The Coral Beach, Skye Earthcache EarthCache

Skye is famous for some of the most dramatic mountain scenery in the Scottish Highlands and Islands but it lacks beautiful beaches. If you want glorious beaches you had better head to the Outer Hebrides or the north coast of Sutherland.  But hidden away here is a different type of beach – the stunning “coral” beach of Claigan.  Its combination of accessibility and white sand make it a very attractive option on a warm sunny day.

The beach is a 4 km round trip walk from the car park and while it is not a difficult walk, it is over rather muddy and uneven ground so decent footwear is recommended. After about 1 km the track reaches a small sandy beach at Camas Ban.  At this point, leave the track and head onwards through a gap in an old wall and then uphill on short grass (see waypoint). As you reach the top of the slope, the coral beach is laid out ahead of you. The sight that greets you from the top of this hill makes the walk worthwhile.

Directly behind the beach is a little flat-topped hill known as “Cnoc Mor a Ghrobain” which is well worth a walk up. From the top you get a great view of the surrounding area and on a good day it looks down not only onto the beach but the amazing clear blue waters.

The beautiful view suggests that it looks like a great white sandy beach set against the backdrop of Loch Dunvegan and looking out across the Minch to the Western Isles. However, when you get to the beach, closer inspection reveals that the white sand is not actually sand.

Bleached skeletons of a seaweed known internationally as Maerl have been washed ashore and then crushed by the waves to form the beach.

Maerl is an unusual seaweed - an unattached, beautiful purple-pink seaweed called 'coralline' algae. These seaweeds deposit lime in their cell walls as they grow, giving them a hard, brittle skeleton. Coralline algae are more familiar as hard, pink coatings lining rock pools on the seashore. However, Maerl grows very slowly as small branched nodules on sandy seabeds, but is very long-lived.  It grows in balls which have been likened to tumbleweed, rolling about on the sea floor.  Beds occur in the photic zone, and can be found to around 30 m.  Deposits can reach up to 10 m thick, but are usually much thinner.

Maerl contains a large amount of lime.  Wherever it occurred, it was used locally by farmers to enrich the soil with calcium. Today, we recognise that the true value of Maerl is as a living community, for the many animals that shelter amongst it, and the commercially valuable species it helps support.

Although not really coral, the name “Coral Beach” has stuck to the area and while it is not the only Maerl beach in Scotland it is certainly one of the most impressive.

To log this earthcache, please email us the answers to the following questions.  No need to wait on a reply. ANY LOGS WITHOUT AN EMAIL BEING RECEIVED WILL BE DELETED WITHOUT NOTIFICATION.

Answers to questions 1-4 can be found on the information board at the car park.

1. How many millimetres per year does Maerl grow?
2. Some Maerl beds are thought to be around how many years old?
3. Maerl only grows in places where there is a significant what?
4. Maerl contains a large amount of what?
5. Pick up a handful from the beach.  Describe what you see.  Size, shapes, how many colours, textures, other types of shells present, etc.
6. Please attach a photo to your log of you, your dog, gps, thumb or something personal to prove you were here. Please do not show any spoilers in your photo. June 2019 the logging tasks for EC were updated. COs can now insist on a photo as proof of visit.

PLEASE TAKE ONLY PHOTOGRAPHS AND LEAVE ONLY FOOTPRINTS.  ENJOY

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