Discovering Mull's Hidden Beaches 

If you’re looking for an adventure that takes you right to the edge of the UK, off the beaten track and lands you In some incredible Scottish coves then this might be the adventure for you. A beautiful and intricate stretch of Mull’s South-West coast is home to beach after beach and cove after cove of almost untouched natural beauty, only trick is knowing how to find them! 

Difficulty:

As UK adventures go this is perhaps towards the more intrepid end of the scale, whilst still remaining very achievable. We say this mainly due to the remoteness of the location, if you don’t want to drive and or walk very far then this ain’t for you. If you do however, this adventure will reward you handsomely!

Time:

Ideally once on the Isle of Mull we recommend leaving the best part of a day for this adventure but if you want to tie it in with another local adventure or experience that would be possible. 

The Adventure:

Again this adventure is located on the South-West of Mull, to get to which is a 1.5 hour drive from Tobermory, through the centre of the Island. We decided to wake up at sunrise and hit the road asap in order to make the most of the day.

Sidenote: Excuse the potentially slightly patronising ‘tip’ but over the years we’ve learnt that setting our alarm for sunrise or even before on adventure days like this really allows us to maximise our time. It gets you up and at ‘em early when there is no one else about and means by lunch you’ve achieved so much. We’ve never regretted an early rise!

Try not to see this drive as a commute or ‘slog’, this drive is gorgeous and in many ways part of the adventure. You will pass through glens and past mountains with wild deer roaming and Highland cows chomping their first bit of grass of the day. It is magical.

Drive towards Fionnphort, before taking the last possible left towards Fidden. This single track road will take you a couple of miles south, past Fidden before ending at Knockvologan farm, a small farm at the vwry end of the track. This is where we parked up and took off on foot past the old farm buildings before eventually finding ourselves on the frankly unreal Knockvologan Beach.

The first stretch of beach is where most people stay put as it is beautiful... However persevere further and you will uncover a series of amazing hidden coves and beaches, each more glorious than the last. There are two main ways to achieve this; firstly, at low tide it is possible to hug the coastline around darting in between several tidal islands and tracing the rocks until you discover cove after cove. Secondly, should the tide be high, you can take the ‘scenic’ route across the windswept headland and then drop down into the coves from a height. Both of which are good, but we would recommend the former if you have the tides on your side.

We pushed round to the next vast view, a few minutes along the coast.. It was still early morning, and we hadn't eaten breakfast yet. Luckily we had come prepared. The night before we had bought a disposable BBQ, some bacon and fresh bread, we packed that along with a fresh flask of warm tea in order to have an alfresco brekkie, Scottish style. Arriving at this next beach (still technically part of Knockvologan I think) we knew immediately that this was the spot for breakfast. The hills ran into sand dunes, spilling onto a large beach before meeting the turquoise waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. We picked a spot out of the wind, set up a small camp, cooked up our butties and set about stuffing our faces... It is fair to say it took the much coveted accolade of being the most spectacular bacon sarnie of our lives. 10/10.

Once digested we plugged on, hiking the coast via the sand before being forced up and over the headland. This was the highest point in the area and allowed us views back over where we had come from and beyond to where we were heading. Not only spectacular but a useful point on the adventure in terms of navigation. Picking a line, we duly followed our noses east along the coast, occasionally meeting faint tracks perhaps made by Highland cows. These tracks provided the only evidence that others had been here before us, at other points on our journey we got the feeling we might be the first people to step foot there. We weren’t of course, but this is the feeling of remoteness the experience conjured up - beautiful isolation.

A little further hiking and the cliffs of the coast drop dramatically down into an otherwise completely hidden cove. We had arrived at Traigh a' Mhill. A large, almost circular sandy beach, Traigh a' Mhill is sandwiched between the ocean at its front and some rolling sand dunes behind. Either side were steep cliffs formed of large geometric steps, looming high above the sand.

We couldn’t believe our luck - ‘how has no one mentioned this?’ we agreed. The answer, I suppose, is that Mull has an embarrassment of natural riches and so it was just lost in the crowd.

Content with our hidden beach fix, after a couple of hours, we decided to head back to our car. Despite the lashing rain on our cross country hike back we were both grinning ear to ear, it felt like we had just uncovered something different, something new. What an adventure, we were buzzing. 

Pointers:

• Plug on from the first Knockvologan cove. If you’re after a real adventure, don’t be afraid to continue onwards.. You won’t regret it. But always make sure to check tide times and of course sunset, you don’t want to get caught out.

• Take breakfast: If you really want to take the adventure to the next level then being prepared with some decent breakfast materials is crucial. We could only get our hands on a disposable BBQ, which isn’t the ideal solution from an environmental standpoint. If you are able to take a frying pan and gas burner then this is preferential. Either way make sure you LEAVE NO TRACE.

  
  

In Conclusion:

This adventure requires perseverance and a little bit of faith in your navigation skills. In many ways the adventure demands you forge your own path, reading the rocks and coves of the Mull coast to tackle the extraordinary landscape. The feeling of exploration and discovery that will follow suit are what it’s all about.

It’s wild and free UK adventure at its best.

The Numbers:

/ 1.5 hrs drive from Tobermoray

/ 6 beaches discovered

/ 7.3 km

/ £5 (Breakfast materails)