Why St Ninian’s is my favourite beach in Shetland

I’ll never forget my first sight of my favourite beach in Shetland. Easing down the dunes towards the water in the 1990s I was expecting something special. Nothing prepared me for just how special. How could it? St Ninian’s Beach is an absolute stunner: a sandy tombolo spreading its glorious sandy tenacles out towards wee St Ninian’s Isle. It is a beach – and an island – alive with beauty, with wildlife, with historical intrigue and now with a sauna too! Shetland has myriad brilliant beaches and to say it is my favourite makes it then by default one of the finest beaches in Scotland.

St Ninian’s Beach is an absolute stunner. It is a beach – and an island – alive with beauty, with wildlife, with historical intrigue and now with a sauna too!

I love the approach, cutting down from the wee lively community of Bigton. The low emerald hills and patchwork of fields coming here are appealing enough on their own. It was with a quickening of the pulse that I first sighted St Ninian’s Beach. I love now watching the look on the faces of first timers as they try to take in half a kilometre of sand unfurling ahead of them with water brushing against both flanks.

I could wax lyrical with adjectives that describe this white sand and cobalt water stunner, but what it actually is interests in itself. St Ninian’s is a tombolo, not a word you hear every day, also an isthmus, again not a word you hear often down the pub. In summer with plenty of sand and gentler waves it is effectively a peninsula connecting St Ninian’s Isle directly to the mainland on foot. In winter waves and sand removal can cut it off for at least some of the day, making St Ninian’s Isle a proper island.

I’ve shared the joy of St Ninian’s Beach with myriad souls. I’ve come here with my wife many times and brought more than a few pals here over the years.  One of my favourite visits was with a wee campervan. We went paddling, then had a lovely local produce kissed picnic in the cosy van, before we ventured out for a swim. My daughters were overjoyed being in the water and things got even more exciting when a curious seal circled us and leaped around.

I’m back again, this time with a lifelong friend, David Knox. His plan not to read up too much ahead of time before his visit pays dividends, as he lets out a jumble of words that are unprintable here on sighting St Ninian’s. I just smile as we park up and he runs down to the sands with an enthusiasm a labrador would be proud of. I’m just behind David.

This visit is a special one and not just because I’m with a good pal and not just because I’m braving the waters for my usual swim. It’s special because it’s the first time I’ve savoured a sauna here. The life-affirming folks at Haar Sauna have put a sauna in here that massively adds to the experience and takes Shetland’s Scandinavian connections to cosy new Nordic heights. Hygge, coorie and all heart-warming stops in-between.

The Redwood-lined sauna is toasty before we dive in the water, then feels nigh essential afterwards. Instead of running back like a wet labrador to shake myself down and get dressed in the car, we dry out and warm up in the cosy wooden surrounds. There are a friendly smattering of regulars in today and within minutes our shared experience makes friends of us all. It’s a sublime feeling popping back in for a dip, heating up again, and then repeat. It’s meant to be very good for you, if you bare in mind all the usual health precautions.

Afterwards we wander along the sands. The chatter of our sauna pals is replaced by silence and big Shetland skies. We’re joined by a sleek of shags fishing for their lunch and a swan too looking like it was having a moment appreciating the beach. No seal today, though in the distance gannets make their death-defying plunges for their own lunch and we catch sight of a darting dorsal fin, either a porpoise or a dolphin. If you come in early summer you’ll find puffins at St Ninian’s too. Man abandoned St Ninian’s Isle in 1796 when the family of Henry Leask and his 13 children left for the last time.

Some visitors make the mistake of just wandering the beach, but not checking out St Ninian’s Isle. Don’t be one of them. It’s a bit of a yomp up the dunes to the island, but worth it. If you have time I thoroughly recommend hiking around the isle taking in the views – Foula looks spectacular from here on a good day – and checking out the rugged coastline. The chances are you will have the whole island totally to yourself.

The highlight of St Ninian’s Isle is, of course, the wee church overlooking the beach in a stunning spot. You can ramble around the ruins of the 12^th-century chapel – dedicated to Galloway’s St Ninian – with information boards on hand to help you make sense of what you’re seeing. Neolithic bones have been found here and most dramatically, the early medieval ‘St Ninian’s Isle Treasure’ was unearthed in the 1950s by a Shetland schoolboy, Douglas Coutts who was accompanying a party from Aberdeen University. He was working a patch away from the work of the ‘real archaeologists’ with immense success.

The 1958 excavation delivered its treasure under a cross-marked stone slab in a wooden box. It included silver bowls and jewellery. The hoard hails from much earlier, thought to be the eighth century. There are various theories into how it got here – two are opposite sides of the same coin: either it was put here to protect it from a Viking raid, or it was the loot from a Viking pillage.

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St Ninian’s Beach really has everything. It soars in beauty, swirls in drama and has that narrow strip of sand dividing the water as its striking appeal. The isle boasts wildlife and history too, and now there is a beachside sauna. See why it is my favourite beach in Shetland?

By Robin McKelvie
Robin McKelvie is an award-winning travel writer and broadcaster who has been published in over 200 magazines and newspapers worldwide.

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