Family Holidays on Islay

We've been hosting families at Portbahn Islay since 2017 — from babies on their first island trip to teenagers who come back year after year. The experiences that seem to stick aren't the planned activities. They're the seals spotted from the breakfast window, the crab rescued from the rock pool, the whole week that went by without anyone asking for a screen.

Below is our honest guide to Islay for families — the beaches, the rainy days, the wildlife, and the things our own children have grown up doing. These are the things we actually do, not the ones that just sound good.

Portbahn Beach is our hidden gem — a 5-minute walk from our properties via the war memorial path. Three sheltered bays with rock pools at low tide, safe for paddling, and you'll usually have it entirely to yourselves. Our kids have spent countless hours here collecting shells, watching crabs, and building dams in the rock pools. It's our go-to spot.

Port Charlotte Beach is a 5-minute drive — shallow, sandy, with easy parking and the village right there for ice cream after.

On the southeast coast, Laggan Bay and Kilnaughton Bay (near Port Ellen) offer miles of shallow, sandy shoreline perfect for building sandcastles and safe wading.

Sanaigmore is a dramatic stretch of northern coast with great rock formations for playing hide and seek — our two love it here. There's also a lovely small art gallery nearby serving coffee and cakes for the grown-ups!

Ardnave Point is another favourite — rolling dunes perfect for kids running full pelt, with big skies and empty beaches. Combine it with a roam through the nature trail and woods at nearby RSPB Loch Gruinart for a proper adventure day.

IMPORTANT: The big Atlantic beaches (Machir Bay, Saligo Bay) are stunning for walks but not safe for swimming — strong currents and undertows. We take our children there for dramatic coastal walks, but stick to the sheltered and shallow Loch Indaal beaches for actual paddling.

When the weather turns (and it will, hourly! — this is Scotland!), we'll often head for the Mactaggart Leisure Centre in Bowmore. The indoor swimming pool is a great place to hang out on wet days and has saved many a holiday. Check their Facebook page — they often have giant inflatables in the school holidays.

Persabus Pottery is run with love by the wonderful Rosemary, and it's another of our family favourites — for kids and grown-ups alike. Our house has plenty of treasured mugs and bowls painted by our children over the years, as do their grandparents' homes! It's a creative activity that keeps everyone engaged for a couple of hours while the rain lashes down outside.

Older children find the Islay Woollen Mill interesting, with its working looms and the story of island tweed. They produce tweeds for some of the top design houses in the world — do ask them about it!

Honestly, some of our best family days have been wet ones — board games by the fire, hot chocolate, and watching the weather roll across Loch Indaal from the window. Island kids learn to embrace it. There's no such thing as bad weather!

This is where Islay really makes memories for families. Rock pooling at Portbahn Beach at low tide reveals crabs, sea anemones, whelks and tiny fish — our kids always got excited about this while we were living at Portbahn House. Walk the coastal paths and you'll spot seals bobbing in the water — Portnahaven harbour is almost guaranteed. Between October and April, the barnacle geese at Loch Gruinart are unforgettable — 30,000+ birds lifting off at dawn, honking. We take our children every autumn and it never gets old. Eagles circle overhead year-round if you keep looking up.

The distillery cafés are surprisingly family-friendly — Ardbeg has excellent food and welcomes children, as do Kilchoman and Ardnahoe. Peatzeria in Bowmore does creative wood-fired pizzas in a casual setting that works well with kids — who doesn't love a pizza?! In Bowmore you'll also find The Cottage for burgers, fries, jacket potatoes, and Islay's Plaice for fresh fish and chips that kids and adults alike will devour.

And if you just want to stay in and cook your old home favourites, all our houses have well-equipped kitchens — it's more relaxed, cheaper, and kids eat what they actually want. Hopefully!

• Portbahn House has a sunken trampoline and swings in a secure garden — kids can play while you watch from the kitchen. It sleeps 8, so there's space for everyone.
• Curlew Cottage is set back from the road surrounded by farmland and has a fully enclosed walled patio garden — ideal for younger children who want to run around safely. Cosy inside, peaceful outside.
• Shorefield Eco House appeals to older children who'll appreciate the bird hides and wildlife watching from the windows — grab the binoculars and see what you can spot. Even if bird watching isn't their thing, kids can get lost in the woods behind the house, playing hide and seek or making dens and creating adventures.

One guest told us, "The kids didn't want screens all week — they were too busy with the beach, the trampoline, and counting seals." That's exactly the kind of holiday Islay offers — and it's the childhood our own kids have had here.

Seven nights is our minimum recommendation for Islay with children — it gives you five full days without feeling rushed. The island rewards a slower pace than most holiday destinations, and that suits children enormously. A rhythm that works well: alternate a beach day with a village or rainy day activity; save at least one day for a wildlife focus; plan one longer excursion across to the south coast distilleries or north to Loch Gruinart and Ardnave Point.

Don't try to do everything. The children who leave Islay happiest are the ones who had time to get genuinely absorbed in one beach, one rock pool, one morning watching the geese. One of our guests captured it well — "the kids didn't want screens all week — they were too busy with the beach, the trampoline, and counting seals."

The Port Mor playground in Port Charlotte (5-minute drive) is a reliable backup for any afternoon that's going sideways — it has sea views and is right next to the village for an ice cream.

Wellies and waterproofs are non-negotiable. The weather changes hourly; that's not an exaggeration. A basic rock-pooling kit (bucket, small net) transforms Portbahn Beach at low tide — there are crabs, sea anemones, whelks, and small fish in every pool. We keep binoculars in all three properties, but if you're serious about wildlife bring your own with a higher magnification for the geese and eagles. Download tide times before you arrive — the rock-pooling window is roughly two hours either side of low tide, and planning around it pays off.

Wetsuits aren't essential but make a genuine difference if the children want to swim. The water around Islay runs cold year-round (10–14°C). A shorty wetsuit extends paddling sessions from two minutes to forty and can transform a beach day entirely.

Islay's wildlife is accessible at every age, but some experiences work better than others depending on how old your children are.

For under-5s, rock pools are the headline act — Portbahn Beach at low tide is small, safe, and endlessly interesting. The seals at Portnahaven harbour are almost always there and visible without any walking. Both experiences require no planning or specialist kit and can be done in an hour if attention spans are short.

For children aged 5–10, the barnacle geese at RSPB Loch Gruinart (October to April, dawn) are a level up — the sound of 30,000 birds lifting off the loch is unforgettable in a way that photographs don't capture. Pair it with the nature trail at Loch Gruinart and you have a proper morning out. Golden eagles and sea eagles can be spotted year-round by scanning the hillsides and coastal cliffs from the car — a good travel game on any drive.

For teenagers, the Kilchoman farm distillery makes a surprisingly engaging half-day — seeing the full whisky-making process from barley grown on the farm to bottle, with a café lunch, is genuinely interesting for curious minds regardless of interest in whisky itself. The coastal walk from Machir Bay north to Opera House Rocks (staying well back from the water) offers dramatic Atlantic scenery and a real sense of remoteness. Fit older teenagers can tackle the walk to the top of the Oa for views to Ireland.