Dunnet Bay – Learn to Surf
A few hours.
The route
Dunnet Bay is a long curve of white sand on the Caithness coast, with Dunnet Head at its northern end, and its gentle, steady waves make it a fine place to stand on a board for the first time.
North Coast Watersports teach beginners here, with a thick wetsuit, boots and board provided. It's for anyone from four upwards who can swim, and the water is warmer to be in than you'd think.
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, a mile away. Sleeps 18.
Book a group surf lesson with North Coast Watersports on their website or on 07982 649635 before you go: two hours (an hour and a half from November to March), £40 a head at the time of writing, from age four, under-eights with an adult in the water, and everyone able to swim 50 metres.
The day
Dunnet
Into a thick wetsuit, two hours in the waves with an instructor, then out to a towel and a hot drink from the flask.
About two and a half hours
Surfing in Caithness
An attraction
North Coast Watersports meet their surf lessons at the main Dunnet Beach car park, beside the Dunnet Bay campsite on the A836 just south of Dunnet village. Parking is free. A group lesson runs two hours, or an hour and a half from November to March, and costs £40 a head at the time of writing, with a 5mm wetsuit, boots and board, and gloves and a hood when it's cold. Book ahead on their website or on 07982 649635. It suits total beginners from four years old, and under-eights need an adult with them in the water; everyone should be able to swim 50 metres. There are no changing rooms or showers, so arrive with swimwear on under your clothes and bring a towel, warm layers, water and a flask of something hot. In very strong wind, a huge swell or a flat sea they move or rearrange the lesson, or refund it. For afterwards, there's a wood-fired sauna at each end of the bay: the company's Surf and Sauna page says how to pair one with a lesson.
If it rains
Rain makes no odds once you're wet: lessons go ahead in rain and wind, and the company moves or refunds a lesson only in extreme wind, a huge swell or a flat sea.
Where to stay
Photograph by North Coast Watersports via Google