Gallanach Beach, Isle of Muck

One hobby I've really come to love since moving to the Scottish Highlands is wild swimming. To be honest, I'd never really heard of wild swimming before I moved to the Scottish Highlands. But my love for getting out and enjoying some of the incredible waterways around Scotland has grown so much since moving here in 2020.

Although I love wild swimming, the majority of my swims normally happen in rivers near our home in Lochalsh. I'm still a bit nervous about swimming in the sea, despite the abundance of absolutely incredible beaches around the Scottish Highlands and Islands. I think I get a bit scared of what might be lurking underneath the water or something, but it is a fear that I want to try and tackle because I really do feel like I'm missing out on some incredible swims around the West Coast.

A few weeks ago, we revisted the Isle of Muck with some friends of our who have a house in Ardnamurchan. Before visiting the Isle of Muck two years, I barely knew anything about this Small Isle (other than it's slightly strange name). Yet, I have been dreaming of returning on a visit ever since. This little island might be small, but it is so beautiful. We were visiting our friends in Ardnamurchan over my friend's birthday and it was her birthday wish to swim in the sea. So we headed in their boat to Gallanach Beach on the Isle of Muck.

If you're looking for a beautiful beach with crystal clear water, I cannot recommend Gallanach Beach enough for this. We visited in mid August, so the water was a pretty good tempreture (probably about 15 degrees celcius) and thankfully there weren't any jelly fish around.

As well as this, because the island is so hard to get to (and only has a population of about 30), it was only our group of 12 and a group of local kids who were on the beach that day. I remember feeling like we were the only people in the world. We were even joined by some Muck ponies on the beach during our time here, which really added to the feeling of beauty and seclusion on this magical beach.

If you're looking for a beautiful island (and fancy a chance to get in the incredible waters around the West Coast of Scotland), I'd add the Isle of Muck and Gallanach Beach to that list. I really hope we get the chance to stay for longer than a few hours on this island, maybe an overnight stay at some point.

If you're looking to read about our first visit to the Small Isles, make sure you check out this post here.