The Catalina is a Consolidated PBX flying boat which sank at its mooring just after the second world war. "The Cat" is located on the east coast of the Great Cumbrae which is an island in the Clyde estuary, near Largs.

The wreck today :The shore entry point for the wreck is located 100 metres south of the ferry slip. From here the diver should swim on a bearing of 80°mag to a depth of 18-20 metres at this point turn right and swim along at this depth till you hit the wreck. The plane, in the last few years has started to break up but when I dived it 15 years ago it was almost intact. Finding the wreck can at times be difficult due to the nature of the seabed, it is sandy, flat and featureless. On a good day , this is a very pleasant dive and the marine life on the plane is spectacular, especially the anemones and dead men's fingers.

If you are only going to the island for the dive, the best way to do it is to get kitted up on the mainland and go across on the ferry as a foot passanger.

The photos are reproduced by the kind permission of my friend Mr. Iain Drummond.