Sanaigmore – Quiet Sands at the End of the Road
About 2.5 miles on foot.
Sanaigmore is where the road runs out on the north-west corner of Islay: a farm, a memorial and a pale sandy bay behind low dunes, with the open Atlantic beyond.
A walk of about 4 km links the bay with the smaller beaches on either side of it, over short grass, shingle and sand. It's an easy hour and a half, and on most days you'll share it with sheep and Highland cattle and very few people.
- Time
- About an hour and a half: some 4 km, or 2½ miles, with 30 metres of climb.
- The path
- Short grass, shingle and sand, with pathless stretches and a few short steep, boggy or rough bits. Not for wheelchairs or pushchairs.
- Where to start
- Beside the Exmouth Memorial at the end of the B8018, six miles north of Bruichladdich.
- When to go
- All year in daylight. From November to January set off by 1pm. Every Islay ferry uses Port Askaig while Port Ellen's terminal is closed, until 2029. No ferry on 25 December or 1 January. Wind can stop the boat: look at CalMac's service status page on the morning you travel.
- Dogs
- On a lead: ponies, cows and sheep graze behind the shore.
- Children
- An easy walk with beaches to play on.
- Toilets
- None at Sanaigmore.
- Before you set out
- Farm ground with ponies, cows and sheep: dogs on a lead, and shut the gates. Every Islay ferry uses Port Askaig while Port Ellen's terminal is closed, until 2029. No ferry on 25 December or 1 January. Wind can stop the boat: look at CalMac's service status page on the morning you travel.
The walk
Park beside the Exmouth Memorial at the very end of the B8018, six miles north of Bruichladdich. The memorial remembers 241 Irish emigrants who died when the ship Exmouth of Newcastle struck rocks just off this coast in 1847. Sanaigmore Bay is a few minutes' walk from it: a curve of pale sand between dark, rocky headlands, with low dunes and a dry-stone wall behind. A walker's guide gives the round here as about 4 km, or two and a half miles, with 30 metres of climb, and allows an hour and a half. It takes in the bay and the smaller beaches along the shore beside it, each different from the last. Underfoot it's short grass, shingle and sand, with stretches of track and stretches of no path at all, and a few short bits that are steep, boggy or rough.
Ponies, cows and sheep graze the ground behind the shore, so keep dogs on a lead and shut gates behind you. There are no toilets here and nowhere to eat that can be counted on in winter, so bring food and a flask. From November to January, set off by 1pm. Sanaigmore is 18 miles from the ferry at Port Askaig, about 40 minutes' drive. Islay is reached on CalMac's car ferry from Kennacraig in Kintyre, a crossing of just under two hours. Port Ellen's ferry terminal is closed for rebuilding until 2029, so every boat lands at Port Askaig, in the north-east of the island.
Book the car on before you travel, and be at the pier 30 minutes before the boat sails. On the winter timetable, from 19 October 2026 to 25 March 2027, the first boat leaves Kennacraig at 7am, or at 10am on a Tuesday and a Sunday. The last boat off the island leaves Port Askaig at 5.25pm on a Monday and a Wednesday, 6.05pm on a Tuesday and a Friday, and 6pm on a Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Until 18 October the summer timetable applies, so read the times on CalMac's Islay page. Wind can stop the boat: look at CalMac's service status page on the morning you travel.
If it rains
There's no shelter at Sanaigmore and the grass and rocks are slippery when wet. In rain, walk down to the main bay and back, which takes a few minutes, and keep the longer round for a dry day.
Before you go
Book the car onto CalMac's Kennacraig to Port Askaig ferry before you travel, out and back, and be at the pier 30 minutes before the boat.
For further reading, before you go.