Kentra Bay, also known as the Singing Sands, is a remote tidal, 306° orientated, coastal

embayment A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a na ...

located on the northern shore of the

Ardnamurchan Ardnamurchan (, gd, Àird nam Murchan: headland of the great seas) is a peninsula in the ward management area of Lochaber, Highland, Scotland, noted for being very unspoiled and undisturbed. Its remoteness is accentuated by the main access ...

peninsula, at the extreme eastern side, where it meets the mainland proper, near

Acharacle Acharacle (, gd, text=Àth Tharracail) is a village in Ardnamurchan, Lochaber, within the county of Argyll. It is in the Highland Council area of Scotland. The place name is rendered ''Àth Tharracail'' in Scottish Gaelic, and means "Tarracal's ...

, in the western

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Albania * Dukagjin Highlands Armenia * Armenian Highlands Australia *Sou ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. Kentra Bay contains a large expanse of mudflat at low tide and small fragments of

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is domin ...

, sand dune, and

machair A machair (; sometimes machar in English) is a fertile low-lying grassy plain found on part of the northwest coastlines of Ireland and Scotland, in particular the Outer Hebrides. The best examples are found on North and South Uist, Harri ...

. Kentra Bay is an inland bay separated from the sea via a channel at the northeast side.

Settlement

At the head of the channel that connects the bay to the sea on the north coast lies the small settlement of Ardtoe, which has sandy beaches with views to the island of

Eigg Eigg (; gd, Eige; sco, Eigg) is one of the Small Isles in the Scottish Inner Hebrides. It lies to the south of the Isle of Skye and to the north of the Ardnamurchan peninsula. Eigg is long from north to south, and east to west. With an ar ...

. Further east along the B8004 is the settlement which gives the bay its name, Kentra. A short distance further east is the large village of

. To the south of Kentra, and located on the southeast coast of Kentra Bay, is the tiny former crofting settlement of Arivegaig.

Geography

The bay has an irregular shape, located inland from the sea, and is connected to the sea through a channel that is only 170 metres wide at the sea with the channel widening to some 500metres when it meets the bay proper, some 1.4 km from the sea, on a bearing of 120°. To the east of the bay is Kentra Moss, which consists of several raised

mire A mire, peatland, or quagmire is a wetland area dominated by living peat-forming plants. Mires arise because of incomplete decomposition of organic matter, usually litter from vegetation, due to water-logging and subsequent anoxia. All types ...

s occupying the low-lying coastal flats between Kentra Bay and the River Shiel. Much of Kentra Moss has been damaged by drainage and localised peat cutting. To the west of the bay is the small peninsula of some 1.61 km in length with Kentra bay on the east side and the sea loch, Loch Ceann Traigh, on the open west side. The small peninsula is heavily forested, with several small peaks, with ( gd, Creag an Fhradhairc) at 88metres being the highest. The south coast of the bay consists of mixed bogs and rocky areas with three small rivers joining the bay. The first of these is the ( gd, Allt a' Ghoirtein eòrna), further east is the ( gd, Allt Eas an Failer), and east again, on the bottom right corner of the bay is the large burn ( gd, Allt Beithe). On the eastern shore of the bay is the small river ( gd, Dig Bhàn)

Islands

Kentra Bay has two groups of small islands. Located close to the southern coast is the small island group, consisting of two islands, called ( gd, Eileanan Gad). These small islands are easily accessible at low tide. Further north, close to the east coast, and slightly north of the small settlement of Kentra, lies the group of tiny islands called ( gd, Eileanan Loisgte). These are also accessible at low tide. Further north at the channel that connects the bay to the sea loch are two very small, unnamed islands.

Flora

Kentra Bay supports one of the largest

es in the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland S ...

. Muddy areas in the sediment support

glasswort The glassworts are various succulent, annual halophytic plants, that is, plants that thrive in saline environments, such as seacoasts and salt marshes. The original English glasswort plants belong to the genus ''Salicornia'', but today the glass ...

s and submerged

eelgrass Eelgrass is a common name for several plants and may refer to: * ''Zostera'', marine eelgrass * ''Vallisneria'', freshwater eelgrass {{Short pages monitor