The Area 

Glendaruel is a natural therapy, a feast for mind and body. You can find places which are completely silent, soaked in tranquillity and visually stunning. You can view nature up close and explore an unspoiled environment. You can take any sort of outdoor activity you fancy and you can enjoy wonderful fresh locally caught and reared food, beautifully prepared. Be part of our community for a while, feel the warmth of new friendship and leave us renewed and refreshed. Here are some truly magical places which we are willing to share with you.

Ostell Bay
This stunning horseshoe bay of golden sands is a spectacular spot to visit. In the summer months the incoming tide warms as it travels across the sands making Ostell Bay a wonderful and safe shallow swimming bay for all the family. Ostell Bay is a fine, unspoilt and accessible example of machair grassland, an eco system that is normally only found in North West Scotland and Ireland and mainly in the outer Hebrides. The Ostell Bay dune system is extensive including marram grass which holds these mobile sands together and encourages soil growth further back in the machair. Plant rarities include fragrant purple orchids, spotted orchids, creeping thyme, red clover, and harebells, which are all good food plants for a wide range of butterflies such as speckled wood, orange tip, red admiral and marsh fritillary. Wildlife includes a nearby otter holt nearby and porpoises can be seen from the beach. Many species of birds thrive on the machair lands including twite, dunlin, redshank, skylark and ringed plover

Glenan Bay
Close to Portavadie where the ferry leaves to cross Loch Fyne is Glenan Bay. The coastal path leads you through fine examples of mid Atlantic oakwoods. The moss covered rocks and caves offer shelter for plants, people and wildlife. Bluebells carpet the ground in springtime, supporting lots of butterflies and there are red squirrels, nightjars and dragonflies in the woods. The path leads to a deserted village that was abandoned following the Highland Clearances. The village has a clear view over Loch Fyne and has a haunting atmosphere, perhaps reflecting that it was one of ‘the crying places’, An Crainalte in Gaelic, where people waved to their loved ones for the last time as they left the area to be transported abroad, never to see them again.



Winter Stargazing
Argyll’s Secret Coast is on the edge of the line of total darkness which runs from Aberdeenshire southwards to west coast of Scotland. It is one of the most southern places in Europe to experience the stars as you never have before. There is no light pollution and the stars are clearly seen. Northern Lights [aurora borealis] are common in winter and at any time of year if you are lucky you can see a meteor blazing across the sky before breaking up. Find a spot on the coast overlooking the wonderful scenery of the Kyles of Bute and gaze upwards. In Winter Orion shines brightly, Jupiter has been really bright over December and January and Venus shines especially bright over the Kyles at 3 or 4 in the morning . Each month in the autumn and winter we get our own spectacular show of meteors and their showers as well as the spectacular “earth grazers” - big meteors with great big long trails; Peseidedes showers in August, Leonides in November and Geminides in December

Otter Ferry
Find a place to sit quietly because here an amazing range of wildlife is regularly seen. On the shoreline you might be lucky and see otters (nothing to do with the name), the best times are early morning and evening. Throughout the day there are huge flocks of oystercatchers and many other species of shorebirds. In the nearby woods are red squirrels, pine martens, red and roe Deer and many woodland birds and raptors which may all make an appearance. Out on the water watch out for seals, porpoises, dolphins, diving gannets and basking sharks. Less common are the occasionally minke whale and whitebait being chased up the beach by a shoal of mackerel!
There is also an excellent pub, the Oyster Catcher, on the spot!

See more at Wild about Argyll where there is also a calendar of forthcoming local events.