The situation in Salen Bay was much improved in 2010 when Jan and Mark Drury took over the slipway and moorings. There are now pontoons as well. In 2014 there were new toilets, showers, a shop and a small tearoom. Someone has been very busy here. However, it was all up for sale in 2026, a snip at £850,000.
However, I must confess I have not in the past been an enthusiast for this place, rather put off by warnings of horrible things on the seabed ready to trap your anchor, and by the fact that all around the inlet appears to be private so there is nowhere to go ashore except at the pontoons (mind you the slipway is a Thomas Telford construction from 1820, so stop to admire). And there seemed little to do except walk along the main (by Ardnamurchan standards) road. Sadly, the Salen Hotel has now been restructured into self-catering accommodation and a licensed café which is not open in the evenings (and rebadged as The Salen).
If you are prepared to leg it for three miles along the road towards Strontian, you could visit the Resipole Studios in a converted cattle shed, opened in 2004 — a very nice-sounding gallery which I have not been to, showing contemporary Scottish art. But check the opening times before you start walking (ph 01967 431506). Maybe you can anchor off Resipole bay, at least temporarily, I am not sure.
