Machrihanish Bay is a large remote tidal north by northeast coastal facing
embayment, located next to the
Campbeltown Airport within
Argyll and Bute,
Scotland.
It is located on the west coast of the
Kintyre peninsula. Machrihanish Bay has the longest continuous stretch of sand in Argyll.
Settlements
The closest settlement to Machrihanish Bay is the small village of
Machrihanish which sits on the headland at the south end of the bay. Directly east of the bay sits
Campbeltown Airport (
RAF Machrihanish
Royal Air Force Machrihanish or RAF Machrihanish (formerly ) is a former Royal Air Force station located near the town of Machrihanish and west of Campbeltown, at the tip of the Kintyre, Kintyre peninsula, Argyll and Bute, in Scotland.
Two a ...
)
and further east on the other side of the peninsula, a distance of sits the town of
Campbeltown
Campbeltown (; gd, Ceann Loch Chille Chiarain or ) is a town and former royal burgh in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies by Campbeltown Loch on the Kintyre peninsula. Campbeltown became an important centre for Scotch whisky, and a busy fishing ...
. To the north of the airport and close to the northern shore of the bay, is the village of
West Darlochan
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
. The main
A83 Road follows the west coast of the Kintyre peninsula, when traveling south, until it reaches the north coast of the bay, where it cuts east through the peninsula, to miss the airport, cutting through the small villages of Kilchenzie, Glencraigs, Drumore before finally meeting Campbeltown. The B842 road leaves Campbeltown traveling in a westerly direction, and passes through the small village of Stewarton, before reaching the bay as the B843.
Geography
To the north of the bay, around lies
Bellochantuy Bay
Bellochantuy (; gd, Bealach an t-Suidhe, ) is a small coastal hamlet located on the A83 in Argyll, Scotland around north of Campbeltown.
Argyll Hotel Bellochantuy became the first mainland building in Britain damaged by enemy action when st ...
. To the south of the bay, , lies
Earadale Point, where the peninsula starts to curve inwards to the east. To the south of the bay lies the forested hill of
The Slate
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
, with the larger hill of
Cnoc May which overlooks the bay, 4 miles to the northeast. The river
Machrihanish Water
Machrihanish ( gd, Machaire Shanais, ) is a village in Argyll, on the west coast of Scotland. It is a short distance north of the tip of the Mull of Kintyre, which faces out towards Northern Ireland and the Atlantic.
Machrihanish bay
The main ...
flows into the bay.
Gallery
File:Machrihanish Bay. - geograph.org.uk - 452582.jpg, Machrihanish Bay. Looking on from Cnoc Moy.
File:Beach and dunes at Machrihanish Bay - geograph.org.uk - 1431767.jpg, Beach & dunes at Machrihanish Bay.
File:Beach and dunes at Machrihanish Bay - geograph.org.uk - 1432121.jpg, Beach & dunes.
File:Beach at Machrihanish Bay. - geograph.org.uk - 474856.jpg, Beach at Machrihanish Bay, looking north.
File:Information boards at Machrihanish Bay - geograph.org.uk - 1431749.jpg, Information boards at Machrihanish Bay
References
{{reflist
Bays of Highland (council area)
Bays of Scotland
Bays of Argyll and Bute