Question 1

Can you actually scuba dive Poll na bPeist (the Wormhole)?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Dive Aran, the SSI centre at Lower Kilronan on Inis Mor, runs it as a scheduled advanced boat dive, and Galway Dive Club carries a written site description for it. The pool has no surface opening to the sea, so the way in is a submerged cavern about 25 m long. It is not a shore dive and it is not something to attempt independently off the cliff top.

Question 2

How deep is the Wormhole dive?

Accepted Answer

Galway Dive Club gives about 15 m inside the pool itself. Dive Aran quote 10 to 18 m for the dive as they run it, varying with tide and conditions. Outside the pool the ground is big boulders that slope away to around 45 m about 300 m offshore, so the depth you actually do is a planning decision rather than a fixed number.

Question 3

What certification do you need to dive the Wormhole?

Accepted Answer

Dive Aran require Advanced Open Water certification or equivalent, at least 20 logged dives, and one dive within the previous 12 months. They cap the group at five divers. The reasons are the cavern entry, the exposure of the site and the fact that conditions can change quickly, not the depth on its own.

Question 4

Can you snorkel or swim in the Wormhole?

Accepted Answer

People do swim in the pool on calm days, but it is not a snorkelling site in any useful sense. The only way out of the pool is a small fixed rope ladder, swell washes over the rim without warning, and the walk in from Gort na gCapall crosses bare, loose, jagged limestone. There is nothing to see from the surface, because the interest is the cavern below it.

Question 5

When can the Wormhole be dived?

Accepted Answer

Whenever the weather allows, which is not often. Galway Dive Club record good shelter in winds from north through east but say the site is not diveable in westerly winds above force 2. Dive Aran book it as weather- and tide-dependent with limited availability and ask for scheduling flexibility. Neither publishes a season, so plan around a forecast rather than a month.

Question 6

How do you get to the dive site?

Accepted Answer

By boat. Dive Aran depart the centre at Lower Kilronan at 09:00 after an 08:00 check-in, and the run is about 25 minutes each way, back around midday. Getting to Inis Mor itself means the ferry or the small airstrip at Inverin. On foot the pool is about 1.6 km south of Dun Aonghasa, but there is no vehicle access and the last stretch is rough karst.

Question 7

What will I see underwater at the Wormhole?

Accepted Answer

Dive Aran describe kelp, rocky formations and Atlantic marine life rather than a species list, and the topography is the reason people go. Records from this stretch of the Inis Mor coast include harbour and grey seal, bottlenose and common dolphin, ballan and cuckoo wrasse, pollack, tompot blenny and leopard-spotted goby, with basking shark occasionally offshore.

Question 8

Do you need a wetsuit or a drysuit?

Accepted Answer

Dive Aran state they use 7 mm wetsuits all year round, with an extra 5 mm shorty if needed, and they do not offer nitrox. Most Irish divers working this coast independently use drysuits. Either way this is cold Atlantic water, so plan thermal protection for a 45-minute dive rather than a quick look.

Species	How often	Records
Phoca vitulina	occasional	32
Halichoerus grypus	occasional	10
Tursiops truncatus	occasional	7
Delphinus delphis	occasional	6
Cliona celata	occasional	5
Labrus bergylta	occasional	5
Pollachius pollachius	rare	4
Asterias rubens	rare	4
Henricia oculata	rare	4
Luidia ciliaris	rare	3
Pachymatisma johnstonia	rare	3
Orcinus orca	rare	3
Calliostoma zizyphinum	rare	3
Labrus mixtus	rare	3
Holothuria forskali	rare	3
Diazona violacea	rare	3
Homarus gammarus	rare	3
Limacia clavigera	rare	2
Ligia oceanica	rare	2
Myxilla (Myxilla) fimbriata	rare	2
Haliclona (Rhizoniera) viscosa	rare	2
Clavelina lepadiformis	rare	2
Scyliorhinus canicula	rare	2
Necora puber	rare	2
Aglaophenia pluma	rare	2
Sertularella polyzonias	rare	2
Siriella armata	rare	2
Marthasterias glacialis	rare	2
Echinus esculentus	rare	2
Ophiactis balli	rare	2
Parablennius gattorugine	rare	2
Thorogobius ephippiatus	rare	2
Stelligera stuposa	rare	2
Polymastia boletiformis	rare	2
Polymastia mamillaris	rare	2
Tethya aurantium	rare	2
Balaenoptera acutorostrata	rare	2
Symphodus melops	rare	2
Hexadella racovitzai	rare	1
Diplosoma spongiforme	rare	1
Aplidium nordmanni	rare	1
Ascidia mentula	rare	1
Cetorhinus maximus	rare	1
Galathea strigosa	rare	1
Hyas coarctatus	rare	1
Maja brachydactyla	rare	1
Carcinus maenas	rare	1
Obelia geniculata	rare	1
Nemertesia ramosa	rare	1
Plumularia setacea	rare	1
Sertularella gayi	rare	1
Gastrosaccus sanctus	rare	1
Stichastrella rosea	rare	1
Paracentrotus lividus	rare	1
Porania (Porania) pulvillus	rare	1
Trisopterus minutus	rare	1
Molva molva	rare	1
Trachurus trachurus	rare	1
Ctenolabrus rupestris	rare	1
Leptomysis mediterranea	rare	1

Poll na bPéist; The Wormhole

Poll na bPéist; The Wormhole

The dive

Please note before you go

Access & rules

Certification required

Getting there

Operator

Season

Conditions

Dives & underwater footage

Questions & answers

Life recorded at Poll na bPéist; The Wormhole

Nearby sites in Ireland

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