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Balephuil Bay, Tiree

Scotland · Tiree (Inner Hebrides) · Balephuil / Scarinish

also known as Traigh Bhi, Tràigh Bhi, Balephuil Beach

Part of Tiree (Inner Hebrides) →

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

wavesnot for beginnerslow crowds

On this page

The spot
Wind
Forecast
Month by month
Water
Level
The scene
Launch
Schools
Tips
Getting there
Photos

Riding essentials

Season

Apr, May, Jun, Sep, Oct

Months riders and schools name

How windy

under Typical strength, below

Character: synoptic

Room to launch

huge

access rules on record, below

Water

waves

15 °C in summerExposed Atlantic beach break with lefts and rights, groundswell mixed with windswell, best on southwest swell

Hazards

Reported by riders

Level

Intermediate to advanced

With a caveat: see Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Crowds

low crowds · busy Jun Jul Aug Oct

Schools

named at this spot

From the airport

Tiree Airport (TRE)

no transfer time published

When it fills in

Frontal wind with no daily cycle. It arrives and leaves with the weather system rather than with the sun, so it can be up at dawn and still up at midnight. The forecast decides the session, not the hour.

Nearbystraight-line distance

Backup spotsWhere riders go when the wind doesn't work here.

Gott Bay
Crossapolno page yet
Balevullinno page yet
Hough Bayno page yet
Balephetrishno page yet
The Mazeno page yet

The spot

Balephuil Bay, Traigh Bhi on the map and to the locals, is an exposed southwest-facing beach on Tiree that takes the Atlantic full in the face. Rocks and rocky headlands close both ends of the sand, and the swell arrives with nothing in front of it.

Wind and season

The wind is frontal, synoptic Scottish island wind rather than thermal or trade, and Balephuil is gustier and less sheltered than the rest of the island. May, June, September and early October are the windows worth planning around, because the summer in between is less consistent.

Water temperature and gear

The water is cold all year: around 13-16 C at the August peak and 7-9 C in late February, so pack proper cold-water rubber even on a hot day with wind in it.

Wave venue and beginners

This is a wave venue, and island school guidance sends learners to Gott Bay instead. Access is a rough rocky track to a small dedicated parking area, then a short walk to the sand. There is no rescue, zoning or permit information for the bay, so ask locally before you launch.

The wind

Direction

onshoreoffshorewind blows away from land — rescue cover matters here

Direction to shore

The bay sits in the south-west corner of Tiree and opens onto the open Atlantic.North is the offshore direction: it cleans the wave up and leaves you nothing to get home on.South-west is straight onshore, and west through south-west lands cross-onshore.Onshore and cross-onshore is the normal state here, and it blows the surf out roughly half the time.

Kite sizes

4567891011121314151617

metres · typical quiver highlighted

The quiver, in words

No local size log exists for the bay. Indicative, worked back from the island's 17 mph average and the 17-25 mph band that suits kitesurf progression here: a 75-85 kg rider sits on 11-12 m at the bottom of that band, 9-10 m through the middle, 7 m once a front pushes past 25 mph, and 5 m on the gale days that follow one.Wave sizes rather than big freeride shapes, and being overpowered costs more in this water than it does in warm places.

Character

synoptic

When it fills in: see above ↑

Average strength

Typical strength

17-25 mph is the range where kitesurf coaching progresses best, and the Tiree average sits around 17 mph. No long-term typical range exists for Balephuil itself, only day forecasts.

Frontal, synoptic Atlantic wind. Balephuil tends to be gusty and gets less shelter than the rest of Tiree.

The season is good April to October. May, June, September and early October are the ones recommended for kitesurf and wing coaching, because summer wind is less consistent and the colder stretches are less comfortable. The Tiree Wave Classic 2026 sits in October, chosen on more than 40 years of wind and wave statistics.

Forecast

Live forecast

Windguru Windfinder Windy

Month by month

Jan97
Feb95
Mar88
Apr, riders' month88
May, riders' month90
Jun, riders' month86
Jul83
Aug86
Sep, riders' month92
Oct, riders' month99
Nov94
Dec94

per cent of the month at force 4 or more

Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: Apr, May, Jun, Sep, Oct.

24 ktJan9°
25 ktFeb9°
20 ktMar8°
19 ktApr9°
16 ktMay11°
17 ktJun14°
16 ktJul15°
19 ktAug15°
20 ktSep15°
23 ktOct13°
22 ktNov12°
24 ktDec11°

avg knots per month · water °C below · season highlighted

Modelled from weather reanalysis on a 10–25 km grid (2022-2024), not a ground station: reliable for trade and synoptic winds, understates thermal sea breezes and valley winds.

Every figure, month by monthForce 4+ · Knots · Wind from · Air · Water

Month	Force 4+	Knots	Wind from	Air	Water
Jan	97%	24.4 kt	SSW	7.3 °C	9.3 °C
Feb	95%	25 kt	WSW	7.4 °C	8.9 °C
Mar	88%	19.7 kt	SE	7.2 °C	8.4 °C
Apr	88%	18.5 kt	SSE	8.7 °C	9.1 °C
May	90%	16.4 kt	N	11.5 °C	11.2 °C
Jun	86%	17.1 kt	S	13.3 °C	13.8 °C
Jul	83%	16.3 kt	W	14 °C	14.5 °C
Aug	86%	19.3 kt	WSW	14.5 °C	14.6 °C
Sep	92%	19.5 kt	SSW	13.7 °C	14.6 °C
Oct	99%	23.4 kt	WSW	11.9 °C	13.4 °C
Nov	94%	22.2 kt	S	9.6 °C	12.1 °C
Dec	94%	23.7 kt	SW	7.7 °C	10.7 °C

How this is modelledmodelled · 2022-2024

A weather model's cell over this place, not a station on it. Good for comparing places, weaker for one beach.

The typical daily max and the direction are columns of the table above, month by month. Highlighted months are the riding season from the spot record.

ERA5 reanalysis grid point (modelled) · Open-Meteo historical weather API — ECMWF ERA5/ERA5-Land reanalysis, not a ground station · 2022-2024

The water

Type

waves

Standing depth

Not measured. Low water opens a wide flat sheet of sand across the bay; high water squeezes the beach back toward the rocks at either end. Atlantic sets run straight in with nothing in front of them, so the depth where you are standing changes with the sets rather than sitting on a fixed bar.

Tides

Tidal beach. The surf reportedly works at all stages of tide, but the size of the launch and landing beach changes with it. Tide times come off Balephetrish, about 8 km away.

Temperature

15 °C summer · 8 °C winter

Modelled monthly average: 8–15 °C

Wetsuit

Sea temperature peaks around 13–16 °C in early to mid August and bottoms out around 7–9 °C in late February.A 4/3 mm and boots at the warmest, 5/3 mm for long sessions or hard wind.Spring and autumn get described as a normal wetsuit, summer as a shorty and winter as thick rubber, but kiting in this water wants more insulation than surfing notes imply.

Conditions

Exposed Atlantic beach break with lefts and rights, groundswell mixed with windswell, best on southwest swell. Huge rolling waves, and rocks at both ends of the bay. The sand runs about one mile/1.5 km.

Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

not for beginners here

Intermediate and expert. Learners get sent to Gott Bay for the flat water, the shallow gradient and the near-absence of shorebreak, so treat Balephuil as an exposed wave venue unless a local instructor picks it for the conditions of the day.

The scene

What riders come here for

waveswave ridingstraplesssurfwindsurf waves

A quiet, open Atlantic beach. Visiting wave sailors and surfers turn up on a good forecast and around the Tiree Wave Classic; otherwise there are no regular beach users. It is a surf and wavesailing bay, not a managed watersports zone.

Launch and rules

three ways on to the water, and what each one asks of you

With a school or a boat

2 schools name this spot

See who they are

On your own

Room to launch: huge

Read the access rules

Somewhere else

2 spots nearby

All 2 spots within 40 km are under Nearby

Rescue

No lifeguard, no patrol and no rescue boat at the bay. The island's kite and wing schools work from other beaches: Gott Bay for kite tuition, Balevullin for the wave lessons, so nothing is standing by at Balephuil.

The emergency call is 999, ask for the Coastguard. Mobile coverage on Tiree is broken and intermittent in places, so plan the session as though the phone will not work from the water, and tell somebody on land where you are going.

The two school numbers are 07712 159205 and 07736 330829.

Launch

Large sandy tidal beach with a dedicated signed parking area at the end of a track through the fields, then a gate and a short walk over sandy ground to the beach. Rocks and rocky headlands book-end the bay, so pick your setup with the downwind room in mind.

Hazards riders report 13 reported

Wind

Gusty/frontal wind possible
Cold water and wind chill
North is offshore here, straight out into the Atlantic

Bottom

Rocks and rocky outcrops at the sides of the bay

Waves and currents

Atlantic swell and shorebreak
Tidal change in beach/launch size

Protected areas and rules

Ground-nesting birds on the machair behind the dunes

Other

remote location with limited services
cold water
Remote island location with limited immediate services
No lifeguard or kite rescue service for Balephuil
Mobile coverage on Tiree is broken and intermittent, so a phone is not a rescue plan
Cattle on the access track and on the croft land behind the beach

Rules & access

1 min read

Access runs over croft land: the track to the small car park at the back of the bay crosses cattle fields, so leave gates as you find them and park only in the marked area (2026).
The Scottish Outdoor Access Code applies across Tiree and the island ranger service works to it, with the machair and the ground-nesting birds as the sensitive ground; keep vehicles and kit off the dune and machair grass (2026).
Campervans and caravans must book a campsite or a croft camping site rather than park up on the machair, because the sandy ground compacts easily and the crofters' crop is the grass (2026).
No kite-specific zoning, permit, launch corridor or seasonal ban was found for Balephuil as of 2026.

Access rules drift faster than anything else we hold — check locally, and propose an edit if this has changed.

Schools that ride here

Rider tips

Pull up a wind forecast for Balephuil and a surf forecast alongside it; the bay only makes sense when the two line up safely.
Ask Wild Diamond or Blackhouse where people are riding that day. Tiree has several beaches and the right one changes fast with wind and swell direction.
Treat north as offshore here. It cleans the surf up and gives you nothing to get home on without support.
Book the ferry early if you are bringing a vehicle in June, July or August, and around the Tiree Wave Classic in October.
Bring the small end of your quiver for Atlantic frontal days; a 5 m session after a gale is on record, as an example rather than a size recommendation.
Low water gives the widest launch and landing; high water pushes the sand back toward the rocks at both ends.
The nearest people who know the water are the two schools: 07712 159205 and 07736 330829. Tell one of them, or somebody on land, before you go out.

Getting there

Airport

Tiree Airport (TRE) takes flights to and from Coll, Oban and Glasgow; the Glasgow route is a 45-minute flight with Loganair.

Route

Most people take the CalMac roll-on/roll-off ferry from Oban: a 4-hour crossing, reservations recommended, and summer vehicle spaces go early, especially June-August. On the island it is car or bike on single-track B roads. There is no bus service on Tiree, so the Balephuil walk starts wherever you park.

Cost level

medium-high

Staying

Hotels and B&Bs, self-catering, campsites and croft camping on Tiree. Book the ferry and the bed early for summer and for the Wave Classic period.

No-wind days

Surf or bodyboard, hire a SUP or kayak from the local schools when conditions allow, walk the Ceann a' Mhara and Balephuil Bay route, sit in the bird hide by the access track, look at the hill-fort and chapel remains around Balephuil, or go and find the golf, the birds and the other beaches.

Photos

The bigger pictureEverything about Tiree (Inner Hebrides)

Last updated: August 2026