West Coast Scottish Beaches

“Oh, you must go here, there’s a fantastic beach there.” “This is my favourite place, the beach there is gorgeous.” “Hmm, well I can definitely recommend visiting this place. It has the most wonderful beach.”

What is it with Scots and their beaches? If I had 20p every time someone recommended a beach for Mac and I to visit, I’d have enough money to, well, not buy a whole lot of anything. It is Scotland after all. But! I’d have a good head start on a decently frugal lunch of bread and hummus to enjoy at said beach! The point is, prior to coming to Scotland, I would never have thought that this land full of mountains and bagpipes would have that many decent beaches. Oh, how wrong I was.

Our first introduction to Scottish beaches was on the east coast in Dornoch & Carnoustie. The white sand, blue water, and rocky shores provided a mere glimpse into what was to come. Mac and I (along with our friend Peter that we met at the hostel) did a grand day tour of the north-west coast of Scotland in the luxury of Peter’s rental car. We toured three epic west coast Scottish beaches in one day and were left with memories and pictures that will last a long time.

West Coast Scottish Beaches

Durness

The town of Durness is at the north-west tip of mainland Scotland. It’s a fairly small town – a simple convenience store shop with a few baskets of produce, a classic pub, and a few B&B’s and inns. Those driving by could easily miss it, but if you park the car and walk towards the coast, you’ll soon be witness to an incredibly stunning beach. The views from the top of the hill are incredible, but we also saw many folks down on the sand. Just make sure you have an eye on the high tide times!!

Sandwood Bay

Sandwood Bay beach takes a bit of effort to reach. After taking several side road exits from the main highway, you then have to ditch the car at the parking lot in Blairmore. From Durness, the car park is only a 45 minute drive, which doesn’t seem too terrible on paper. The distance is less than 35 kilometres though, so be prepared for a lot of ‘true Scottish roads’! After leaving the car, it’s a six kilometre hike towards the coast. The hike is fairly easy with very little incline and only a few stream crossings. The terrain is typical for the Scottish Highlands – rolling, barren hills covered with the remains of once-colourful heather, and scenic blue lochs dotting the landscape.

In true Scottish fashion, we got rained on both hiking to and from the beach, but the skies remained miraculously clear for the duration of our time on the coast. The trail approaches the beach from above, on the sand dunes. It’s here where you get your first glimpse of what is truly one of the most incredible west coast Scottish beaches.

Meandering through the dunes and alongside the lochs, we eventually made our way to the water. This was actually no small feat as the dunes were enormous!

It’s hard for me to think of a more picture-perfect beach. The contrast between the sand, rocks, and crashing waves on the water was visually stunning. It was one of those moments where other than an initial gasp of “wow”, I was left truly speechless. We spent quite a bit of time walking along the beach and admiring the beauty of the landscape that surrounded us. Eventually we made the long walk back to the car and then onto our next destination.

The Old Man of Stoer

Though the dramatic cliffs and rocky coast isn’t technically what I’d group into west coast Scottish beaches, I’d be remiss not to mention The Old Man of Stoer. We drove out to the lighthouse at the end of the road past Balchladich. My frozen toes elected to remain in the car and sketch and read, while Mac and Peter went for a hike in the gale-like wind out to The Old Man of Stoer. This impressive rock stack is not to be confused with its more famous cousin, The Old Man of Storr, on Isle of Skye. Though Mac didn’t take any photos, he returned to the car full of captivating tales of the hike and the incredible views of the rock stack. I was fortunate enough to see the beautiful sunset across the horizon of the endless sea.

Achmelvich Bay

Achmelvich is not an easy place to get to. First, you veer from the comforts of the dual-carriage main highway onto a B-class single-track road. The road is windy with blind hills and narrow passing places. Eventually a sign will come into view proclaiming only 2 miles until Achmelvich. Turn here for more single track road fun until you arrive at the smattering of RVs & caravans. We arrived after dusk and were unable to see the beach that night. I made a point of getting up early the next morning for a little sunrise beach session. I was not disappointed. The sun had not yet peaked over the clouds and the beach had a moody, cool-toned feeling to it.

The turquoise water lapped onto the white sand shores, and the dark grey rolling rocks made for a perfect playground as I leapt gracefully* to and fro between the boulders. *the graceful part is still up for debate. After the morning spent frolicking at the beach, Mac and I said goodbye to Peter (and the convenience of his rental car) and set out into the wild highlands for more adventuring.

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West coast Scottish beaches are so tricky and misleading. On one hand, the clear blue waters are so inviting. The crashing waves and endless sea and sky make it seem like the perfect place to spend a sunny afternoon. On the other hand, the constant biting wind and cold temperatures make for a place where I’d much rather don a parka than a bikini, and trade a seaside mojito for a cup of cocoa.

This is what originally eluded me about Scots and their beaches. At first, I didn’t fully understand the Scot’s love for a place that was – to me, at least – so dependent on warm hot weather. This all changed after our day spent roaming around three west coast Scottish beaches. Simply being surrounded by such incredible feats of nature, with colours not found in any paint chip catalogue, made the frozen fingers and disappointment over lack of sunburned* body parts so worth it. *Those of you with that elusive tan-able skin will forever be victims of my glaring eyes, as I lather up for the umpteenth time in SPF 50 sunscreen…

If you’re curious about the location of these beaches, check out the Google Map I made for our day tour of these awesome west coast Scottish beaches.

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