The wreck of the Margaret Niven lies very close to the resting place of the Arran III. The wreck lies about 30m out from the base of the north east face of Sgeir Mhaolo Cinn in about 28m. You can either dive the reef on its own or dive the wreck down the shot and then head up the slope to finish the dive off on the reef. The wreck is quite small and therefore not enough to occupy a whole dive.
The site consists of a smooth rock reef, Sgeir Mhaolo Cinn, which slopes steeply onto a sand/mud bottom. The whole bow section rises a couple of metres out of the muddy seabed. First there is a set of large winches and bollards. After that, the hold opens and her cargo of road chippings is clearly visible. At the stern, the main points of interest are a large boiler with a tiny one-cylinder engine directly behind it. Dropping over the stern and down a couple of metres, the small prop and the rudder can be seen hard to starboard, perhaps thrust there in a last-ditch effort to avoid the rock on which Margaret Niven ended her sailing days.
The rock pinnacle that had sealed the Margaret Niven’s fate is covered with life, making a perfect way to end a dive as well as being a delightful dive in its own right. Kelp obscures everything above 6m, but the wall is covered in soft corals. The best part of the reef is a large crack that runs along the north east face which is usually full of fish. The cracks and crevices are home to edible crabs and squat lobsters, and around the site can be seen pipefish, lesser-spotted dogfish, pipefish, edible crabs, and queen scallops.
There are some pottery fragments on the top of the reef in the small gulleys, which may have come from the wreck. Visibility on the site is on average 6 metres.