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Beaches
in Sutherland.

It’s 20:04 in Sutherland.
Sutherland

Sandwood, Balnakeil and the Dornoch dunes.

Sutherland has beaches on three coasts, and on most days you can have one to yourself. In the west, coves at Achmelvich, Oldshoremore and Polin hold turquoise water between rocky headlands, and Sandwood Bay is reached only by a four-mile path across the moor. The north coast has wide sweeps of sand at Balnakeil, Farr and Torrisdale, with dunes that climb the hillside and surfers in the bay at Melvich. On the east, long golden sands run north from Dornoch and Embo towards Loch Fleet. Bring a windproof layer, even on a bright day in July.

Strathy Beach→
Balnakeil Beach→
Melvich Beach→
Polin Beach→
Oldshoremore Beach→
Farr Beach→
Coldbackie Beach→
Torrisdale Beach→
Achmelvich Bay→
Sandwood Bay→
Embo Beach→
Ceannabeinne Beach→
Beach of the day19 hours ago

Ceannabeinne Beach.

A cove of white sand between rocky headlands on the north coast east of Durness, below the old township of Ceannabeinne, the rocks streaked pink.

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From our guide18 hours ago

Torrisdale Beach.

West of Bettyhill, across the mouth of the River Naver, Torrisdale Bay is a mile-wide sweep of golden sand held between two rivers, the Naver and the Borgie. At low water the Naver winds out across the sand in a wide, shining channel. Behind the beach the dunes do not stop at the shore but climb the hillside, more than 120 metres above the sea, and the whole landscape is protected for the way sand, rivers and ice have shaped it. A walk from Invernaver takes in the dunes, the river and an Iron Age broch.

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From the magazine17 hours ago

Graeme Johncock, a writer who travels Scotland for Hidden Scotland's Around Scotland column, reached the Wailing Widow Falls, near Kylesku in Sutherland, by a rough trek over rocks and through mud.

The falls were the final stop on a trip through the far north-west of Scotland, and as Graeme puts it, 'Our last stop took a little more effort than the usual leisurely walk from a car park'. The trek ran along a gorge to the enormous waterfall, which crashes down from Loch na Gainmhich high above. Earlier that day he had wound his way past the mountains Suilven and Stac Pollaidh, with hardly a soul to be seen, and at Achnahaird beach a curious seal kept a wary eye on him from the waves. The falls made an impressive end to the day, and for Graeme they showed that Scotland has incredible surprises even in its furthest corners.

See Wailing Widow Falls · Sutherland
Free16 hours agoSutherlandCeannabeinne BeachAttractionSutherlandColdbackie BeachAttractionSutherlandPolin BeachAttractionSutherlandStrathy BeachAttractionSutherlandTorrisdale BeachAttractionSutherlandAchnahaird BeachAttraction

Free to visit.

Beaches, waterfalls, viewpoints and stones: nothing to pay and nobody to ask.

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From our guide15 hours ago

Kyle of Durness.

South-west of Durness, the sea runs far inland between green hills, and at low tide the Kyle of Durness drains to great banks of pale sand and winding channels. It is also the start of one of the odder journeys in Scotland. No road reaches Cape Wrath, the far north-west corner of the mainland, so in summer, when tides and military firing allow, a small passenger ferry crosses from Keoldale and a minibus takes the long track on the far side. At the end stand Cape Wrath lighthouse, built in 1828, and the great sea cliffs of Clo Mor.

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Lunch14 hours agoSutherlandThe Store Bistro & Bar11.0 milesSutherlandBettyhill Tourist Information & Cafe11.1 milesCaithnessThe Galley, Scrabster13.9 miles

Lunch near Melvich Beach.

The three good places closest to it: The Store Bistro & Bar, Bettyhill Tourist Information & Cafe and The Galley, Scrabster.

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From our guide13 hours ago

Loch Eriboll.

A few miles east of Durness, the north coast road turns inland and runs ten miles down one side of Loch Eriboll and ten miles back up the other. It is a deep, sheltered loch, and in May 1945 more than thirty German U-boats sailed in here to surrender. From the high road on the east side, look down on Ard Neakie, a round green knoll tied to the shore by a curving spit of shingle, with four great lime kilns of 1870. Wild mountains crowd round the water. Pull into a lay-by and take it slowly.

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From the magazine13 hours agoThe printed copy of Issue 11Issue 11Autumn / Winter 2025–26

At Sandwood Bay, one of the most remote beaches in Scotland, local legend says people gathering driftwood have been bellowed at by a disembodied voice.

The bay lies at almost the very northwest tip of Scotland, and the only way in is a four-mile hike each way. It is said that countless shipwrecks lie buried beneath its sand, everything from Viking longships to galleons of the Spanish Armada. Local legends tell of a ghostly mariner who wanders the sands, said to be the spirit of a sailor lost centuries ago, and the voice tells driftwood gatherers to leave alone what does not belong to them. Whether you believe in ghosts or not, tales like these make this wild stretch of coast a place of mystery.

See Sandwood Bay · Sutherland
From our guide12 hours ago

Oldshoremore Beach.

Past Kinlochbervie's fishing harbour, the road runs on through a thin scatter of white crofts towards the end of the land, and at Oldshoremore it passes a lovely beach. Wooden steps lead down through the dunes to a wide, pale bay, with a red sandstone headland at one end and clear water turning turquoise over the sand. It is rarely busy. Come in the evening, when the low sun turns everything gold. From here you can walk round to the tiny cove at Polin, and Cape Wrath is only about ten miles to the north.

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From our guide11 hours ago

Stoer Lighthouse.

At the end of a winding road across the Stoer peninsula, north of Lochinver, a white lighthouse stands on the clifftop looking out over the Minch. The Stevenson family, Scotland's great lighthouse engineers, built it in 1870, and it has run without keepers since 1978. It is a wild, open spot, good for watching the weather roll in. From the lighthouse, a rough coastal path heads north to the Old Man of Stoer, a sea stack about 60 metres tall. Combine it with the beaches at Clashnessie and Achmelvich on the same drive.

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Somewhere to go10 hours ago

Farr Beach, Sutherland.

A sandy bay framed by rocky, grassy headlands at Bettyhill on the north coast, below the old church of Farr, now the Strathnaver Museum.

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Autumn9 hours ago

What Strathy Beach looks like in autumn.

A sandy bay at the mouth of the River Strathy on the north coast, reached by a path through the dunes, with cliffs, caves and sea stacks along its eastern side.

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