The Burroo.
The Burroo is a rock off the southern tip of the Calf of Man; its above-water shape is known locally as the 'Drinking Dragon'. Underwater there are cliff faces, bedrock slopes, boulders and bowl-shaped gullies, including one known as 'the amphitheatre'. The strong tidal streams bring in food, and the site has dense marine life.
Where I saw basking sharks up close.
What's down there.
- Underwater cliff with a 15 to 20 m vertical drop
- 'The amphitheatre' gully
- Boulder slopes past 40 m
- Scattered shipwreck debris
- The 'Drinking Dragon' rock above water
- Jewel anemones
- Plumose anemones
- Oaten-pipe hydroids
- Edible and velvet swimming crabs
- Pollack and large wrasse
- Nudibranchs (56 species recorded)
- Grey seals from the Calf colony
- Basking sharks (seasonal)
Entry at about 15 m on the south side. A 15 to 20 m vertical cliff drops to a rocky slope that runs past 40 m to the south and west.
Some of the strongest tidal streams around the Isle of Man, with overfalls, upwellings and eddies. Dive at slack water only. Suits experienced divers. Visibility of 15 to 20 m has been reported. Basking sharks are usually seen in Manx waters from about mid or late May to August, sometimes into September, mostly off the west and south-west coasts, including Calf Sound, Port Erin, Niarbyl and Peel. They grow to 6 to 8 m or more, feed on plankton and are harmless to people. They are listed as Endangered, and Visit Isle of Man says they have had formal legal protection since 1998.
How it got there.
The waters around the Calf became part of the Calf of Man and Wart Bank Marine Nature Reserve in 2018. Sources describe the Burroo as one of the best-known Manx dive sites and say it appears on lists of the best dive sites in Europe.
7 dives.
From the reconstructed log — the dates follow the pattern I dived, so read them as representative rather than exact.