Bagh Bhatarsaigh Beach

Bhatarsaigh Bagh (Bay), also known as East Beach, is on Vatersay Island. It is one of an archipelago known as the Bishop’s Isles, referring to the island’s former church ownership. One of the Outer Hebrides islands, the 3-mile-long island is actually a tombolo, separated in the middle by a narrow isthmus with Bhatarsaigh Bagh (Bay) on the more sheltered eastern side and Traigh Shiar to the west. Both beaches have startling silver sands made up of ground seashells and are backed by grassy dunes.

Believe it or not, the beach has car parking, toilets and a campsite.

This idyllic beach is 600 metres long and lapped by turquoise coloured waters on sunny days. It would not look out of place on a Caribbean poster!

Local landmarks include a memorial obelisk in the sand dunes nearby, erected in memory of the 330 people who drowned when their ship Annie Jane sank just offshore in 1853. It was carrying emigrants from Liverpool to a new life in Canada.