Woo hoo – school’s out for summer! (well, if you live in Scotland anyway) And what a cracking day for it; sunny, warm, perfect holiday weather. Perfect beach weather in fact, so that is exactly where we headed.
We were meeting a friend for lunch first so decided to combine the two and went to the Argyll Hotel in Bellochantuy. Seriously, with the sunshine and the views today, why would you want to be anywhere else? (I’m just going to gloss over the occasional gust of wind, we’re in the West of Scotland for goodness sake). Their terrace is right on the beach so as soon as lunch was finished we were down on the sand, building sandcastles (well, actually it was a sand speedboat, but you get the idea) and paddling in the beautiful, clear water. Bliss!
Naturally small boy was reluctant to leave at the end of the day so I said we’d go to another beach tomorrow. This has somehow turned into a family challenge to see how many different beaches we can visit over the holidays. We have so many fantastic beaches here but I suspect many of us who actually live here (myself included) get stuck in a sandy rut and end up going back to the same beach or beaches all the time. This summer we aim to change all that.
Are you up for the Campbeltown Beach Challenge?
Whether you live in the area or are just visiting, why not see how many different beaches you can clock up this summer? And remember, even if the weather’s rubbish you can still go for a walk, chuck some stones in the sea or play in the sand.
Some rough guidelines if you fancy joining in;
Needs to be different beaches, not the same beach on different days
Beaches need to be within about 15 miles of Campbeltown – ones that you visit when you’re away your holidays don’t count! (Unless you’re on holiday here, in which case they do count, obviously!)
We are only counting ones visited during the summer holidays (from today until 15th of August) not ones that we’ve visited before.
Share your progress, or make suggestions about beaches to visit on social media using #CampbeltownBeachChallenge
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and explore our website for inspiration of where to go.
‘Take nothing but photos, leave nothing but footprints’. Take all your litter home with you!
Above all, have fun!
Here’s a bit of photo inspiration to get you started… We’ll post an update at the end of the summer to let you know how many we managed.

Bellochantuy Beach (today’s destination), from the Argyll Hotel’s Terrace

Carskiey Beach, Southend

Machrihanish Beach, in front of Machrihanish Golf Course

Peninver Beach, on the East Coast of Kintyre

The Gauldrons, Machrihanish

Westport Beach

Dunaverty Beach, Southend