Skye's Beaches – Six Shores Timed to the Tide
Two days by car, from Broadford and back.
The route
Skye isn't known as a beach island, but its few good beaches are worth two days of their own.
Each one feels different underfoot: pale sand in a cove at Sleat's southern tip, the white of the Coral Beach at Claigan, black and white sand swirled together at Talisker, and dark sand under the Cuillin at Glen Brittle. Most are a walk from the road over croft land, and some all but vanish at high water, so the tide sets the day, not the clock: each day is timed round a midday low water. There are no lifeguards on Skye, so swim only on a calm day and never alone.
Before you go
Book a bed near Broadford for 16 and 17 June
Book the nights of 16 and 17 June, and the 18th unless you leave Skye that evening. The huts below are 13 minutes out at Heast and sleep two each: a family needs a cottage or a room for four in Broadford itself. Beds go early for June.
6 miles awayKinloch LodgeA place to stay
8 miles awayEilean Sionnach Lighthouse CottageSleeps 8
ElgolCoruisk HouseSleeps 4
10 miles awayRaasay House HotelA hotel
10 miles awaySligachan BlackhouseSleeps 6
11 miles awaySligachan CampsiteA place to stay
15 miles awayGlenbrittle CampsiteA place to stay
PortreeThe BosvilleA hotel
PortreeCuillin Hills HotelA hotel
PortreeMarmalade HotelA hotel
20 miles awaySkyewalker HostelSleeps 1
Skeabost BridgeSkeabost House HotelA hotel
22 miles awayRhuroinSleeps 3
ArdheslaigThe Net StoreSleeps 4
Day one
Sleat
Sleat is Skye's southern arm, with a sandy cove at its very tip and quiet bays facing the Cuillin along its west side. The day walks out to Camas Daraich below the Point of Sleat, paddles at Tarskavaig and ends on the shore at Ord, looking across the water to the Cuillin.
1 hr 57 min at the wheelAbout 50 miles
Camas Daraich
An attraction
It's 41 minutes' drive down the A851 to Armadale and on through Ardvasar to the road's end at Aird of Sleat. Park in the small car park past the gallery, a working farmyard: keep the gates, track and sheep fank (pen) clear. Then it's about an hour on foot, by a stony track with one steep climb and wet moor, down to Camas Daraich, the cove below the Point of Sleat. A big tide covers its pale sand: be there near low water, about ten past twelve, facing Eigg and Rùm.
32 min by car
Tarskavaig Bay
Allow 32 minutes' drive in all: 12 back through Ardvasar to Armadale, for the pier loos and lunch at the castle's Stables Café, open till four; then 20, turning left at Kilbeg, over the west loop to Gillean, before Tarskavaig. Below Achnacloich's crofts, the sand at the bay's south end runs far out from low to mid tide. By mid-afternoon the tide is coming back: paddle at its edge, facing the Cuillin. Use the verge where there's room, never the passing place by the bridge.
About 12 min by car
Ord
Carry on round the loop for 12 minutes, through Tarskavaig, past Tokavaig's pebble bay and Dunscaith's ruin, and steeply down to Ord. Its shore is sand among rocks and skerries, looking across Loch Eishort to Blà Bheinn and the Cuillin. The Ord coral beaches, about 3 km there and back up through the township and over sheep ground, need a low tide, so keep them for another visit, and never cross to the tidal island. Broadford is 32 minutes home.
If it rains
In steady rain the moor out to Camas Daraich turns to bog and the Cuillin disappear from the west loop, so keep the cove for a drier day with a midday low tide. Aird Old Church Gallery, beside the car park at the road end, is a dry half hour on a weekday, 10 to 5. Then it's 12 minutes' drive back to Armadale Castle Gardens, where the museum and the Stables Café are the roofs; the estate was sold in January 2026, so check that the museum is still open there. Tarskavaig Bay is 20 minutes on from the gardens, and still good for a paddle in a shower.
Worth a detour
- Torabhaig Distillery
At Teangue the A851 passes Torabhaig, a distillery in an old farm steading on the Sound of Sleat. On a weekday its café opens from 10 to 4 and its shop till 5. Tours run about every half hour from 10 to 4, with a break over lunch, for over-12s only; 2027's aren't on sale yet.
- Knock Castle
From Torabhaig's car park, a lane and a faint path lead about 10 minutes to Caisteal Chamuis, the ruin of Knock Castle on its headland over Knock Bay. No signs point the way, and the walls stand unstable on the cliff edge: look from the landward side. If you are not visiting the distillery, ask there before leaving the car.
- Aird Old Church Gallery
Beside the car park at the Aird road end, the old church holds Peter McDermott's watercolours and prints and Heather McDermott's jewellery. It opens Monday to Friday, 10 to 5, a dry half hour before or after the walk; check ahead if it's the reason for the trip.
- Point of Sleat
The lighthouse at the Point of Sleat, the southern tip of Skye, is about half an hour further on from the marker post above Camas Daraich, on a rough path. The whole walk from the road end is 8.5 km there and back, three to four hours, so it makes a long morning.
- Armadale Castle Gardens
The day stops at Armadale for lunch, and the gardens round the ruined castle open daily, 9.30 to 5, from late March to October. The ruin itself is fenced off, and after the estate's sale in 2026 the Museum of the Isles may have moved by 2027, so check before paying.
- Dunscaith Castle
Past Tarskavaig the road runs behind Tokavaig's pebble bay, with Dunscaith's ruin on its rock across the water. Park off the road by Tokavaig Bay, clear of the gates and passing places: it's 2 km there and back, by a track and a faint path, to a cobbled beach below the castle. The drawbridge is gone, leaving a sheer drop, so look from the landward side.
Day two
Claigan, Talisker and Glen Brittle
Down Skye's west side, from the white shore at Claigan to the black and white sand of Talisker and the dark sand under the Cuillin at Glen Brittle. Set off from Broadford before eight.
3 hr 37 min at the wheelAbout 115 miles
1 hr 9 min by car
Coral Beach
An attraction
Claigan is 69 minutes' drive: 57 by Sligachan to Dunvegan, for the last loos if they're open this early, then 12 north on the narrow road. Be parked before nine. The track and shore path take 25 to 30 minutes. Camas Bàn, the first bay, isn't it: the Coral Beach lies beyond. The white is maerl, a red seaweed that grows about a millimetre a year, broken and bleached, among tiny shells. Come with the tide half out, and leave every piece where it lies.
1 hr 4 min by car
Talisker Bay
An attraction
It's 64 minutes' drive: 51 south by Struan to Carbost, for loos and lunch from the Oyster Shed above the village, open from eleven. Then it's 13 more on the Talisker road to the lay-by 300 metres short of its end, and 20 minutes' walk down the track. Low water is about twenty past one, when black and white sand swirls where the burns (streams) cross; at high water it's mostly rounded stones. Reach the stack at the south end only near low water, and in any swell, stay out.
30 min by car
Glen Brittle Beach
The beach is 30 minutes' drive round by Merkadale and down Glen Brittle, past the busy Fairy Pools parking. Park before the campsite at the road's end and walk straight onto dark sand, a river running out across it and the Cuillin above. There's sand at every tide, so on a calm afternoon it's today's easiest swim, though the sea is cold and the river colder. When the wind drops the midges rise: bring repellent or a head net. The campsite has coffee and loos. Broadford is 54 minutes home.
If it rains
Rain matters less today. The Claigan track gets boggy and the stream crossings deepen, but the Coral Beach is still white in the wet. In a downpour, drive 10 minutes back to Dunvegan Castle instead, open daily in season from 10am to 5.30pm, with a café. Talisker Bay's track is easy in rain, though the burns across the sand run high. If it's pouring by lunchtime, Talisker Distillery is 11 minutes back from the bay at Carbost, and its shop and bar need no booking. Glen Brittle's sand is beside the car, so it works in any weather.
Worth a detour
- Sligachan Old Bridge
The old bridge at Sligachan no longer carries traffic, so you can walk onto it, with the Cuillin behind. Twenty minutes is enough, on the road out or on the way home.
- Dun Beag Broch
At Struan the A863 passes Dun Beag, an Iron Age broch on a knoll above Loch Bracadale, free and open all year. Park in the small car park on the south side of the road; the broch is across it, about 300 metres up a steep path through a sheep field.
- Giant MacAskill Museum
In Dunvegan village, beside the day's loos, a small private museum remembers Angus MacAskill, the giant. It publishes no hours; it is usually open from Easter to October, so if the door is open, go in.
- Dunvegan Castle
On the Claigan road, the MacLeods' castle and gardens open daily, 10 to 5.30, from 1 April to 15 October. Seal boats of 25 minutes leave the jetty below it Monday to Friday until 30 September, weather allowing, the last at 4.30.
- Talisker Distillery
In Carbost, where the day stops for lunch, Talisker's shop and bar need no tour or booking: the bar opens at 11, with last orders at 4.30 in summer. The hour's tour and tasting is booked ahead, and drivers take their three drams away in a pack.
Where to eat
Photographs by Diane Crowe and Scott Miller via Google