Shells

Our beaches have the highest shell content in Scotland (around 80-95%). The Atlantic rollers pounding our shores are so powerful that they have crushed these shells to a silky fine consistency. The extensive shallow bays and coastlines give rise to massive areas of white sands. On sunny days this means you could mistake the coastline for the Bahamas - the sea takes on a tropical turquoise as the sand reflects the light of the sun through the sparklingly clean waters.

We also have tides of approximately five metres, which wash our shores twice daily, ensuring they are perfectly clean with not a footprint in sight.

Here are just some of the beautiful beaches that you can visit and enjoy in Uig & Bernera:

Traigh na Clibhe (Cliff Beach)

As this is open to the Atlantic, the bay is usually full of white-frilled rollers tumbling shorewards. These are excellent for surf-boarders and kayakers, but the beach is unsafe for bathers. The break here has been rated by former Scottish Surfing Champion, Ian Masson as the best he has ever surfed.' Catches swells from the North West to bigger swells from the South. South winds are offshore, with strong rip currents.

Traigh na Beirghe (Riof / Reef Beach)

© James Smith

Riof is a long, sweeping, and usually deserted beach! Sheltered by the islands of Pabaigh, Bhacasaigh and Siaram, the beach is safe for bathing and ideal for wind-surfing and dinghy sailing.

This area provides some of the finest scenery in Lewis, combining machair, beach and cliff, along with a marvellous spectacle of wild flowers in summer, including a wide range of orchids. There are numerous archaeological remains, which you are asked to leave undisturbed. Sand has been blown into the adjacent Loch a Chuilc, and this is now the largest reedbed in Lewis and Harris. Unfortunately the machair here is suffering erosion from vehicles so cars should park in designated areas.

The sands have an abundance of shells, 20 different varieties being easily collected. Challenge: find a Noah's Ark Shell at the far end. In the late summer and early autumn the machair is a profusion of flowers, its varieties of wild orchids being a particular delight.

Traigh Theinish

A small, rough-shelled beach at the eastern end of Traigh na Beirghe.

Camas Uig (Uig Bay)

© James Smith

Uig Bay is a National Scenic Area, one of only 40 in Scotland. The designation reflects the bay's status as an ... area of unsurpassed attractiveness which must be conserved as part of our national heritage and gives the beach international recognition as a Category V Protected Landscape in the IUCN's World List of Protected Areas.

At one time Uig Bay formed one of the most important centres of population on the Isle of Lewis. At least five townships were cleared in the early part of the 19th century to form the farm of Eadar Dha Fhadhail (Ardroil).

The main access to the bay is from the village of Ardroil, where you will find a road down to a car park and small caravan site. Buried in the sandbanks at nearby Bealach Ban the Uig Chessmen were found in 1831. The chess pieces are the most important Norse artefact in existence, and have been housed for more than a centuary and a half in the National Museum in Edinburgh and the British Museum in London. A giant 8 ft replica of one of the Kings has been installed on the machair by the road down to the beach at Ardroil, carved from wood by Stephen Hayward of Tain.

Traigh a' Chidhe & Traigh Bhoisiadar, Carnais

Carnais in the south-west is dominated by a gravel ridge - an esker - which is now being extensively quarried. These are two lovely beaches at Carnais. To reach them, it is requested to walk across the common land and not through the crofts. At the Carnais road-end take a north westerly route in to the peninsula. The old dwellings are situated a few hundred yards from the road. The walk along the coast is beautiful. Remains of pier at Traigh a' Chidhe - built in 1820 - are evidence of the important of Carnais as a fishing village. Traigh Bhoisiadar is a good and safe beach for swimming.

Traigh Mhangurstadh (Mangersta Beach)

© James Smith

Mangersta beach can be reached by turning left about one mile in to the village. This road leads to two houses beyond which lies the beach. It is important to close the gate which opens on to the machair, and although the track continues for some distance past the gate it is not advisable to take cars further. Mangurstadh beach can also be reached by following the village road to its end. Again cars have to be left at the road end, and the gate leading to the machair has to be shut.

The beach is spectacular - beautiful to look at but often too wild to swim in. There are plenty of coves and daves to explore in the surrounding area. When the tide is out there are numerous small pools around the black rocks for children to play in.

In 1896 a Danish schooner, the Grana, ripped her sails in the Atlantic and let out anchor to avoid being wrecked; the ship was too far out in the bay for the crew to come ashore. The farmer's wife, Christina Mackay, witnessed the disaster and waded in to the wild seas with a rope and then helped the crew to haul the anchor lines ashore. Her bravery and quick response ultimately saved the entire crew. The grateful men presented their heroine with a clock. The ship's anchor chain and other bits of wreckage can still be seen on the beach.

For surfers: Mangurstadh is definitely for experienced surfers only, serious rips make this a very dangerous but intense break but outstanding if the swell is right.

Mealasta

Mealasta has three beautiful beaches, the first of which is almost always calm and good for swimming. However the second beach (approaching from Breanais), which is below Taigh nan Cailleachan Dubha, is vulnerable to change and to the severity of the weather, and is often covered with beach stones. The third beach is surely one of the most secluded on the island; it is tucked in to the coast near the Mealasta road-end but is not visible from the road. It is possible to drive to Mol Linis, at the end of the track. It is important to shut the three gates leading to Mealasta.

Camas Bostadh (Bosta Beach), Bernera

© James Smith

Bosta Beach is made from sparkling white shell sand. This popular beach, with a much eroded machair, has good views of the cliff bound islands of Outer Loch Roag, notably Little Bernera, Flodday, Bearsay, the Old Hill and Campay. Campay is pierced by a natural tunnel about 120 metres long. Following a period of clan warfare and alleged treason in Lewis, James V1 sent a force to capture Nial Macleod and his followers, who established a strong base on the island of Bearsay in the early 17th century. They were forced to leave the island which they had held for three years, when the Mackenzies held their relatives hostage on a tidal rock. Niall surrendered to his kinsman Rory Macleod who handed him over to the King and was executed in 1613, and Lewis thus came into the possession of the Mackenzies.