Whale Cove 1

Green Saddle, W of More Head, NW of Gardenstown, Aberdeenshire (Banffshire).

Used by sea gulls on the east side ledges near/just inside entrance, including shags nesting.

Once past the large, sharp edged rocks just outside the entrance, the ca 7 m wide, and up to 13 m or so tall, main tunnel runs 58 m to the back wall. Before this, there is a boulder beach, with the largest boulders nearest the sea. The main tunnel has a couple of rounded intertidal boulders at 37 m inside, which are kayak navigable on the left (east) side at 3.2 m ACD tide level. Just after these, there is a NW tunnel, angled W, and it is 20 m long. It was possible to see the end from afloat at HW on 11/7/25.

At the end of the main tunnel, it widens, and there are two extension tunnels and one chamber. On the left, (E) is an initially narrow rift tunnel whose entrance is hindered by a large (1.5 m ish) boulder. Inside, it widens after a bit into a chamber which is 3.4 m wide. It then narrows again to a 3.0 m long crack. The tunnel up to there is 9.6 m long. The walls and ceiling are completely covered with flowstone and small stalactites. There are some longer ones (up to about 0.3 m) on the west wall about 4m inside.

The middle extension tunnel is in line with the main tunnel, but quite low. The entrance is 4m wide which reduces in jerks. Its ceiling follows the apparent bedding of the rock, which dips about 15 degrees east. Strike is about N/S. There is quite a steep large-pebble beach. The back wall is 9.8 m from the entrance. From there is a rift continuation which extends at least another 2.3 m. It had a motley assortment of flotsam stuck in it. (photo 22)

On the right, (W) side there is quite a wide chamber with a couple of rounded, shallow alcoves. This has been deemed to contribute a further 14.4 m to the total length of the cave.

There is flowstone on much of the walls and ceiling of this cave (see photo 19 which has a nice stalactite). It is, so far, much the best of several caves with calcareous flowstone on the coast between Fraserburgh and Burghead. Another one is Naming Cove, just east of Macduff and its flowstone is rust coloured - eg registry.gsg.org.uk/files/5884/P9070101rcr.jpg

Notes: Access: by sea W from Gardenstown. The large rocks around the entrance at a tide level of 1.8 m ACD (photos 1 &2) prevented entrance on 16/7/20. They were navigable, with care, on 11/6/25 when the tide level was 3.2 m ACD, and it was possible to land at the boulder beach.

Dimensions mostly measured 11/6/25 & 11/7/25 by N Feilden. Altitude a guesstimate and is ACD. VR is based on photos.

Links and Resources:

Not indicated as a cave on any map layer of OS. But see the Namebook entry for Whale Cove below.
OS Namebook for Banffshire, parish of Gamrie has "Whale Cove: A small bay terminating in a large cave. which is said to extend(ing) a very long way underground". This cave fits this well enough. Note also that 'cove' usually means 'cave' in this context, very widely on the Scottish coast.
Photo 1 entrance facing about N on the W side of Green Saddle. Taken 16/7/20 by N Feilden. Tide level 1.8 m ACD.
Photo 2 a closer look at the entrance. Taken shortly after photo 1.
Photo 3 taken from about the same place as photo 1 on 11/6/25. The tide level was 3.2 m ACD and it was high enough to paddle between the rocks into the cave.
Sketch plan of this cave drawn over Bing Aerial. Pale blue denotes intertidal and brown is (approximately) supratidal.
Screenshot from BGS sheet NJ76SE 1:10000 Solid and Drift showing More Head. From largeimages.bgs.ac.uk/iip/mapsportal.html?id=13440131 Look for the promontory labelled 'Green saddle'.
Photo 4 The near face of these rocks is at 37 m from the entrance. It is just possible to make out the low, trangular entrance of the middle extension tunnel. White flowstone can be seen in the middle of the back wall - it is not guano. The low down red is algal red crust (Hildenbrandia rubra).
Photo 5 looking left (SE) from the previous photo, shows an apse.
Photo 6 still on left (SE) a bit further in. The rock at this level gets scoured by waves plus pebbles on a regular basis. Taken 11/6/25.
Photo 7 this is like photo 4, but taken from the south side of the rounded rocks. The SE tunnel entrance - or at least partly opened rift above it, can be clearly seen. So can the SW chamber, although only the S part can be seen from here. The middle south tunnel is almost completely obscured by boulders in front of it. Taken 11/7/25.
Photo 8 a bit further S, and panned right (W), shows the SW chamber and, left (E) of a pillar, part of the entrance to the middle south extension tunnel. Taken 11/7/25.
Photo 9 a large rock on the east side - above the water line. Shows old flowstone which has survived being scoured off by being in a slight indentation. Taken 11/6/25.
Photo 10 looking up from the previous photo.
Photo 11 looking SE towards the entrance to the SE extension. It is actually in the shadow.
Photo 12 looking W at the SW chamber. The two alcoves can be seen. A slight pan left would reveal the entrance to the middle extension tunnel. The gradation from large boulders to smaller sizes up the beach can also be made out.
Photo 13 looking about NW and up at the W wall and ceiling with flowstone deposits. Light at bottom left is from the entrance.
Photo 14 as previous photo, but horizontally. In the middle the entrance to the NW tunnel can just be made out, as well as the round rocks of photo 4, a little to the right.
Photo 15 looking south into the wider chamber of the SE extension tunnel. The narrow end of that is on the right. There is a well battered log partly across it. The walls and ceiling are covered with flowstone and some small stalactites.
Photo 16 looking south and up at the ceiling in the same place.
Photo 17 panned a bit right (W) from photo 14.
Photo 18 looking back (NNW) along the narrow part of this tunnel.
Photo 19 as previous photo, looking NW and up. Note the stalactite just right of centre - about 0.3 m long.
Photo 20 looking north from inside the middle extension tunnel. The ceiling slopes (dips) right (E) roughly parallel to the apparent bedding planes of the rock.
Photo 21 looking south into the middle extension tunnel.
Photo 22 flotsam which has collected in the narrow part of the middle extension tunnel.
Photo 23 looking west into the SW chamber.
Photo 24 and SW into the same chamber. Taken 11/6/25.
Photo 25 the entrance to the NW extension tunnel, looking about west. The tunnel runs W and the end could be seen from the kayak at this water level. The length of this tunnel is 20 m. See also photo 14 for its location, which is just on the south side of the round rocks of photo 4. The wall on the left can be seen to be rounded and smoothed all the way up - waves plus pebbles have ground off the sharp edges typical of more freshly broken boulders. This photo taken 11/7/25.

This entry was last updated: 2025-08-07 17:43:36

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

NGR:	NJ 78283 65095
WGS84:	57.67519, -2.36577
Length:	117 m
Vert. Range:	15 m
Altitude:	0 m
Geology:	Macduff Formation - psammite, gritty
Tags:	Cave, SeaCave
Registry:	main

Other Sites Within 500m