Part of the Moray Firth snorkel trail!

A beautiful sandy beach within a sheltered bay surrounded by dramatic sea cliffs, marking the former site of Cullkhan Fort. 

Spot sand eels and plaice hiding in plain sight on the sandy seafloor!

Trail leaflet

Download the trail leaflet for offline access to site information

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Facilities

Parking
Former site of Cullykhan Fort

Gallery

What other people say

How to get there

By road

From Pennan, follow the B9031 west, turning right at the sign for ‘Cullykhan Bay, Fort Fiddes’ onto a single track road. Follow this road, situated between two fields, for 1 minute (0.3 miles); the car park is at the end of this road.

The nearest electric vehicle charging station is 1.4 miles away in Pennan.

Access Google Maps location pin here (TBC).

By rail

The nearest train station is Keith (36 miles away) and Elgin (46 miles away).

By bus

Bus services are provided locally by Stagecoach North Scotland.

Get directions

Driving

Public
transport

Walking

Cycling

Provided by Google Maps

Local conditions

Here is the wind forecast and tide times for this snorkel site. It is your responsibility to assess whether these conditions are suitable for snorkelling.

Other considerations

More information

  • Visit the award-winning Macduff Marine Aquarium and check out their events programme in advance. The aquarium offers a great starting point to your snorkel adventure, promoting awareness, enjoyment and stewardship of the Moray Firth marine environment. The aquarium showcases hundreds of marine species you might encounter while snorkelling to help you with your identification skills
  • Have a positive impact on the community during your visit by getting involved in activities offered by East Grampian Coastal Partnership, a voluntary group of individuals and organisations passionate about maintaining and improving the sustainability and wellbeing of the coastline. Their Turning the Plastic Tide project champions beach cleans and more to combat harmful impacts of marine litter.

Wildlife warning

Please be a responsible snorkeller; do not touch, take or tease wildlife.

This area is home to internationally important colonies of breeding seabirds (April-September) and seals (harbour seals June-July, grey seals August-December). Please behave responsibly and stay distant, wildlife should be left undisturbed. For more information see sealalliance.org and nature.scot. Avoid disturbing ground-nesting birds and livestock; follow the Outdoor Access and Marine Wildlife Watching codes.

Stay safe

  • The downhill path between the car park and bay is quite steep, with a boardwalk that has occasional steps. From the shore, there is easy access to the water.

Snorkelling can be dangerous and is done entirely at your own risk. Information is provided free of charge; it is your responsibility to check the conditions present on the day and assess whether it is safe to snorkel.

Please read our top tips to being a safe and responsible snorkeller.

Share your snorkel stories #ScottishSnorkelTrails

We have worked hard with coastal communities and organisations across Scotland to create these snorkel trails, to:

  • make Scotland’s seas more accessible to more people
  • support responsible, local eco-tourism and community-led coastal projects across Scotland
  • encourage people to better understand, value and protect our precious marine ecosystems

We would therefore love to hear your feedback on how you’ve found using them! From photos, videos and artwork to posts, blogs and more – every piece of little or large feedback will be read and valued! You can share them with us via email (livingseas@scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk), Facebook (@Scottish Wildlife Trust) or Bluesky (@scotwildlife.bsky.social) – use the #ScottishSnorkelTrails.

Species records

Visit the NBN Atlas to see all species records from this reserve.

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Fish
Pollack
Plaice
Yarrell’s Blenny
Crustaceans
Shore Crab
Velvet Swimming Crab
Brown crab
Hermit crab
Molluscs
Blue-rayed limpet
Grey topshell
Flat periwinkle
Dog whelk
Nudibranchs
Orange-clubbed sea slug
Sea Slug (Eubranchus tricolour)
Sea Slug (Coryphella lineata)
Sea Slug (Polycera faeroensis)
Jellyfish and other invertebrates
Moon jellyfish
Sea gooseberry
Lesser octopus
Dahlia anemone
Starfish and urchins
Sunstar
Common urchin
Spiny starfish
Smooth starfish
Marine plants
Cuvie kelp
Sugar kelp
Bladder wrack
Thongweed

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