SCUBA December 2021 Issue 121 | Page 62

SBelow : Common Starfish ( Asterias

rubens ) on the reef

UBelow right : Plaice ( Pleuronectes

platessa ) hiding in the sand

g

I went to sleep in Leverburgh on Harris and by the time I stumbled out of my bed the following day , off North Uist , 100 miles west of the mainland , the remotest part of the British Isles was standing proudly on the horizon . The islands of St Kilda : Hirta , Boreray , Soay and Dun .

Here are the highest sea cliffs and stacks in all of Great Britain . The islands and skerries that you see were once the rim of a volcano , which first erupted 50 to 60 million years ago . People lived on the largest island , Hirta , continuously for about 2,000 years until in 1930 the remaining inhabitants were evacuated at their own request . The remains of the village still stand and one of the houses has been turned into a museum . The islands were the first place in Scotland to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site .

Our first two dives were on Stac Lee – one of the tallest sea stacks in Britain – towering 165m above the water and giving us a perfect introduction to St Kilda ’ s underwater world below it . We found a large cave

that went quite deep into the rock face , some great swim-throughs and a group of seals playing on the seabed . The kelp just outside the cave entrance was smothered in beautiful nudibranchs and the walls were covered in encrusting sponges and jewel anemones . As we surfaced , the water turned into a clear vibrant blue and way above our heads hundreds of gannets were circling against a beautiful blue sky .

After overnighting in Village Bay , the only possible anchorage , next morning we headed for Sgarbh Stac , off Boreray , to dive an impressive underwater archway , which opens up at about 30m and drops to the seabed at 50m . Unfortunately it was a cloudy morning and as we dropped down to 40m it was quite dark . We swam through the gloom with the wall to our right for a few minutes and just as I was beginning to think that we were going to run out of time , there it was . A huge dappled green archway , beckoning us in . The walls were decorated with an assortment of beautiful anemones . It was like swimming through an enormous cathedral – all I really wanted to do was just hang in the water and marvel at the dramatic scenery .

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