This is a really grand and dramatic spot. Towering volcanic cliffs surround a fertile limestone glen. If you anchor behind the island, there are a lot of seals, but I prefer anchoring within the grandeur of the bay.
Ashore there is nothing special to see but there is a delightful circular walk, maybe a bit over an hour. On the way you can check out some of the scenes which were filmed here from the marvellous 1945 romantic film 'I know where I am going', particularly on the pier with crashing waves preventing the heroine getting to the Island of Kiloran (aka Colonsay) to be married. It starred Wendy Hiller and Richard Livesey (who actually never left London during the filming), and introduced a very young Petula Clark.
You can start the walk anywhere along the beach (note the wild goats and the swing). Head for the pier, built in 1850 for the British Fisheries Commission but it has crumbled a lot since the film was made. The view across the rocks at low tide is great, a panorama from Scarba to Jura to Islay to Colonsay. Take a look at the armorial panel (Virtue Mine Honour) on one of the two fishermen's stores. Gillean, the great grand daughter of Archibald John of Penny Cross who had the nearby Inniemore Lodge built, told me that according to the family tradition, the panel was broken when being fixed to the Lodge so a new one was ordered and the broken one placed on the boatshed. Then head up through deciduous and pine woods along the road to the left. Great views of your pride and joy lying at anchor. Past the Lodge (dull late Victorian), then by that surprisingly-placed red telephone box (saved from BT rationalisation as surplus to requirements) and a dramatic waterfall (again used for a scene in 'I know where I am going'), turn downhill, skirt Carsaig House (rather attractive circa 1800, a posh place to rent with eight bedrooms, and an Aga) and farm and follow a track along the burn back to the shore.
If you are energetic enough (which I have not been), one of the great walks in Scotland is under the cliffs to the west to the Carsaig Arches, but it takes about five hours there and back (however you can sort of 'do' the arches from the sea anyway if you sail in close enough). Or, equally energetic if shorter, head the other way along the coast to Loch Buie. If you don't want to walk back, leave someone on the boat to sail round to the Loch Buie anchorage to pick you up.
