I have done a bit of a search on this subject but still feel a bit lost and confused. I love to sea fish and having the caravan was about taking some holiday time with my other half and allowing me to reach out to those hard to reach and far flung sea fishing spots yet still have the comfort of the van to sleep in when I am done at night.I had an image (albeit probably romantic but naive) that I could have the stove going and a seat outside of the van whilst my rods were set up but it seems that this is not going to be possible unless there happens to be a caravan site on the waters edge. Can anyone add some light to this rather grey subject. Also welcome some hints and tips or spots that I could visit round the coast of Scotland that could make this wee dream possible.
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Yes it is possible to wild caravan on out of the way spots and I suggest you do a Google search for Motorhome wild camping sites. Where you can park a Motorhome, you can park a caravan.
Some stunningly beautiful areas to explore, as these photos show. Some "hard to reach and far flung" stretches of the NW coast of Scotland are reached by C-roads that are single track with passing places, steep inclines, blind corners, narrow bridges, saddle-back humps etc. For these reasons, I'd say don't drive the coast road between Ullapool and Inverewe, or the Pass of the Cattle to Applecross as you may have to reverse your caravan backwards some distance - foreign tourists in hire cars seem particularly reluctant to reverse to the passing place they have just gone past. You don't say if sea fishing is a rocky coast hobby (where you're less likely to find somewhere to pull in the car & caravan), or a sandy coast hobby (where there will be plenty of grassy areas to pull off onto, that you'll share with sheep, cattle Highland ponies and several other wild campers). And in SW Scotland (Galloway, Ayrshire, Argyll etc) the recent high tides and storms have done a great deal of damage - beaches scoured, coastal car parks closed, the coastal strip covered by rubbish (navigation buoys and half tree trunks, as well as the usual plastics) dumped far beyond the high tide mark. It will take some months for the clean-up work to get done, hopefully finished before your trip.
I'm an Irvine lad so have seen the damage to the beaches, including the buoy at the top of Irvine beach - mighty impressive to shift a large object like that so far up the sand. I do all kinds of fishing but for this I would say I am looking for the grass next to sand spots. Ill check out the links and google as suggested.
I would say if you go to an island you'd be safer. In Connemara in Ireland there are some islands accessible at low tide that then get cut off at high tide, so it is safer from buck eejits who would be looking for a vulnerable vehicle to damage or rob. You need to hit google maps and 'drive' down some roads to check all the ones that end at a beach. I'm sure the Scottish Isles will have some similar places.
Finding motorhomes parked up is ideal as there's safety in numbers.
The Outer Hebrides are excellent for wild camping and fishing.
Indeed North Uist, South Uist, Benbecula and Barra all cater for wild campers with toilets, CDPs and Showers all laid on for them.
But, and it is a big but, the ferry fare to get there is very expensive.
Many car parks by the beach these days have "No Overnight Parking" signs on them, but as the only people who can move you on from these places are Traffic Wardens or Police and the Traffic Wardens go home at 5pm and the Police have more to do with their time than to check out of the way Beach Car parks, we ignore those signs.
Google Earth is a good medium for find Beach Car Parks and we use that all the time.
------------- Lobey.
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Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.