DAY TWO SANDS & STANDING STONES

MORNING

Take a stroll on the Big Strand. Spanning the west coast from Laggan Point to the Oa Peninsula, Islay’s longest beach is a sevenmile stretch of white sand backed by rolling grassy dunes where little inlets flow through the heather. You can spend hours here without encountering another soul. In summer, the pristine turquoise water — if not the temperature — could pass for the Caribbean. Just to the south, explore the heights of the Oa Peninsula, laced with inlets where rocky cliffs soar 650ft out of the sea. Beyond Oa’s Carraig Fhada lighthouse — where, if you’re lucky and stealthy, you may spot otters — you’ll find the Singing Sands, a beach where fine silica in the grains sometimes emits a squeaky ‘song’ due to vibrations underfoot. Don’t forget to look up, though, as golden eagles are often seen soaring overhead.

AFTERNOON

Tuck into a lobster and a whisky-laced crème brûlée in the flower-filled courtyard at the elegant Islay Hotel in Port Ellen, then make a beeline for The Blue Letterbox around the corner. The gift shop and post office is one of a handful of stores serving Islay’s ‘big’ harbour town, and stocks works by some 40 Hebridean craftspeople. Don’t miss the caramel studded with Orsay Sea Salt crystals; nature-inspired accessories by such talented local jewellers as Charlotte Hannett and Sarah Brown; and cheery, colourful woollies made with homespun Islay sheep fleece. Head east of town, away from the hulking industrial shadow of Port Ellen Maltings, and follow the lane to Kilbride farm. Here, in a field, stand two slender stones, one now supine, thought to be celestial markers from either the neolithic or Bronze Age.

EVENING

Even if you’re not staying at the Machrie, Islay’s smartest hotel, dinner here is a must. Views from its restaurant-bar take in the Big Strand’s dunes, surf and sands stretching as far as the eye can see. Dine on the terrace in fine weather, a martini with house-made Islay gin in hand, or retreat to the fire-warmed lounge to watch the weather through the vast glass wall. Try local venison carpaccio with egg yolk, hazelnut and island herbs, Loch Gruinart oysters, Port Ellen crab on toasted rye with pickled cucumber — and save space for clootie dumpling (boiled in cloth) ‘with clotted cream and a wee dram’. Revamped in 2018, the Machrie is now decked out with edgy contemporary art, while its 18-hole links, draped elegantly around the dunes and dating to 1891, remains one of Scotland’s most venerable courses.

RIGHT: Men at work at Ardanhoe, one of the whisky distilleries on the island’s northeast coast