by jeangordon » Sun Oct 20, 2019 3:16 pm
Date walked: 19/10/2019
Distance: 8 km
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The Arran Coastal Way is a tremendous walk - caves, rocky coasts, waterfalls, seals, lighthouses and great views of Arran and the mainland. We missed out a bit of the road walking along the west coast. Since buses will pick you up wherever you are, this was very straightforward. Otherwise we mostly stuck to the coastal path, only taking one alternative, the inland waterfall route to Dippen Head, due to high tides.
So I'd thoroughly recommend this route, with one notable exception which is the boardwalk at the end of the route to Lamlash from Whiting Bay. Though this may have initially been a big help to walkers wanting to avoid walking on stones, we found this dangerously slippery, with a lot of algal growth. Despite sunshine on the day of our walk, much of the boardwalk is in shade and therefore may well be damp or wet much of the year. The beach was also thickly covered in seaweed, so also slippery, making this apparently straightforward (and 'new' route, currently not yet walked by Walk Highland) very slow going, and certainly not to be attempted without good boots and sticks (unless of course you are young and agile, which we are not!). The boards, at the very least, require a covering of chicken wire or similar to prevent accidents, especially on the steepish descent to the beach at the start of this section.
To avoid this part of the route, there is the inland waterfall route, or you could pick up the main road north of Whiting Bay when the path comes very close to the road, though this does involve another stretch of road walking, at least until Cordon, just south of Lamlash..