The Duart Point and HMS Dartmouth Visitor Schemes

The Duart Point site has previously been called the Swan. The identity of the vessel has, however, been thrown into some doubt by recent historical research (Colin Martin, pers. comm. March 2006).

Diving on 350-year-old shipwrecks - you don't have to be an archaeologist! Here's how...

Underwater photograph of a diver (background) on the Dartmouth. A large iron anchor is visible in the foreground.

Lochaline Dive Centre operates a visitor licence on the wrecks of the Duart Point site and HMS Dartmouth. This special licence is operated with agreement from Historic Scotland and the Advisory Committee on Historic Shipwreck Sites (ACHWS), and under the terms of the licence, the name of every visitor must be notified to Historic Scotland.

A visitor licence on the Swan has been held since 1994 and since then, approximately 550 divers have visited the Duart Point site. Lochaline Dive Centre obtained a second licence in 1996, enabling authorised trips to the nearby designated site of HMS Dartmouth. Since then, approximately 320 divers have visited the HMS Dartmouth.

How the scheme works

All trips to designated sites must be supervised by the licensee. Both the Duart Point site and HMS Dartmouth are located in fairly shallow water (10-12 metres).

Underwater photograph of a diver on the Dartmouth site, the diver has her hand on the shaft of a large anchor.

On the seabed visitors will be able to see cast iron cannon, anchors, and some ship's structure. Each visitor will be carrying around a copy of a site plan of the wreck and will be able to follow a trail, which will point significant aspects of the ship out to you. What isn't visible during the dive will be explained in a slide talk after the dive. The talk is useful for explaining about the work of archaeologists to survey and excavate each wreck, and about numerous artefacts which have been recovered during work on the sites. Visitors receive a specially designed log book stamp and a pamphlet about the Duart Wreck. These trips are operated strictly on a 'look but don't remove basis'; so far no one has broken that rule.

If you or your group are interested in diving on the Duart Point site or HMS Dartmouth, take a look at our current course programme, or contact us to discuss your plans.

Return to the list of dive sites