Calgary Beach is our closest sandy beach. Dazzling white shell sand and turquoise waters. A favourite beach in the hearts of many islanders and visitors. It is often mentioned in travel articles as being one of the worlds best beaches.
We drive to Calgary to take M to the bus on every school day throughout the year, and it is a great excuse to be able to steal some time on the beach before coming home to start work! Whatever time of year, and in all weathers, it is a wonderful place to walk.
In the middle of the winter, it is barely light when the school bus leaves and I am often the only person on the beach. The resident oystercatchers fly up away from us as the dog and I walk across the sands.
I don’t just love Calgary Beach because you get a great view of Treshnish from there.
Prasad comes down here to bird watch sometimes, and recently he spotted a Red-Throated Diver, Great Northern Diver and Black-Throated Diver at the same time. I do sometimes see the Great Northern Divers, and very occasionally we have seen dolphins and basking shark (at a distance) from the beach too.
In the full summer the beach is very popular with families. The sands are fairly level so at low tide they are great for paddling. Sand castle building is a great pastime too.
There is a small campsite and quite often canoeists pass Treshnish on their way to Calgary beach for the night, taking advantage of the running water in the public loos.
The bonus of the shorter days in the winter is that sunset quite often corresponds with the arrival of the afternoon bus, and at that time of year the sunsets set on the beach, casting wonderful colours in the watery sands.
