Sandwood Bay

Four miles of blanket bog separate Sandwood Bay from the nearest road — the walk ensures the beach is almost always empty. Pink sand meets turquoise water beneath a sea stack called Am Buachaille that stands like a stone guardian at the southern end, and there is no building, no road, and no phone signal.

Sandwood Bay on Scotland's far northwest coast is widely considered the finest wild beach in Britain, its remoteness enforced by the four-mile walk through peatland from Blairmore. The bay's pink sand — coloured by crushed shell — stretches for a mile between dune systems, with Am Buachaille, a 65-metre sea stack, standing sentinel at the southern end. Local legend places a mermaid sighting here, and fishermen historically avoided the bay after dark. The Cape Wrath Trail passes through the bay on its way to the lighthouse, and the beach serves as a wild camping site for through-hikers. On the rare days when sun, tide, and absence of wind coincide, the water glows Caribbean blue.