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Gott Bay, Tiree

Three miles of sand on the windiest inhabited island in Britain, where the wind is clean from every direction.

Tiree · Argyll and ButeDirections

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● Spot · shaded: the wind directions that work here. It is not a riding area or a permitted kite zone. Two fingers to move the map.

Location & launch

Know before you go.

Launch
Three miles of sand on Tiree's eastern shore, beside the Scarinish ferry pier.
Wind
ENE · E · ESE · SE · SSE · S · SSW · SW winds work here.

The shaded area shows the wind directions recorded as working here. It is not a permitted kite zone or a safe launch boundary. Check local signs.

Local rules, hazards & spot guide

Need to know

The things that catch people out here.

  • Tiree is the windiest inhabited place in Britain and completely flat and treeless, so the wind is clean from every direction. That is the whole reason to come.
  • Gott Bay is the longest beach and the island's main venue; Balephuil and Crossapol cover other directions. Something always works.
  • Getting there is a four-hour ferry from Oban or a flight from Glasgow. Bring everything — there is no kite shop on the island.
  • The Tiree Wave Classic has run here for decades and the island's whole watersports culture is built around it.

Conditions

NESW
  • Best
  • Works
  • Offshore
Works in
ENE, E, ESE, SE, SSE, S, SSW, SW
Best in
S, SSW, SW
Offshore (careful)
N, NNE, NE, WNW, NW, NNW
Wind quality
clean
Water
Flat to choppy
Depth
standing
Best tide
Low to mid
Spring range
3.4 m

Tiree is low, flat and treeless. The wind arrives completely undisturbed from every direction — the cleanest in Britain.

Beginner
Good
Intermediate
Ideal
Advanced
Ideal

Hazards

Most serious first. The level is in words as well as colour.

  • high

    remote A four-hour ferry from Oban or a flight from Glasgow. Very limited services and no kite shop.

  • medium

    current Streams around the island and through the Gunna Sound to the north-east.

  • medium

    cold water Atlantic temperatures peaking around 14°C.

Access & rules

Launch
Three miles of sand on Tiree's eastern shore, beside the Scarinish ferry pier.
Permit
Not required
Insurance
Third-party liability expected
Tuition
Permitted
Facilities
toilets, shop

Parking

  • Gott Bay roadside parking

    free

Safety

Who is around if it goes wrong. None of it makes the water safe.

Lifeguards
None
RNLI
Tobermory RNLI
Nearest A&E
Lorn & Islands Hospital, Oban (via ferry) (~240 min)
Water quality
Designated bathing water — excellent

Extremely remote. Medical evacuation from Tiree is by air. Self-sufficiency is essential.

The spot

Tiree is low, flat, treeless and sits far enough out into the Atlantic that it records more wind than anywhere else inhabited in Britain. Because there is nothing on the island to disturb it, the wind arrives clean from every point of the compass — a combination that exists nowhere else in the UK.

Gott Bay is the longest beach and the island's main venue, three miles of sand beside the Scarinish ferry pier. Balephuil and Crossapol cover other directions, so something on the island always works. The Tiree Wave Classic has run here for decades and the island's watersports culture is built around it.

Getting there is a four-hour ferry from Oban or a flight from Glasgow, and there is no kite shop. Bring everything, including spares — this is a genuinely remote destination where medical evacuation is by air.

Nearby alternatives

Other launches around Tiree, with different conditions.

Sources

Where this record came from, and how confident we are in it.

Confidence: medium · 2 independent sources · status needs-review · updated 2026-09-07

Verify locally. Coordinates 56.5265, -6.7897. Conditions, access arrangements and beach rules change; check them on the day before you rely on anything on this page.