Scotland

Where to surf in Scotland

Scotland is famous for having “four seasons in a day” and it is this unpredictable weather that can bring pumping waves to any of its three coasts. Peppered with islands to the west and slab reefs to the east, this fiercely independent nation holds the lion’s share of UK surfing frontiers. With the Hebrides and Thurso hosting international competitions, the surfing world is waking up to the wealth of waves on offer in one of the most consistent areas in Europe. Boasting a 270 degree swell window there are plenty of options for the intrepid searcher armed with a good wetsuit. Being on the same latitude as Alaska means the winter months see a mere six hours of daylight, so getting the right tide at your favourite spot can be impossible. Conversely in the summer it’s light for 20 hours or more a day, so a post-pub surf is possible.

The East Coast

The East Coast is the least consistent area and only gets the dregs of big N/NE swells, but rare SE swells can bring a range of slumbering beaches and reefs to life. Dominant winds are cross-offshore from the SW. Edinburgh’s Firth of Forth holds NE-facing beachbreak at Pease Bay or by the famous golf courses of St Andrews. Aberdeen’s city beaches face more SE, keeping a large population of students and oil workers entertained, but it’s not far to the Moray Firth coast and north-facing Fraserburgh, home to a brace of classy reefs.

The North Coast and Islands

The Caithness zone introduces some great geology that is responsible for one of the finest waves in Europe at Thurso East. The wildly scenic North coast continues into the Highlands, swapping the flat slab reefbreaks and low-lying topography for the honey coloured rocks and sandy beaches of Sutherland. Empty and consistent, there are beautiful, peat-stained rivermouth sandbars at Melvich or Torrisdale and a pocket beach for most wind directions. Sandwood Bay on the west coast is the UK’s most remote mainland beach.

The Orkney and Shetland Islands lie to the NE and like most of Scotland’s myriad islands are lightly surfed. The islands can get atrocious weather in the winter and it’s possible to surf nearly right through the night around midsummer, which is a good time to go as is autumn. There are a lot of cliffs, but where the coast flattens out good reefbreaks and points abound. Skail Bay, Skara Brae and Marwick on Orkney are just some of the spots that lie in wait. The swell window is huge, catching swells from the W right round to SE. The east coast also gets waves, with some heavy dredging slabs to be found in swells with an E flavour.

On Mainland in Shetland, the south has some beach and reefbreak at Boddam, Quendale and Sumburgh boat ramp near the airport, which all need S in the swell. Try Sandwick on the east coast and Sandness out west, where a boat would open up a world of opportunities on offshore islands like Papa Stour.

The Western Isles and West Coast

To the west of the mainland lies the fractured archipelago of the Hebrides. The area has so many islands, islets and coastline, so the potential for empty waves is high. The Outer Hebrides receive the brunt of the Atlantic’s force and have a helpful 180º swell window, but block and filter out much swell for the Inner Hebrides and mainland W coast, where the dominant winds are onshore. Tiree, Islay and the mainland surf beach of Machrihanish are the spots to check plus there are some sheltered gems that come to life in big W/NW swells, in the heart of Scotland’s single-malt producing region.

The Irish Sea is not a great place for a surfer unless you are on the south coast of the Isle of Man in a big winter SW storm. A handful of reefs can ridden just off Port St Mary and there are waves in Castletown.