Sea kayak trip around Gruinard Island, West coast Scotland

The circumnavigation of Gruinard Island provides an excellent short day out if you're looking for a sheltered paddle to break the journey south from Ullapool. It's located roughly halfway between Ullapool and Applecross and is reasonably sheltered from westerly winds.

The island has an interesting coastline with some excellent rock hopping opportunities and an is also a superb place to see otters.

We stumbled across it on our way back from the Summer Isles last year and was amazed it's not written up in guide books and other websites. At only 18km it's a bit of a short paddle but there's plenty of interest to fill a day especially if you're a beginner or there's a big swell running on the headlands.

We spent the night in the ideally situated campsite at Laide and made an early start from the jetty just north of the village. We set straight out across Gruinard bay to the west side of the island, this is about a 3.5km crossing.

The west side of Gruinard Island is rocky with 10/15 metre cliffs and interspersed with small inlets and bays. Half way up there's a natural rock arch and at most states of the tide you can access the beach on the other side.

 Gruinard Island rock arch

 Gruinard Island rock arch

We circumnavigated the island clockwise and shortly after the arch saw 4 or 5 otters in amongst the rocks and shallow pools.

Passing the top of the island was relatively uneventful with just a little rougher water, but it had the feel that there was a potential for quite a bit of excitement with rougher conditions. The east side of the island is much flatter and different in character, so we quickly crossed the channel and followed the coastline south to the beautiful sandy beaches around Little Gruinard. These are a great spot to stop and despite being near the road seemed to be relatively quiet.

Little Gruinard Beaches

Gruinard Island

Summary

A beautiful sheltered day out with interesting rock hopping and plenty of wildlife.

Additional information

Distance
18.17km
Tides
The tides don’t appear to be particularly strong
Swell
It's is relatively sheltered from swell.
Access
Parking is limited near the jetty, but it's quite a quiet area so shouldn’t be a problem.
Other information
The campsite at Laide is quite basic but a superb location.