Skaill beach walking on Orkney

While walking through the prehistoric Neolithic village of Skara Brae I read in my guide book that there was a rock arch somewhere south Skaill beach. My friend kept coming back to this rock arch so eventually we drove again to Skara Brae and tried to access the beach from there. Let’s be honest, don’t do it. There is no direct access at the site of Skara Brae, but of course we had to try it there. So after climbing over fences, and sidestepping two bulls, we managed to get on the beach. It’s definitely better to park some place further up ahead and just walk along the beach though!

this is the hill I climbed down to get to Skaill Beach @Orkney

at the bottom of the hill @Skaill Beach

The beach seemed endless but the reason why we came down here through all the obstacles, the rock arch, was not visible from down here either.

looking for the rock arch in vain @Skaill Beach

But the beach was magnificent where we stood. Because of the rocks and the water which ran down the hill, the beach had a very distinct look.

water coming down the hill @Skaill Beach

water running through the beach @Skaill Beach

water cleaving its way @Skaill Beach

finally finding its way into the sea @Skaill Beach

It’s really interesting to see what kind of tracks the water leaves in the sand and on the rocks.

sand and rock formations @Skaill Beach

Since we were still on the lookout for the rock arch we left this part of Skaill Beach, climbed back up the hill, avoided the two bulls, and drove further north up the coast. The plan was still go catch the low tide to walk over to the Brough of Birsay. Driving by the endless Skaill Beach we found another spot from which we could easily access the beach on the north end. The rock arch though wasn’t visible from that end either. But the beach looked very impressive at low tide. Especially the rock pattern. Yours, Pollybert