Uamh Ru nan Gunach (SW entrance)

Sea cave passing NE/SW through promontory, completely flooded at high tide. Narrow entrance on W side, at base of high cliffs in Borrogeo, leads into a cavernous area that is split into two large entrances by a large pillar at its E end. It thus has a 'Y' plan, with the tunnels either side of the pillar roughly parallel.

This entrance is only navigable by kayak near high tide because of a sill/ledge. It is about 1.3 m wide - too narrow to use the paddle in the entrance - use hands, or take a run at it.

Notes: Access: by sea ca 1.7 km W from Kirtomy harbour or ca 3.4 km NE from Bettyhill pier; in fairly calm weather. On 13/8/26 at a tide level of 3.9 m ACD, this entrance would likely have been navigable for clearance over the sill - but there was too much swell from the NE end.

"The Devil's Arse Hole is the name I gave this illusive tunnel in Northern Sutherland. You can only get in when the tide is high enough to get you over the ledge and low enough to get your head in. If there's more than a six inches of swell then you get the death crush. There are probably only about two or three days in a year when you can get through. Only a couple of us knew it even existed, and only two people have ever been through it. It sits in Borrogeo at the foot of the remains of Borve Castle. It's not one for the claustrophobic." [YouTube caption]

NB. Borve Castle is located on a separate promontory further W at [NC 7251 6408].

Coordinates in video are given as [NC 72674 63911], although this seems too far S to allow for a through-trip.

Length based on 62 m between the ends, from NGRs, plus an estimated 23 m for the length of the pillar. Other dimensions are estimates.

Links and Resources:

Trove Scotland calls the headland 'Borrogeodh' and Ru nan Gunach (Gun Point) from 1544 when cannon were sited on it to bombard Borve Castle.
YouTube: Devil's Arse Hole, by minerwilly, 2017 - View This shows, from 0:25, the approach to this entrance, passage through it with light from both NE entrances and a fairly large cavern. The paddler goes out of the southern NE entrance, then turns left into the northern NE entrance, paddles perhaps 20-30 m towards the SW entrance, before turning left and paddling out of the southern NE entrance again.
It is not shown as a cave on any OS map layer.
Photo 1 this entrance is a bit to the left (N) of the kayak's bow. Video at 0:29.
Photo 2 quite a bit closer with the island Glas-eileann showing through the northern NE entrance. Video at 0:54.
Photo 3 this entrance close up. The effects of the sill/ledge are more visible with the video running. Based on the barnacles, the tide is well up and there seems to be headroom to spare. Video at 1:09.
Photo 4 entrance from 20 m or so on 13/8/26. The froth shows that the apparent calm has been broken recently. Note a number of near vertical joints and compare with photos of the NE entrances.
Photo 5 taken shortly after the previous photo. Clearly very tricky to go through from this side. 13/8/26.
Photo 6 a cropped photo taken soon after photo 5. The sill is evidently not very far below the outside level - 3.9 m ACD based on Tides4Fishing Kirtomy. 13/8/26.
Photo 7 inside - northern NE entrance on the left (N) and the southern NE entrance on the right. A long pillar between. Video at 1:09.
Photo 8 shows the S wall and the southern NE entrance. Video at 2:12.
Photo 9 looking out of the southern NE entrance. The arch at the south end of Glas eileann can be seen. Video at 2:30.
Photo 10 the paddler turned sharp left, back into the northern NE entrance. The kayak is lit from entrance behind. Light from the SW entrance is visible, looking rather small. The NE entrances are much taller and wider than the SW entrance. Video at 3:06. On 13/8/26 the waves inside the cave were sometimes cutting of the light from the SW entrance entirely.
Photo 11 somewhere in the middle, still looking toward the SW entrance - which now looks a lot larger. This is just before the paddler turns left and paddles out of the southern NE entrance for the second time. Video at 3:33.

This entry was last updated: 2026-09-05 18:23:01

Errors or omissions in this information? Submit corrections/additions/comments for this entry to the registrars.

NGR:	NC 72674 63996
WGS84:	58.54535, -4.18933
Length:	85 m
Vert. Range:	10 m
Altitude:	3.7 m
Geology:	Bettyhill Formation - migmatitic psammite, migmatitic semipelite
Tags:	Cave, Tunnel, SeaCave
Registry:	main

Other Sites Within 500m