May Island Dive Guide
Diving The May Island
May Island from the West
May is a small island 5 miles SE of Anstruther, Fife, a nature reserve, and home to large colonies of puffins, guillemots, razorbills, fulmars, kittiwakes, shags, arctic terns, eider ducks and grey seals.
Visitors are welcome on the island from May-September provided they use recognised landing places only (Kirkhaven on the E side and Alterstanes on the W).
Keep to paths at all times as many of the birds nest in burrows on the ground. If you wish to land in Oct/Nov then phone the SNH office in Cupar first (01334 54038).
The island is 1 mile long x 1/3 mile wide. The SW side is steep cliffs, while the NE has rocky slopes. Near the harbour is a ruined priory built on the grave of St. Adrian, murdered by Danes in 870. The Isle of May was home to Scotland's first lighthouse in 1636, and the remains can be seen today up on the plateau. The current lighthouse was built in 1812 and is visible for 26 miles on a clear night.
Bearing is 120M from Anstruther
Tides race around the N and S tips of the island, especially during Springs, and slack is +2hrs HW at Anstruther. Ideally launch boats on ebb tide, dive a non-tidal area 1st, sit out the low tide on the island, so the 2nd dive at LW slack and then return to Anstruther. Launching from RNLI slip £4.50
Coastguards (01333 50666) are happy to provide weather information. Bulletins on Ch16 +17.
Diving at North Ness should be approached with great caution due to very.strong tides here. There are 2 wrecks here SS Mars and the T.L. Delvin.
Kirkhaven harbour makes a very sheltered novice diving area but beware of boats.
DIVE SITES
Scenic
Green Face area (W) Boulder Slope, depth 10-20m
Lots of caves, arches (Mill Door) and 2 stacks (Angel & Pilgrim). Wolfish, lobster, crab octopus, and Conger eels as well as lots of sponges etc.
Drift Dive - From Mill Door in SE direction on Spring tide, depth 25-35m
Relaxed drift with lots of anemones, brittle stars and edible crabs. Reliable boat cover and SMB essential
Gullies - Between Maidens Hair and Pilgrims Haven, depth 15m
Some gullies are dead ends, some lead to more. Lots of anemones, sponges and many nudibranche.
Rock slope - From Middens, along coast to East Tarbet, depth 27m
Steep slope to sandy bottom at 27m. Dramatic slope of cup corals and sponges, with carpets of brittle stars in bottom.
Wrecks
Anlaby, 8-18m - 56'11.19N 02'33.42W 1873 Steamship.
Bows point to shore. Very broken up but home to lots of fish.
SS Island, 0m & 20m ,Wrecked in 1937, Steam Yacht owned by the Danish Royal Family.
1/4 m SE of Lighthouse between Colms hole and Island rocks. Intact boiler can be found if you dive a Transit lining the visible part of the ship up under the building to the side of the lighthouse. Debris of many other wrecks found just SE of here..
Primrose, 30m , 1904 Steam Fishing Trawler.
Lots of life but only dive on slack water. 1/2mile out from SW .
