Knowledge of swimming depths and migration routes of homing Atlantic salmon in open coastal zones is urgently required to inform decisions on managing the species, e.g. for the sustainable development of marine renewable energy. In May–June 2013, pop-up satellite tags programmed to detach from fish after 1–10 d were fitted to 50 adult salmon on the northern coast of Scotland. Most of the tags returned water depth recorded at regular intervals (n ¼ 47) and gave a geographic location following detachment (n ¼ 44). In general, salmon were found near the surface during the study, with the median number of records at 0–5 m depth ranging from 72 to 85%, depending on the extent of known potential systematic bias. Depth use varied among individuals (8–100% at 0–5 m) and cluster analysis suggested that the sample of fish could be split into two groups, representing different patterns of depth use. These clusters were also associated with pop-up location. There was a small but significant increase in recorded depth at night compared with during the day, contrasting with findings of salmon at sea in other contexts. The mean maximum dive depth was 64 m (range 13–118 m), of similar order to the likely available water column depth. These results suggest that salmon will potentially interact with man-made obstacles, e.g. renewable energy generators, throughout the water column and particularly in surface waters.