Getting to the Beach

Leaving Dunvegan village with its famous 13th century castle, a 4.5-mile car journey north will lead you to the Claigan Coral Beach car park. At the end of a single-track road, you will be able to ditch your wheels and pick up the route on foot. From here, a 1 mile walk through grassy pastures peppered with grazing cattle and sheep will treat you to your first glimpses of the beach. 

Unique Geology and Environment 

The snowy white ‘sand’ of Claigan is what first captures your attention as you arrive at the beach – dazzlingly bright in the sunshine. Despite being dubbed ‘coral’ though, Claigan’s chalky shawl is in fact made up of fine pieces of maerl, a collective name for coralline red algae. Crushed by pounding waves and dried and bleached by the sun, these beautiful maerl deposits lose their red-pinkish hues over time, adopting a brilliant white finish.

Not just beautiful to look at, but Claigan’s maerl beds provide vital shelter for many types of small marine plants and animals offshore too. A protected feature of Scotland’s coasts, they are part of a marine nature conservation priority in Scottish waters and are home to urchins, sea cucumbers, anemones and sea scallop nurseries too. As you walk along the beach, you can often see tiny shells underfoot, belying the amazing diversity of life hiding in plain sight.

Exploring Claigan Coral Beach 

A real haven, many a peaceful hour can be spent spread out on a picnic blanket on Claigan, taking in the scenery and basking in the ethereal atmosphere. Yet if you find yourself with itchy feet, there is plenty to explore nearby too. Just offshore, approximately 150 metres from the beach, is the tidal island of Lampay. When the tide is right out, you can actually walk right across to the island to explore, peering into rock pools and enjoying a different perspective of the beach.

For photographers, the beach provides plenty of inspiration too and on a clear day, you can see right across Loch Dunvegan towards the Outer Hebrides. If you have a wide-angle lens you can photograph the amazing panoramas, or if you’re quick, you can instead try and capture the antics of the loch’s resident seals, or if you’re lucky, sea otters. For even more views, you can climb to the top of Cnoc Mor a Ghrobain, a small hill overlooking the beach. Allowing you to see all the way from Stein on the Waternish Peninsula to Dunvegan Head on fine days, the sights will simply take your breath away.