Candles Rock

Donegal, Ulster, Ireland40 m maxintermediate

Conditions & tides

Candles RockDonegal

Good · 5/5

conditions visualisation

Good5/5

Calm and diveable right now — best window today 9 AM–4 PM.

Wind4 kn ESE

Current~0 kn NE · model

Swell

0.5 m · 7s · WNW

Water

13 °C

Max depth

40 m

Conditions through the day

8 AM5 PM

Calmest current near slack — 10:45 & 23:15 local

Sunrise 07:51 · Sunset 16:46 local

Show details

Tide · local

Outlook — select a day for full conditions

On-face swell 0.1 m — the component of the swell aimed at this site’s exposed face. Current is a regional model value (Copernicus, ~9 km grid) — a guide to the area, not a precise reef measurement. Imagery © Esri · not depth or visibility.

Scored by DiveConnect's site-physics model

Marine forecast via Copernicus Marine. Score is a rule-based guide from swell/wind vs. the site's exposure — always dive your own assessment.

Dived here today? How were conditions vs. what we showed?

About this site

Candles Rock is a rocky dive site where divers can swim a full circuit of the rock or head south-west into deeper water reaching 40 m. The north-east interior is shallower, ranging from 8–14 m with plenty of broken rock, while a ledge runs away to the north-west at 18–20 m.

The site holds jewel anemones, plumose anemones, and dahlia anemones across the rock, along with wrasse, ballan wrasse, pollock, scorpion fish, and dog fish. Crabs, lobsters, nudibranchs, and sea hares are also found here, and dolphins are reported at the site. The bottom is rock throughout.

Candles Rock is classed as more exposed and is rated at intermediate difficulty, making it best suited to divers with some open-water experience capable of handling variable conditions.

AI-written site guide

Marine life here

Confirmed by our research team, reported by independent divers, or observed nearby via iNaturalist — each entry is labelled with its source.

Atlantic Black Sea CucumberHolothuria forskaliReported here · unconfirmed
European Edible Sea UrchinEchinus esculentusReported here · unconfirmed
Seven Armed Sea StarLuidia ciliarisReported here · unconfirmed
Ballan WrasseLabrus bergyltaReported here · unconfirmed
Spiny StarfishMarthasterias glacialisReported here · unconfirmed
Devonshire Cup CoralCaryophyllia (Caryophyllia) smithiiReported here · unconfirmed
Edible CrabCancer pagurusReported here · unconfirmed
WrasseWrasseConfirmed present · 2 independent sources
ScorpionfishScorpionfishConfirmed present · 2 independent sources
NudibranchNudibranchConfirmed present · 2 independent sources