First Impressions & The View from the Shore
While we have visited Lochaline Marina briefly before, our primary mission this time was to gain an understanding of the actual location as it was to become our home port. Beller having already been settled into her new home. Having driven from the east coast, across the Corran Ferry and along the long and winding, mainly single track road, we eventually arrived in Lochaline. A must stop is the Lochaline Snack Bar sitting right by the CalMac ferry slipway, conveniently it is also opposite the public toilets! Excellent no fuss food, friendly service and a fantastic view while you eat.
Driving on to the marina the road layout can be a little confusing due to the lanes for the ferry traffic (or this could have just been me!) you pass the Social Club on your left hand side and start winding down another single track road, passed the Lochaline silica sand quarry, through the trees with Loch Aline on your right side until you reach the marina.
Woodlands, Memorials and Community
Once rested we headed off on foot to get a feel of the place. We walked back along the track, past the ferry and snack bar to the junction. Turning right takes you back into the village but Ben noticed a path in a wooded area and wanted to explore!
The trail is well defined and not very long but does incline over the headland but are rewarded by a lovely hidden viewpoint with spectacular, panoramic views stretching right out over the glittering waters of the Sound of Mull and across to Fishnish. The path eventually exits onto a residential area called Monument Hill and a little further down is the Morvern War Memorial, a stone monument situated on the edge of the headland and also providing a wonderful viewpoint.
A little further down the road leads you back into the village with a fantastic, well stocked shop, two self-serve fuel pumps and a lovely community hub cafe. It was closed on this occasion but we will definitely return.
Village History
While the village today feels incredibly peaceful, welcoming and scenic, its very origins are deeply intertwined with a heart breaking chapter of Scottish history. Lochaline didn’t grow organically over centuries like an old clan hamlet; it was actually founded around 1830 by John Sinclair as a deliberately planned settlement. It was built directly in the wake of the devastating Highland Clearances, when traditional clan structures were fractured and families were ruthlessly forced off their ancestral inland glens.
Sinclair established the village on the coast of Morvern to provide a new home and create an economic lifeline, focusing on local trades, fishing and estate work. A few years later, when the potato famine hit the West Coast in the 1840’s, the Highland Relief Board stepped in to fund the construction of the village’s historic stone pier. Known as The Relief Pier, it was built as a public works project specifically to provide vital employment and survival wages for thirty-one local families. Knowing that the very stones of the harbour were laid to save lives gives you a profound respect for this resilient community as you walk through the streets today.
The Hidden Underworld: Europe’s Only Silica Mine
As you walk back along the road towards the marina, you pass the entrance to the Lochaline Sand Mine – which is actually Europe’s only underground silica mine! Hidden completely out of sight beneath the hills is a massive network of tunnels that harvests ultra-pure, 135 million year old white sand, once trapped under volcanic lava.
It was opened in 1940 during World War II when Britain desperately needed optical glass for military periscopes and binoculars once access to supplies in Europe were cut. It is still very much active today, research suggests one-third of all window glass made in the UK still originates from this quiet little corner of Morvern and is the largest employer in the village.
The Marina
Back to the marina, it is a small but what an absolute gem of a facility. The hospitality starts the second you step onto the pontoons. Heather and Alistair, the harbour masters, are wonderfully friending, welcoming and genuinely helpful to everyone who arrives and is extremely dog friendly. There are pontoon berths with electricity and water as well as harbour and privately owned moorings. We have also seen boats anchored.
The harbour office is in itself wonderfully quaint and reminds me of a rustic American log cabin, complete with a beautiful porch wrapping around two sides of the building. There is chunky seats complete with cushions and blankets to relax with the perfect view and the seating extends to an area of tables and benches under a canopy tent and a free to use BBQ (just bring your own charcoal and supplies). Just behind the office is another building recently completed and housing the community gym and a little further down is a wood-fired sauna. Here you can go for a wild swim and then warm up while enjoying the views and, if you’re lucky, spot some of the West Coast wildlife. There are resident herons, plenty of busy birds and otters that play around the rocks.
Inside the office there is a washer/dryer room with two of each, exceptional clean and inviting toilets with showers (remember your pound coins) and they keep a small stock of grocery supplies just in case you run out of the essentials. You are welcomed to also use the kitchen area and supplies are provided for hot drinks for a small donation into an honesty box.
During the main sailing season, 16:00 hours is the magic hour and when the office transforms into the HarBar. A fully licensed little bar selling bottles of locally produced beer, ciders and an array of spirits. We spent a wonderful evening recently under the canopy tent with a few other sailors as the drink flowed, sharing stories, laughter and a lot of banter. It was a perfect evening to relax and we have made some wonderful friends from it.
Lochaline might be a small harbour, but it has a massive soul.
The Sailor’s Logbook
Chart Symbol: Blue Anchor
Crew Friendliness: 10/10
Highlights: Sauna, cosy porch, friendly staff
The Social Scene: Don’t miss the HarBar from 16:00-20:00 during the sailing season
Hazards: When sailing the entrance is marked by red and green markers but be aware of the CalMac ferry. By road, this is very narrow an goes under a bridge by the quarry which can flood in wet weather
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