St. Abbs Harbour

The harbour is the true heart of the village. And it's a great place to spend some time watching the boats coming and going.

A Working Harbour

The harbour is still very much a working harbour, busy with both fishing and charter boats. The lobster boats Nikki Jo, Danny Boy, Boy Stuart and Magnet all fish out of the harbour. The fishermen on these boats start their working day early in the morning, and are out at sea for several hours hauling their creels (lobster pots). If you're down at the harbour in the morning you should be able to see the fishermen returning to land their catch.

During the summer months the charter boats: Selkie, Topline, Lazy-G-Diver, Wavedancer are always busy taking parties of divers out to the many dive sites along the Berwickshire Coast. Often it's just for the short journey across the bay to the Black Carrs.

Boat Trips

A new attraction is the Glass Bottom Boat called the Puffin (www.glassbottomboat.org), which sails from the harbour daily. Tickets can be bought on the day you visit, at the Ebb Carrs Cafe.

The other charter boats based in the village can be booked to take parties of divers, anglers or visitors out for a trip. However, you'll need to contact the skipper to book in advance (contact details for each skipper can be found at the bottom of this page).

Places to Eat

There are two cafes at the harbour, one at Springbank Cottage offers outside seating in a nice sunny garden setting. The other cafe is located in a converted smoke house (once used for making kippers) and is known as the Ebb Carrs Cafe.

Parking at the Harbour

Because St. Abbs is so popular with divers, parking down at the harbour during summer weekends can often be difficult (if you don't arrive early). There are two car parks at the harbour one operated by Scottish Borders Council and the other by St. Abbs Harbour Trust. You'll have to pay to park in either car park.

If you're diving at the harbour we'd recommend that you park in the Harbour Trust car park (£5 for the whole day, payable to the Harbour Master), however it is only open on weekends and bank holidays.

The Council car park is always open, just pay at the pay and display meter (Tuesday to Thursday the charge is 50p per hour, Friday to Monday the charge is 50p for the first hour; £1.00 for every 2-hour interval thereafter up to 7 hours; £7.00 fixed fee for over 7 hours), a warden patrols the Council car park so don't forget to buy a ticket.

There is free parking at the top of the brae overlooking the harbour.

Charter Boats

Boat Name: Selkie
Skipper: Peter Gibson
Telephone: 018907 71681
Mobile: 07702 687606
E-mail: PeterGibson@stabbs.com

Boat Name: Lazy-G-Diver
Skipper: Paul O'Callaghan
Telephone: 018907 71525
Mobile: 07780 980179
E-mail: paul@stabbsdiving.com

Boat Name: Topline
Skipper: Paul Crowe
Telephone: 018907 71945
Mobile: 07710 961050
E-mail: paul@divestabbs.info

Boat Name: Wavedancer
Skipper: Billy Aitchison
Telephone: 018907 71288
Mobile: 07802 330036

Boat Name: Puffin (Glass Bottom Boat)
Skipper: Jim Vanko
Telephone: 018907 71365
Mobile: 07926 801215
E-mail: jim@glassbottomboat.org