Garry Beach, in the north of the Isle of Lewis, has been named the most underrated beach in the whole of the UK by Boat Booker. Milo Boyd went to see what everyone has been missing
Far, far away – perhaps as far away as you can get from Greggs in the UK – is the country’s most underrated beach.
The Outer Hebrides may not be home to a single outlet of the beloved sausage roll franchise, but it does have Garry Beach. It sits high up on the largest of the Western Isles, Lewis.
Garry has just been named the most underrated beach in the UK by Boat Booker. Studying Google Maps beaches tagged as “secluded” and “secret,” and then ranking those with fewer than 100 reviews, the firm highlighted those coastal spots with pristine waters and dramatic scenery where relatively few have trodden.
Scotland dominates the rankings, with six locations in the top 10. Spots on islands such as Mull and Barra are high up. Porth Trwyn in Wales is the highest-ranked non-Scottish beach, coming in at four.
It is easy to understand why the Hebridean seaside might be underrated, given how remote and difficult most of it is to get. And this particularly goes for Garry Beach.
I spent two days, about eight hours of driving, a three-hour ferry, and a five-hour train, getting to the Isle of Lewis, before another hour on the road north of Stornoway to Garry Beach. I did so in a hefty Range Rover which I borrowed from the kind people at Turo rental car.
If the journey 668 miles from London to Stornoway doesn’t put you off, then the 15 miles from Stornoway to Garry Beach might. I’d argue it’s among the dullest, bleakest stretches of countryside in the UK.
Sitting in the back of the spacious Sport 2020, my Swedish in-laws kept muttering about just how bleak a destination it was. But, when we arrived, North Lewis’s less fetching roads were quickly forgotten. The beach itself is lovely.
A small car park holding around five vehicles was situated a short two-minute walk from the water’s edge. From there, we wandered over a grassy knoll onto the sandy bay, which stretches several hundred metres on either side.
Like many of the more remote Scottish beaches – and particularly the sandy ones that can be found in the Hebrides and Shetland – the water is a brilliant blue that feels like it’s been lifted by a fire-fighting plane straight out of a rum advert filmed in the Caribbean and dumped several thousand miles away for the benefit of a handful of dog walkers and a lone fisherman.
The beach sits on the eastern edge of Lewis, meaning it is not treated to the dramatic waves and salty spray of the island’s Atlantic coast. Things are a little more gentle here. Rather than smashing them in a froth, waves lap around the intriguing rock formations that stick up from the sand. Several have been eroded to create excellent climbing platforms and archways into the surf.
Beyond the fact that the Isle of Lewis is miles away from all but the 20,000 or so people who live there, Garry Beach has another major issue: the weather.
The hottest temperature ever recorded on Lewis was 26.3 °C, back in 1999. Unless you’re incredibly lucky, this beach requires a serious raincoat and the ability to withstand Hebridean gales.
During the high season of July, sunseekers can expect 12 days of rain and the mercury to hit average highs of 16C. That is roughly 7C colder than the southern coast of England.
Unless you are made of incredibly stern stuff, this is not a beach for lounging on the sand for hours on end or frolicking in the waves. It is a beach that combines the beautiful and the bleak of the British Isles’ coastline in a way that few other places anywhere can.
If you like the sound of what Garry is offering, but don’t think you can face the mammoth journey, then there are some slightly closer options. One of my personal favourites is Sandaig, a beach several miles from the beautiful Scottish village of Glenelg.
The peaceful spot was immortalised as Camusfearna in ‘Ring of Bright Water’, a book written by Gavin Maxwell about his life living alongside pet otters.
Not only is the water sparkling and very tempting for those who can handle the intense chill of a Scottish sea loch, winding paths lined by little bushes and tree run between craggy rock towers, creating the perfect arena for a game of Flags or 40:40. If the weather does close in a little, then there’s plenty of driftwood lying around that can be used to warm a chilled party huddled in one of Sandaig’s natural rock alcoves.