Balinoe Campsite Tiree

Balinoe Campsite Tiree is a small, open-field site with grass pitches for tents and campervans, alongside glamping pods for those travelling without their own camping accommodation. Toilets and showers cover the essentials, dogs are welcome and bookings can be made online. Trees offer some shelter from the wind without making this a woodland campsite. Arrivals are around six miles from the ferry terminal and three miles from the airport.

The campsite sits in Balinoe township in south-west Tiree, with beaches a short drive or bus ride away. Sandy shores offer scope for beach walks, while watersports are a separate island activity rather than an on-site facility. Wild Diamond offers instruction in surfing, windsurfing, kitesurfing and stand-up paddleboarding, as well as kayak hire; activities should be arranged in advance. The campsite also advises securing ferry or flight arrangements before confirming a stay, particularly when travelling at busy times.

For a quieter outing, the area between Balemartine, Balinoe and Balephuil is known for corncrakes: an evening walk along the roads in May, June or July may bring their distinctive rasping calls, although sightings take luck. Sorobaidh Bay offers a sandy shoreline to explore and opportunities to watch coastal birds. Hynish adds a historical thread to an island excursion: its dock, workshops and lodgings were built to support the construction of Alan Stevenson’s offshore Skerryvore Lighthouse, with work beginning in 1837.