Dunnet Bay – a Wood-Fired Sauna and Lunch in Castletown
A few hours.
The route
Clach Mara is a hand-built, wood-fired sauna that spends most of its time at Castletown Beach, at the western corner of Dunnet Bay, with the sea and the long Caithness sands in front of it.
Book a communal session or take it for your own group, cool off in the sea if you want to, then walk round to lunch at the Grain Store in Castletown's old mill. It's a morning on the north coast for anyone 12 or over.
Before you go
Book accommodation nearby
If you are staying over: here are ours nearest where the day starts and ends.
The nearest of ours is House of the Northern Gate, 2 miles away. Sleeps 18.
Book Clach Mara Sauna on its own website, checking this month's place and times there (it is mostly at Castletown Beach): open sessions are pay what feels right, private sessions for your group, and under-12s can't come.
Book lunch at the Grain Store at Stannergill online or on 01847 698063 (every day from 25 May to the end of October, 11.30am to 3pm).
The day
Castletown
Wood-fired heat with the sea at the door, at the quiet end of Dunnet Bay. Then lunch in Castletown's old grain store.
About three hours
Clach Mara Sauna
Clach Mara is a hand-built, wood-fired mobile sauna for six to eight, based mostly at Castletown Beach, at the western corner of Dunnet Bay. It pops up in other places now and then, so check this month's place and times on its own website. Every booking is made there: communal sessions, private sessions for your own group, and a free, donation-based community session once a month. Its regular open sessions run on community pricing, so you pay what feels right. Bring swimwear and two towels, and ask about parking when you book. Children of 12 to 16 may come with an adult family member or guardian there throughout, but under-12s can't. A cold dip in the sea is your own choice and your own risk, so go in only if you're confident in cold water. There are orange slices waiting afterwards.
3 min on foot
The Grain Store
Lunch
Lunch is at the Grain Store, the restaurant Stannergill Distillery has made in the old Castletown Mill grain store, about 3 minutes' walk from the beach. From 25 May to the end of October it opens seven days a week, with coffee and cake from 10am and a seasonal lunch menu from 11.30am to 3pm. Booking is recommended, online or on 01847 698063. Outside that season, the Northern Sands Hotel in Dunnet, a few minutes' drive along the bay, serves food all day and posts its menus on its Facebook page.
If it rains
The sauna is warm in any weather and the Grain Store is indoors.
Where to stay
Photographs by Hudda Morgan and marie L’Aimable via Google