Talisker Bay Beach

This beautiful bay - fortunately not very crowded, given that most tourists do not go beyond Carbost, stopping there to visit the Talisker distillery - is truly a little gem capable of making you fully immerse yourself in the nature of the Isle of Skye.

We advise you to get there by sunset that is truly magical here.

It can be reached, starting from Carbost, driving for about 15 'towards the small town of Talisker (which is not the place where the distillery is located, since the latter is located in the center of Carbost).

At a certain point the road ends on a clearing where it is possible to leave the car.

From here you have to walk to the left (there is a sign indicating "The beach").

After a walk of less than twenty minutes - among sheep as horned as tame, which will move as soon as you approach - you reach the suggestive black beach, composed first of large stones, then of sand.

On the opposite coast, a river ends its course by throwing itself directly into the sea with a waterfall similar to the one found next to the Kilt Rock.

Truly a surreal place, a lunar landscape, which does not look bad even in bad weather (with the only drawback that you will have to turn the photos to black and white).

Pay attention to the Carbost-Talisker section because it is the usual (for Scotland) single lane road (but two-way), with the inconvenience of some bumps that do not allow the visibility of any approaching cars.

Have a Walk

You can reach the beach by an easy walk as suggest by Isle of Skye official Site:

This short easy walk to Talisker Beach is a good choice for families. The grey sandy beach is surrounded by impressive cliffs, making an interesting landscape for the budding photographer. Skye does not have many options for surfing, though Talisker Beach does sometime work and is not too far to carry a board.

Path to Talisker Beach.Talisker walk on Skye.Shore at Beach Talisker  on Skye.Rocks on Talisker Beach.View out to sea at Talisker.Cliffs at Talisker on Skye.Sandy beach at Talisker on Skye.Waves at Talisker Beach.

The walk starts and returns to the same point (the carpark). The distance to the beach is 1.45km and will take about 20 minutes, with the same route back giving a total walk distance of 2.9km with the average time to complete the walk being 40 minutes (with no stops).

We have classed this walk as ‘Short’ in length and ‘Easy’ for difficulty.

Location

Taslisker Beach is on the West Coast of Skye near the village of Carbost where the famous ‘Taslisker’ whisky is distilled.

Weather

This walk is suitable for most weather conditions.

Tide

On very high tides all the sand will be coved by the sea, so if you were planning in taking children to play on the sand, choose a time when the tide is lower. Tide times can be found on the Easy Tide Prediction website.

Parking

The carpark is located at the very end of the public single track road, 4.4miles (a 10 minute drive) from Carbost village. If traveling from Portree it is 21miles and will take about 35 minutes to drive.

The carpark is small and is more like an extended layby then a carpark, so fills up quickly mid-summer. You may need to drive further back up the road to find a spot.

The Walk

This easy walk takes you past a private house then farmland where live stock will be grazing. Keep dogs on a lead if there any signs of sheep.

Stage 1

At the end of the carpark on the left hand side the public road become a private drive, follow the track. You will have a stone wall on your right hand side which is a large walled garden with mature trees over hanging the wall. On the left there is a grass bank.

After a short walk you will get to the first metal gate, on the right by the wall there is smaller gate head on through and continue down the drive with the stone wall on your right.

You will get to a large white house with various out buildings, the track continues on and remains clear in direction.

Cross a concrete bridge and follow the track as it gently rises up to the second metal farm gate.

Stage 2

Open the gate and head on through (carefully closing the gate behind you).

You are now on the hillside where there is likely to be grazing sheep. The track continues with a slight raise.

Looking ahead you will start to see the bay and the high cliffs that surround the beach. Follow the farm track which remains very clear.

This track carries on to the beach and you can see most of the route ahead.

Nearing the beach the track raises up towards an open gateway.

Passing through the open gateway and turn right. Now with the beach in sight the path fades away. Cross a short grassy area to access the beach.

The Beach

The top of the beach is covered in rounded grey rocks, when the tide is lower then a large grey sandy beach is exposed.

On a warm sunny day the sand can become comfortably warm under foot, an ideal opportunity to take your socks & shoes off and go for a paddle. If you’re braver a swim may be good.

Looking out to sea, on the left hand side of the beach this is a large sea stack which can be accessed by scrambling along the shore line when the tide is low.

On the right hand side of the beach there are high cliffs and a huge waterfall. On a windy day the waterfall gets blown around and sometimes even blown back up the cliff!

Stage 3

The return journey is exactly the same route and normally takes about 20 minutes to walk.