Saligo Beach is one of the little jewels of beaches we have on Islay, some like the strand run for miles but Saligo is tiny, rocky with the white, shell sand typical of Islay.

Finding it is tricky. On the road to Port Charlotte turn off towards Kilchoman. Just before Loch Gorm  you see a small sign for Sanaigmore to the right, turn along this tiny road until, in typical highland fashion, you come to a Y junction at a solitary telephone box. There is no explanation for this box, at least a mile from the nearest house, and there is no explanation either about the road you take, it is the left fork.

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Drive along until you pass a gate with a bridge, there are several old, abandoned wartime buildings here, you can’t miss it.

As soon as you go through the gate turn left across the field towards the remnants of what must once have been a tall mast – now just stumps.

Straight on past these and there is a well trodden path you can follow down to the beach.

The white sand and black rocks make an instant impression, especially on a windy day when the surf is high. There are treacherous tides off this beach, don’t even think of bathing.

I sat on the rocks for quite a while and ran off 20 or more pictures trying to get a shot of a wave breaking over the rocks, each time just too late or just too soon. The picture on the right is the best I could do.

As you can see, although the morning was sunny there was some dirty weather coming in off the Atlantic and (for the sake of my camera JJ) I retreated to the car. A visit to Islay by anyone who loves beaches is not complete without a visit here.