UKC

Beach destinations in Scotland?

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 Ben_Climber 14 May 2019

Just back from a weekend walking, wild camping and picking up far too much beach litter!

We stayed in Sanna (Ardnamurchan) and its truly stunning.

Ideas for other stunning/ remote beach destinations in Scotland for similar trips?

Ben

 RomTheBear 14 May 2019
In reply to Ben_Climber:

Sandwood bay is my favourite. But accessible only on foot. Achmelvich bay also stunning but getting a bit touristy.

cb294 14 May 2019
In reply to Ben_Climber:

Like Rom I would have said Achmelvich, but was last there 30 years ago when there was nothing but the beach youth hostel and a small goat farm. Shocked to see how many caravan sites there are now.

CB

 wintertree 14 May 2019
In reply to Ben_Climber:

Mellon Udrigle.

2
 afx22 14 May 2019
In reply to Ben_Climber:

Another vote for Sandwood Bay.  It may an amazing 9 miles round trip trail run.

OP Ben_Climber 14 May 2019
In reply to Ben_Climber:

Sandwood Bay and a trip to Kearvaig have been on the agenda for a while. Long drive though for a weekend!

Achmelvich and Mellon both look like good options!

 Pkrynicki1984 14 May 2019
In reply to Ben_Climber:

I was there 2 weeks ago , a beautiful place .. did you see any of the adverts for Indian take away food in Senna?

Coigach perhaps ? Durness ? Achnahaird

Post edited at 13:08
OP Ben_Climber 14 May 2019
In reply to Pkrynicki1984:

No, but i've just googled it..... I cannot believe there is an India takeaway in Sanna.

About a 10 minute walk from where my tent was!

Reviews are brilliant as well.

 Robert Durran 14 May 2019
In reply to Ben_Climber:

> Ideas for other stunning/ remote beach destinations in Scotland for similar trips?

Quite a few, but I wouldn't promote them on here. There's already too many people going to Sandwood at busy times of year and, like others have said, Achmelvich is not what it used to be.

Generally, any beach you have to walk a bit to (apart from Sandwood) is probably going to be nice and quiet. A map is what you want!

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 Andy Johnson 14 May 2019
In reply to Ben_Climber:

Calgary Bay on Mull

 Harry Jarvis 14 May 2019
In reply to Ben_Climber:

Some of Scotland's finest beaches are on Lewis and Harris, and the Uists - Luskentyre, Traigh Mhor at Tolsta, Traigh na Beirigh, Traigh Uige, Scarasta, as a few to explore. 

You should also consider Tiree, which is a marvellous wee place well worth a visit.

 RomTheBear 14 May 2019
In reply to cb294:

Worse, last time I was there they were building “glamping” cabins. 🤮 

Post edited at 15:56
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 daWalt 14 May 2019
In reply to Ben_Climber:

Sanna bay is the best beach on the mainland (in my view); you have to go to Lewis / Harris for better. once you're there take your pick. 

Glad you enjoyed sanna, (the climbing around there is not bad either) it's a favourite of a few folks. A while back a work colleague of mine had a photo of sanna as his desktop screen, more than once someone would ask:

Where's that?

Scotland.

.....really?

(N.b you can't tell the sea temperature from a photo)

cb294 14 May 2019
In reply to RomTheBear:

Glamping. The word alone makes me want to vomit more than I could physically eat.

CB

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Le Sapeur 14 May 2019
In reply to Ben_Climber:

Camas an Lighe near Kentra Bay. 

 climb41 14 May 2019
In reply to Harry Jarvis:

> Some of Scotland's finest beaches are on Lewis and Harris, and the Uists - Luskentyre, Traigh Mhor at Tolsta, Traigh na Beirigh, Traigh Uige, Scarasta, as a few to explore. 

> You should also consider Tiree, which is a marvellous wee place well worth a visit.

^^^ this.... just back from 2 weeks on Harris......again...been many times. Stunning beaches, great walks.

 Jim Fraser 15 May 2019
In reply to Ben_Climber:

Fly to Barra. Land on one. Work your way up through the Uists to South Harris. 

 deepsoup 15 May 2019
In reply to Jim Fraser:

It would be a shame to stop at South Harris - Lewis has some fine contenders too, some mentioned already.  I'll add another one - not strictly on Lewis but slightly beyond, Bostadh on Great Bernera is particularly lovely. 

(Oh, and while I'm nit-picking - it would be a shame to head north from Barra without visiting Vatersay first!)

 deepsoup 15 May 2019
In reply to Ben_Climber:

Your profile says you're in Manchester - stunning as the Outer Hebrides are, it's probably too far for a weekend. 

In true UKC style I'm going to ignore what you asked for a mo and just mention that it's not much more than a couple of hours drive to Anglesey from there - you could easily do an opportunistic day trip to Llanddwyn Island one day when the weather is good.  (Outside the school holidays ideally.)

 skog 15 May 2019
In reply to Ben_Climber:

Sanna's lovely.

I know of a number of beaches even just on the mainland that I think are as good, or even better, but I'm not going to list them online! And of course, the Outer (and some of the Inner) Hebrides offer an incredible wealth of mindblowingly-beautiful beaches.

I will say that I find looking at maps of the west and north coast, finding sandy beaches marked, and going exploring, to be a very rewarding activity.

Without giving away the best beaches, I can suggest a couple of worthwhile trips if you're looking for more remote ones where the effort is part of the reward.

Have you ever been to Peanmeanach? It's a 5km walk on a very good path on a semi-remote peninsula, looking out at the sound of Arisaig. There's a very pleasant part-sandy beach, and views across to Rois-Bheinn and the other Moidart hills; a very different situation from Sanna but still gorgeous. There's a bothy, and plenty of space for camping.

A bit further West, and the beaches at Port nam Murrach and Port a'Bhathaich are worth a walk, and take you a little bit away from the hordes at the (admittedly stunning) beaches on the strip north of there.

ANd I don't think it's giving away anything too much to mention Cuaig beach, on the Applecross Peninsula, as a totally different sort of beautiful beach - a short walk from the road, this time with redder sand formed from the sandstone rather than shells. And there are small cliffs north of it suitable for a spot of bouldering or short soloing; one time I was there, an otter scurried off through the boulders below them.

 Harry Jarvis 15 May 2019
In reply to skog:

> ANd I don't think it's giving away anything too much to mention Cuaig beach, on the Applecross Peninsula, as a totally different sort of beautiful beach - a short walk from the road, this time with redder sand formed from the sandstone rather than shells. And there are small cliffs north of it suitable for a spot of bouldering or short soloing; one time I was there, an otter scurried off through the boulders below them.

Having just returned from that part of the world, I feel it should be pointed out that Cuaig is tidal, and is not a beach at high tide. It is a lovely spot to watch the sun set. 

 A9 15 May 2019
In reply to skog:

> ANd I don't think it's giving away anything too much to mention Cuaig beach, on the Applecross Peninsula, as a totally different sort of beautiful beach 

the coral beach just down the road from cuaig is good too - fairly well known

 Pkrynicki1984 16 May 2019
In reply to Ben_Climber:

Not exactly what you'd expect there eh! 

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 Euan Todd 16 May 2019
In reply to Ben_Climber:

Loch Crabhadail on Harris is lovely!

 aln 16 May 2019
In reply to Ben_Climber:

Not all of the best beaches in Scotland are in the N. Two of my favourites, one pebble and one pure golden sand, are in the SW corner. But like Robert and others I'm not giving them away! For somewhere accessible but still nice, the beach at Aberdour, round the corner from the Hawkcraig is good and the stretch of sand between Burntisland and Pettycur Bay is excellent when the tide's out, a big wide open expanse of sand with big skies, 20 minutes from the Forth Bridges .


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