Sanday beaches

Orkney | Sanday | Beaches | ★★★

[Whitemill Bay]

It's rather predictable that an island with a name like Sanday (Norse for Sand Island) has a proliferation of stunning beaches. Some of the most attractive and accessible are listed here, all best seen at or near low tide. This might be a little tricky if you're only visiting for a day trip from Orkney Mainland; if you're short on time then Backaskaill Bay is the easiest to get to from the road to the ferry. Whitemill Bay is quieter with a correspondingly wilder feel, while the Bay of Lopness has the unusual feature of a WWI wreck resting in the shallows.

[Bay of Lopness (mid-tide)]

📌 Backaskaill Bay ★★
Description: Probably Sanday's most popular beach, close to Kettletoft village and a good place for shell hunting.
In between the B9068 to Kettletoft and the B9070 to the ferry terminal (access from either road), Sanday, G.R.: HY 648393 ///reframe.seabirds.models

Anything else? Eastern access road for Backaskaill Bay becomes very rough, although there's space to park before the worst part.

📌 Bay of Lopness ★★
Description: Attractive bay on Sanday's west side, unexceptional if it weren't for the prominent 1919 wreck of a German destroyer just offshore.
B9069 4 miles east of Lady Village, Sanday, G.R.: HY 745441 ///breakaway.skips.float

📌 Whitemill Bay ★★★
Description: A candidate for Sanday's most beautiful beach, at the far northern end of the island and delightfully quiet. Seals on our visit.
Minor road end 6 miles north of Lady Village, Sanday, G.R.: HY 689465 ///skidding.water.science

[Backaskaill Bay]

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