Dundee Travel Forum

I've been looking at the Ordnance Survey map of the Tayport area and wondering whether it's actually possible to walk all the way out to the farthest edge of the Abertay Sands at low tide for the full 4 miles. Can it be done? Or are there always water-filled channels dividing the sandbanks from each other, no matter how low the tide is? I rather fancy getting a bit closer to the Bell Rock without getting my feet wet, if it's achievable.

Does anyone know if it's do-able?

Walking estuaries anywhere in the UK can be very treacherous indeed. Even if channels are crossable they can quickly fill when the tide turns (without your knowledge) and there is always the risk of quicksand.

You should seek specific local advice whilst you are visiting (from your posting on another website you will know that I am not the only one to advise this) because tidal conditions can vary sustantially according to date.

Please dont take any risks! The local RNLI will be able to advise you - www.rnli.org.uk/rnli_near_you/scotland/stations/BroughtyFerryDundeeTayside/

Leics, NOBODY has responded to my post on the other website, hence my post on this website.

I'm still no nearer finding out whether the walk can actually be done. I do however know that there are no quicksands at all at Abertay; the sands are very hard, which is why the trip seems possible on paper. But whether small rivulets separate the sandbanks at low tide is unclear.

Surely somebody in Dundee must have taken a stroll out on the sands?

You are nearer to finding out if it can be done - follow the suggestion of contacting the local RNLI!!

I am sure at least someone living in Dundee will have walked these sands.

I am absolutely certain that many who have done this have had to be rescued in consequence.

There is no guarantee that any of them are members of VT.

There is, however, a very good chance that contacting the coastguard, as advised above and/or asking locally will give you exactly the information you need.

It may not be the information you want, of course, for you may be advised that such a walk is not sensible.

I lived in Dundee for many years and NEVER heard of anyone discussing the walk you intend to attempt.

Take the advice above & contact the RNLI, or alternatively contact the Coastguard.

I wouldn't even consider attempting it unless the RNLI or Coastguard advise that it is safe, and can't imagine either of them saying that.

Why not go to the Signal Tower Museum in Arbroath if you are interested in the Bell Rock? It was the link to shore (via flags & lights) and it has the old lenses from the Bell Rock on display.

http://www.angus.gov.uk/history/museums/signaltower/default.htm

You can also see pics of me & my relatives there. My Step-mother is particularly embarrassed about the one of her with my step-brother & sister at the old "Royal Burgh of Arbroath" sign at the outskirts of town. It is a very 1970's outfit she is wearing.......... :):):)

It would be both dangerous and highly irresponsible for any of us to say whether or not it is safe to walk along a sand bank.
You might ask the whether or not it is safe to jump off a cliff because others have jumped in the past. It's not for anyone here to say.
Do as a couple of VTers have said and contact the coastguard for advice. I think I know what their answer will be though.

Absolutely no point at all in asking advice from the emergency services etc. They spend all day, every day being confronted by the folly of the human race, so they've got humans pigeonholed as a bunch of idiots who shouldn't even be let loose in a playpen. They'll inevitably advise you against walking out on the sands, regardless of whether they actually know what they're talking about.

I've canoed along Abertay Sands for about half their length and (with a low tide of mean + 1.5m) they were very exposed indeed within the 2-hour period spanning low tide, right out into the distance. If you're going to try walking it, check the tide tables, the windspeed, the wind direction, the weather forecast etc., carry a mobile phone and wear a lifejacket. It takes about one-and-a-quarter hours to walk 4 miles briskly, but the indentations of the sandbanks will mean you'll walk further than that. Start off at least 2 hours before low tide and choose a day when low tide is shown on the tide-tables as being mean low tide + 0.6 or 0.7 metres. (You'll not find a lower low tide than that.) Be prepared for disappointment, because it may turn out that you can't even get across onto the first section of sandbanks until too late - but even on the right day, you may get across only to find that crossing to the next section isn't possible until extreme low tide (so you'd have to turn back immediately).

Wearing waders would alter everything, if you can actually face walking eight miles in them (I wouldn't fancy it myself). Inflating and deflating a small lightweight beach-dinghy to cross the small channels might work, but don't attempt it in a wind or you'll lose control immediately.

Best to get someone to take you out to the far end of the sands in a boat, though. Or pay someone to take you to the Bell Rock. No shortage of skint boat-owners in Arbroath who'd be glad of the cash.

Whatever, good luck and don't drown.