Westport Beach with Machrihanish Dunes as its backdrop, is a beautiful, long beach popular with surfers, beachcombers and walkers. This walk along the beach from the north end allows you to make your walk as far or as short as you want.
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Sandy beach
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1. Start from the car park for Westport Beach just off the A83, 5 miles north of Campbeltown. From here walk down the clear path through the dunes to the beach. Machrihanish Dunes are a Site of Scientific Interest (SSSI) and is the biggest sand dune area in Argyll. The dunes are a very delicate habitat, easily damaged, so walkers are encouraged to keep to the path between the car park and the beach and to walk on the beach itself.
2. When you emerge onto the vast sands of Westport Beach head left towards Machrihanish. With the Atlantic winds and waves buffeting the beach it is popular with surfers and windsurfers. The seas sometimes throw up sea beans, the name given to seeds which have been carried all the way from the Caribbean by the sea currents, they float because of a tiny pocket of air trapped under the hard skin. Westport Beach is also a good place to look for a variety of seashells.
3. Closer to Machrihanish, the dunes have been partially developed into two golf courses, one dating from 1876 with links to Old Tom Morris and a new one which opened in 2009. Both courses are based on the tradition of links golf played in a windy environment and a far cry from the manicured courses and electric golf buggies of some clubs. Go as far along the beach as you wish before returning.
4. In summer the dune grasses are alive with a vibrant mixture of wildflowers, many of them not seen in any other part of Kintyre. These in turn attract butterflies and moths including the burnet moth and bright blue common blue butterfly. The sea here is also home to numerous seals who often feed in this stretch and then bask on flat rocks just to the north of Westport beach or adjacent to the bus turning area in Machrihanish village. Otters have also been seen from this beach although they are elusive and are most likely to be seen in the water early or late in the day. Once you have fully explored the beach retrace your steps to the path up to the car park which is found just before a small stream where you turn right through the dunes.
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