunlit south face, a torch-only swim-through on the north side, and a long record of swell trouble.
Chimney Bay3.8 km
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.
Middle Rock5.0 km
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.
Outer Rock5.1 km
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.
Newfie5.5 km
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.
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