Cave of Red Rocks

"A huge cavern in the cliff immediately south of the Long Slough. It is inaccessible from the land." (2)

A tall subtidal cave at the end of a long, mostly straight geo. The cave continues the line of the geo (see photos) although there is a bit of a jink South and back North at the entrance. The lower part is meta-sediment, as is the ceiling which is immediately above the Felsite sill. At the end there is a boulder beach of mainly Felsite boulders. The cave widens a bit on either side of the beach and the end wall is vertical and has no obvious vertical joint.

In April 2023, Iain Greig and Katrina McDonald (+ dog) visited the Cave of Red Rocks near Cove Bay, when some impressive photographs were obtained. Most of the caves are only accessible from the sea, but a supratidal rift was spotted (NJ 99647 0280), which comprised a 5 metre narrow entrance with a waterfall, leading to at least ten metres of passage that bend out of sight. Formed by a fracture of a felsite sill, the cave was deemed unsafe to enter due to very slippery rock which could have resulted in a significant fall. [GSG Bull 5. 4. 5.]

Notes: Access: by sea N from Cove Bay harbour. Best at high tide. The entrance can be seen from the coast path - see photos 1 & 2.

Length partly measured on 18 May 23, excepting the end boulder beach which was estimated visually to be 15 m. See photo 6.

Links and Resources:

1) 25" OS Kincardineshire IV.7 1882 This has a dotted tunnel which scales to 49m. This is significantly less than the measured length.
2) OS1/19/17/32 Cave of Red Rocks
Photo 1 entrance from cliff to S by Iain Greig 17/4/23.
GSG Bulletin, 5th Series, Vol. 4, No. 5(October 2023), p. 3. Meets Reports, Aberdeenshire. Information from Iain Greig, April 2023.
Photo 2 entrance looking along geo by Iain Greig 17/4/23. Shows the felsite sill (orange horizontal layer) rather clearly.
Photo 3 entrance from sea level at 13:18 on 19 May 23. The channel goes a bit left and then jags right at the entrance. The metasediment protrudes S from the sill on the N side (right) at this point and gradually goes back to more vertical inside.
Photo 4 looking into the cave tunnel from just inside on the same day. The tide level was 4.1 m ACD on 19/5/23.
Photo 5 as photo 4 and a bit further in, but at a tide level of 1.3 m ACD on 10/7/26.
Photo 6 looking towards the end from near half way on 19 May 23. Note that the lower edges of the felsite sill on either side are about level, where they are closest together. The ceiling of metasediment is, roughly speaking, straight across on top of the sill - except in some places where a layer has dropped off. The boulder beach can be made out at the end.
Photo 7 the boulder beach. The end chamber widens a bit on either side. The flat end is perpendicular to the tunnel axis, with no very obvious jointing in line with that axis. The beach is rather fully lit - indicating the straightness of the tunnel. The cave beyond the angular dark rocks just wash left of the centre of the beach is un-measured for length.
Photo 8 looking out towards the entrance. The S side of the sea end of the inlet can just be made out. This, with photo 7, indicates that the tunnel is rather straightly inline with the geo outside.

This entry was last updated: 2026-07-14 19:29:31

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NGR:	NJ 96448 02851
WGS84:	57.11659, -2.06029
Length:	83 m
Vert. Range:	18 m
Altitude:	-1.2 m
Geology:	Felsite - igneous bedrock sill; metamorphic above and below
Tags:	Cave, SeaCave
Registry:	main

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