The beautiful Vallay sands at sunset

Kite Surfing

 North Uist is kite surfing heaven! Believe it or not, the water really isn't that cold although the air temperature can be a touch chilly if it's cloudy. There are spectacular white beaches all around the island and you can have your choice of waves or flat water in all wind directions. The pick of the beaches from our travels are:

Vallay Sands

Vallay (Traigh Bhalaigh) is a massive lagoon (about 3kmx3km) which fills up about 2-3 hours either side of high tide. You can use it in most wind directions as you are almost completely surrounded by low lying land although S/SE gets a bit gusty. To get down to the sand, turn right (if coming from Lochmaddy) on the sharp left hand bend in Malacleit and follow the road down past the houses and onto the machair.

Traigh Iar

Facing NNW-W, Traigh Iar is next door to Vallay sands but open to the sea so you get some very lovely waves. It's tight at high tide but experienced kitesurfers should be ok. You get to it by turning right (coming from Lochmaddy) at the Co-op in Sollas. Follow the track down towards the beach. Just after you go through the gate, you'll come to a crossroads in the machair tracks - it's obvious which one you need to take if you think about it for a minute or 2! Keep going until you reach sand. If you like waves you NEED to surf here. Seriously.

Paibeil

The machair track at Paibeil (turn down towards the beach at the phonebox and follow your nose!) brings you out at the right angle point between 2 beaches. Lagan Masgeir which faces W and has relatively flat water and Lagan Arnal which faces SSW and is a bit more wavey. This beach is very handy if you're expecting the wind to swing from S to W over the day!

Baleshare (or Baile Sear in Gaelic)

Baleshare is a flat, sandy island on the west of North Uist and the long, sandy beach on the west side faces SW-W. You get some ok waves but they're not as well formed and spaced as they are round at Traigh Iar - still makes for some very pleasant kitesurfing though! If you get the right wind and tide, we reckon that you should be able to surf round to the back of the island and take advantage of the lovely flat water between Baleshare and North Uist. We tried it this year (2009) - DON'T GO THERE!!! It's a bugger to get to, there's a fast rip in the channel and the wind is GUSTY. Still, you do get a nice ride down the waves on the way back to the North end. If you want flat water, go to Vallay. The road to the beach on Baleshare is clearly marked on the OS Landranger map of Benbecula and South Uist (Sheet 22). Turning at the end of the track is a bit tight but we managed to get a long wheelbase van round, albeit with some discussion!

 Tom speeding on Baleshare - take note, if you will, of how much board is actually touching the water...

 Berneray

 Berneray is a wee island to the north of North Uist that is reached by a causeway. There is a hard, sandy beach (Big Beach) that runs for about 5km round the west and north coasts of Berneray and in a nice stiff north-westerly you can go the whole length of it in a buggy. No serious waves to speak of really on the water - a bit of shorebreak with relatively flat water behind but will probably be choppy if the wind is strong. Not the best water state but it's a beautiful beach so worth at least a day's surf if you don't buggy. To get there, turn right (coming from Loch Maddy) just after the quarry - follow the signs for 'Sound of Harris Ferry' . Once you've gone over the causeway, follow the road up to Borve (Borgh) and take the left turn. Follow that road until you get to the wee car park (about 2km). To get closer to the beach, you can drive through the gate on the right at the car park and follow the machair track down to the dunes - don't hassle the cows though! 

If you follow the road on past Borve and the harbour, you'll come to Loch Bhatarsaidh which is an east facing beach. It seems to be the place to take your camper van and it's worth remembering that there is a shower in the toilets back down at the harbour if you need it. The beach is mostly sandy but there is a rocky patch to be aware of about two thirds of the way along heading North. When the tide's running, there's also a fast current at the south end of the beach but that's easy enough to avoid.

There are many other fine beaches around North Uist, Benbecula and South Uist so get a map and go wandering!

Getting There & Accommodation

It's a Calmac again! You can get ferries from Oban or from Uig on Skye. The ferry from Oban takes about 5 hours and  goes to Lochboisdale on South Uist. It's a lovely ferry ride and you are quite likely to see basking sharks, dolphins and seals among other things. Obviously Uig is a longer drive (depending where you set off from!) but the ferries take just over an hour and go into Lochmaddy on North Uist. The islands of North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist and Eriskay are all joined together by causeways so you can drive up and down to your heart's content! 

 There are various B&Bs and hotels on the islands but the easiest  option for Kiters is probably to hire a cottage and the Scottish Tourist Board is the best place to start. There are various pubs and restaurants scattered about, our favourite is Langass Lodge Hotel. It's like the set of Monarch of the Glen and the food is fantastic. Don't be surprised if you have to wait a bit or if they run out of stuff, that's because it's fresh! The Hebridean Smokehouse is also worth a visit if you're into fish!