Top 6 sites in Scotland

Ross McLaren · Issue 146, Sep/Oct 2025 · pp. 56–60

Products mentioned: Olympus E-M1 MKII, Olympus 30mm Macro f/3.5, AOI housing, AOI Q1 strobes, 3000 lumen video light

With over 30,000 lochs, there is no shortage of dive sites in Scotland, some of which are great for underwater photography! From small mountain lochans to expansive sea lochs, Scotland offers a diverse range of aquatic life that call our shores home. Despite the often dreary and grey appearance of our waters, our marine environments can surprise us with a vibrant array of colours typically associated with more exotic locations. Underwater photography in Scotland can present challenges. Despite the abundance of colourful marine life, spotting them can often be the biggest hurdle. Underwater visibility varies not only between different lochs but even within the same loch, changing from hour to hour. Factors such as tides and freshwater run-off can cause visibility to fluctuate rapidly, ranging from decent visibility at +10m to poor visibility of 2m or less. In more exotic locations with vi…