Ayre's Rock Photo Gallery
Sanday has a wealth of beautiful deserted sandy beaches, lapped by clear clean water that changes colour under the shifting skies from green to blue and back to aqua. The light here is extraordinarily beautiful, and the magnificent Orkney cloudscape has to be seen to fully appreciate its "Big Skies."
The landscape is not static; we have an abundance of bird life here, and a large population of both Common and Grey seals. You may also be fortunate enough to see porpoise or whales, or even, if you are very quiet, an otter or two.
We hope that our photo gallery goes some way towards offering a flavour of the time that you might enjoy here on our island or, if you have already been to stay with us, a reminder of your time here.
Click on any thumbnail to access the gallery: hover your mouse over the right margin of the large image to navigate to the next image, the left margin to navigate to a previous image in the gallery. Click on the Next or Prev(ious) button as it appears, or use the P(rev) and N(ext) or right and left cursor keys.
Start Point Lighthouse is the easternmost point of Sanday. The first revolving light in Scotland, and the only one to be painted in vertical stripes of black and white, it has become a symbol of Sanday.
Kettletoft Bay, where the boats come in to Kettletoft harbour - the bay is shallow, rich in marine life and wading birds. A good place to go spoot hunting.
Eday Sound is the narrow stretch of water separating Sanday from its neighbour, Eday, and where the ferry arrives from Kirkwall, at Loth Terminal.
Sandy beaches are a feature of our island. Many times, you will have the beach to yourself.
Seals come onshore to breed and to pup. The Grey seal produces its young in the Autumn, the Common Seal in the early summer.
The Holms of Ire have the remains of an old chapel and are home to nesting sea birds.
The Bay of Lopness, like many of the bays here is broad and sandy. Unlike most, it boasts the wreck of a WWI German destroyer, the B98.
