Orkney Coastal and Marine Recreation Survey

Contents

Section 1

• Section 1
• Introduction
• Method
• Survey Method
• Survey Structure
• Results
• Future Updates

Section 2: Coastal Activity Maps

• Map 1: Coastal walking
• Map 2: Kayaking
• Map 3: Sailing
• Map 4: Wildlife watching
• Map 5: Stand-up paddleboarding
• Map 6: Surfing, kite-surfing, bodyboarding
• Map 7: Swimming and snorkelling
• Map 8: Scuba-diving
• Map 9: Powerboating and jet-skiing
• Map 10: Climbing

Section 3: Supporting Maps

• Map A: Footpaths
• Map B: Recreational Anchorages
• Map C: Piers and Slipways
• Map D: Priority Marine Features
• Map E: Popular Beaches
• Map F: Public Toilets
• Map G: Scapa Flow Wrecks

The locations of recreational activities identified in this document were recorded by members of the public. The safety and suitability of these sites has not been verified by Orkney Islands Council and members of the public should ensure the sites are appropriate before accessing an area and engaging in an activity. This document is not an endorsement for suitability of locations.

IMAGE: The cover displays the title “Orkney Coastal and Marine Recreation Survey” above a stylised map of Orkney and surrounding waters, with the Orkney Islands Council crest in the lower-right corner.

Section 1

Introduction

Engaging in marine and coastal recreation activities is a cornerstone of life in Orkney. Popular activities such as coastal walking, sailing, paddle sports, surfing, diving, recreational fishing, swimming and wildlife watching are popular pastimes and provide significant wellbeing and quality of life benefits to both local communities and visitors¹.

Orkney’s coastal infrastructure and facilities, including the core path network,² anchorages (see Map A¹), and the many marine access points including marinas, piers and slips, are key to enabling this diverse range of recreational uses.

Specific details on where these activities are occurring however, and what facilities are being used to enable them, was not well understood. A study in 2015, conducted on behalf of the Scottish Government³ went some way to addressing this data gap. The use of in-person workshops only, however, and the increasing age of the study, make it of limited use for developers and decision makers.

With the Orkney Islands Regional Marine Plan being adopted in 2026⁴, it is important to have up-to-date information on the recreational activities and the associated facilities being used around Orkney in order to allow the safeguarding, support and enhancement of these activities and support the implementation of Policy 7: Tourism, Recreation, Leisure and Sport.

This survey therefore:

• Provides detailed and up-to-date maps of the most popular marine and coastal recreational activities taking place around Orkney;
• Identifies the most used public facilities for marine and coastal recreation;
• Provides background information on the different activities, such as seasonal changes in popularity and why people choose to go to specific areas;
• Collected information on potential improvements to facilities/infrastructure to support and enhance the future of marine and coastal recreational activities; and
• Aids developers and decision makers in identifying important areas for recreational activities, in line with Policy 7b in the Orkney Islands Regional Marine Plan (see below).

¹ Evidence Statement: The well-being and human health benefits of exposure to the marine and coastal environment. DEFRA. 2019.
https://www.smmr.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/SD1712_well-being-and-human-health-benefits.pdf

² The Orkney Core Paths Plan. Outdoor Access - Orkney Islands Council.
https://oic.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=462f21e42d74428984b868be3a8c57c2

³ https://marine.gov.scot/data/marine-and-coastal-tourism-and-recreation-pentland-firth-and-orkney-waters-case-study-report

⁴ https://www.orkney.gov.uk/Service-Directory/D/marine-planning.htm

Method

Survey Method

The ‘Marine and Coastal Recreation Survey’ was hosted on the online platform Maptionnaire⁵. This approach combines traditional survey questions with interactive, digital maps, allowing respondents to zoom to areas they use for their activities and mark them directly on the map.

Being wholly online, respondents could fill in the survey from the comfort of their own home and at their own pace. It also allowed a wider audience to be reached than the more traditional in-person workshops.

To assist those who may have difficulty accessing computers or the internet, the opportunity to fill the survey out in-person was made available at the same time as various engagement events for the Orkney Islands Regional Marine Plan in Spring and Summer 2022.

The survey was initially piloted with a selection of stakeholders from across different recreational interests, before being made available to the public for approximately 12 weeks. Throughout this time, the survey was advertised around Orkney.

⁵ https://maptionnaire.com/

Survey Structure

The survey could be filled out on behalf of a club, a business, or as an individual. Whilst the core questions of the survey remained the same, there were differing questions depending on which option was chosen (individual, business, or club). The core survey questions can be found in annex 2.

Orkney Islands Regional Marine Plan, Policy 7b states:

Sector Policy 7b: Safeguarding tourism, recreation, leisure and sport uses

i. Proposals for development and/or activities should consider options to avoid, minimise or appropriately mitigate significant adverse impacts on tourism, recreation, leisure and sport uses.

ii. Proposals for development and/or activities should demonstrate engagement and/or consultation with relevant tourism, recreation, leisure and sport bodies and/or users to ensure that the measures proposed to avoid, minimise and/or mitigate adverse impacts on tourism, recreation, sport and leisure uses are appropriate.

Results

The survey took place between 30th March 2022 and 30th June 2022. During this time, approximately 200 people filled out the survey. The majority (185) of these filled out the survey as an individual, with the rest being clubs and businesses. This resulted in over 550 areas being drawn and mapped for 22 different activities.

The most common activity reported was walking, closely followed by swimming and wildlife watching. Together these three activities accounted for almost two thirds of all recorded areas.

IMAGE: Figure 1 is a bar chart showing the total number of areas recorded for each activity. The approximate numbers shown are: walking, 130; swimming, 90; wildlife watching, 87; surfing or bodyboarding, 46; kayaking, 43; sailing, 32; beach combing, 21; recreational sea fishing, 15; snorkelling, 13; climbing, 6; paddle boarding, 6; spear fishing, 5; SCUBA diving, 5; chartered fishing trips, 3; kite-surfing, 3; powerboating, 2; jet skiing, 1; wind surfing, 1; and yacht racing, 1. The vertical axis is labelled “Number of areas recorded” and the horizontal axis is labelled “Activity”.

Predictably, Summer was the most popular time for recreational activities to take place, with 96% of respondents marking this as their most or joint-most active season. Not all activities stopped during winter however, with those such as swimming, kite-surfing, and coastal walking continuing year-round.

By far the most common mode of transport for getting to the activity start location was by car (~63% of all journeys). This may be explained by the fact that many of these activities require additional equipment to be transported, such as surfboards and kayaks, or because many of the activities take place in the more remote areas. Only 1.5% of people used public transport, which was the least used transport option.

IMAGE: Figure 2 is a pie chart showing the mode of transport used to access the coastline, that is, the start point for the activity. The categories are Car, Bus, Push bicycle, Walk, Boat and Other. Car accounts for approximately 63% of journeys; walking approximately 20%; push bicycle approximately 8%; boat approximately 6%; bus approximately 2%; and other approximately 1%.

The amount of time spent undertaking each activity varied between activities and the season. Figure 3 below demonstrates the average time for each of the main activities throughout the year.

IMAGE: Figure 3 is a horizontal stacked bar chart showing the percentage of responses for time spent undertaking each activity. The categories are “<30 mins”, “30-59 mins”, “1-2 hours” and “2+ hours”. Activities shown are Walking, Swimming, Surfing or body boarding, Snorkelling, SCUBA diving, Sailing, Recreational sea fishing, Paddle Boarding, Kayaking, Climbing and Beach combing. Climbing is shown entirely as 2+ hours; sailing is predominantly 2+ hours; paddle boarding is predominantly 1–2 hours and 2+ hours; and swimming is predominantly 30–59 minutes.

Spending time in the coastal and marine environment has been shown to enhance mental wellbeing and physical health, leading to an improved quality of life⁶. It is important therefore to support these activities where possible.

Public facilities, such as toilets, core paths, piers and slips are heavily used by people engaging in marine recreational activities. Over 388 pins were dropped by respondents to mark the location of the facilities they used, highlighting their importance to the community (Figure 4).

IMAGE: Figure 4 combines a bar chart and a map. The bar chart shows the number of times facilities were marked as being used: car parks, approximately 132; toilets, approximately 117; piers, slips, pontoons etc., approximately 82; beach access and paths, approximately 21; cafés or other businesses, approximately 20; bins, approximately 8; picnic tables or other seating, approximately 6; and bird hides, approximately 2. The map on the right shows the locations of facilities marked by respondents across Orkney.

⁶ https://www.smmr.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/SD1712_well-being-and-human-health-benefits.pdf

Toilets, parking areas, bins, pontoons, slipways, and changing/shower facilities were commonly suggested as desirable to support recreational activities. Therefore, the facilities and locations suggested for them will contribute towards the future consideration of investment in facilities.

When asked what attracted individuals, businesses and clubs to specific areas, there were several common and recurring themes. Themes relating to wildlife and the natural beauty featured heavily in the responses, as did references to facilities such as parking and toilets. Ease of access and proximity to home were also important factors for people.

IMAGE: Figure 5 is a word cloud demonstrating the most common themes being discussed in response to the open-ended question: “what attracts you to this area [for your activity]?”. The largest and most prominent words include “scenery”, “wildlife”, “waves”, “access”, “nearby”, “beautiful”, “beach”, “coastline”, “walk”, “water”, “sailing”, “swimming”, “surf”, “home”, “safe”, “nature” and “wild”. Other visible words include “Regatta”, “views”, “lovely”, “calm”, “close”, “good”, “quiet”, “tide”, “sand”, “friends”, “family”, “children”, “caves”, “shells”, “toilets” and “parking”. The size of each word indicates its frequency of use.

Future Updates

It is the intention for this project to be updated on a rolling basis and this first phase will be reviewed and updated as necessary. If you would like to contribute further information to the maps below then please contact Orkney Islands Council’s Marine Planning team at marine.planning@orkney.gov.uk.

Section 2: Coastal Activity Maps

Map 1: Coastal walking

IMAGE: Map of Orkney showing coastal walking areas marked in red along the shorelines of the islands. The map covers Orkney and surrounding waters, including the Pentland Firth, Outer Sound, Hoy and South Ronaldsay, and includes a north arrow, a 0–10 kilometre scale bar, and map source information.

Map 2: Kayaking

IMAGE: Map of Orkney showing kayaking areas marked in red. The marked locations are concentrated around coastal inlets, sounds and sheltered shorelines across the main islands and southern Orkney. The map includes a north arrow, a 0–10 kilometre scale bar, and map source information.

Map 3: Sailing

IMAGE: Map of Orkney showing sailing areas. The key distinguishes a general sailing area, shown with yellow diagonal hatching, from local/club sailing areas, shown in orange with red outlines. The general sailing area covers much of the waters around Orkney, while local and club areas are marked at several coastal locations. The map includes a north arrow, a 0–10 kilometre scale bar, and map source information.

Map 4: Wildlife watching

IMAGE: Map of Orkney showing wildlife-watching areas marked in red along selected coastlines and islands. The locations are distributed throughout Orkney, including the western, northern and southern islands. The map includes a north arrow, a 0–10 kilometre scale bar, and map source information.

Map 5: Stand-up paddleboarding

IMAGE: Map of Orkney showing stand-up paddleboarding areas marked in red. The marked sites are scattered around the coastlines of the main islands and several smaller islands, with concentrations in sheltered waters and bays. The map includes a north arrow, a 0–10 kilometre scale bar, and map source information.

Map 6: Surfing, kitesurfing and body-boarding

IMAGE: Map of Orkney showing locations for kitesurfing, body-boarding and surfing. The key identifies kitesurfing with blue diagonal hatching, body-boarding with orange areas, and surfing with pink areas. The marked sites are distributed around several exposed and sheltered coastlines. The map includes a north arrow, a 0–10 kilometre scale bar, and map source information.

Map 7: Swimming and snorkelling

IMAGE: Map of Orkney showing swimming and snorkelling areas. The key identifies swimming with solid red areas and swimming and snorkelling together with red diagonal hatching. Marked sites occur around the coastlines of the northern, western and southern islands. The map includes a north arrow, a 0–10 kilometre scale bar, and map source information.

Map 8: SCUBA diving

IMAGE: Map of Orkney showing SCUBA diving sites as coloured points. The key identifies natural/scenic dive sites in green, wreck dive sites in magenta, and other sites in blue. Numerous wreck dive sites are concentrated around Scapa Flow and the southern islands, while natural/scenic sites are distributed around the wider coastline. The map includes a north arrow, a 0–10 kilometre scale bar, and map source information.

Map 9: Powerboating and jet-skiing

IMAGE: Map of Orkney showing powerboating and jet-skiing areas. The key identifies jet skiing with blue diagonal hatching and powerboating with red diagonal hatching. Powerboating areas cover broad waters around the main islands, while smaller jet-skiing areas are marked within them. The map includes a north arrow, a 0–10 kilometre scale bar, and map source information.

Map 10: Climbing

IMAGE: Map of Orkney showing climbing areas marked in red. The locations are concentrated on exposed coastal sections, including sites on the western side of Orkney and around Hoy and southern Orkney. The map includes a north arrow, a 0–10 kilometre scale bar, and map source information.

Section 3: Supporting Maps

Many of the activities mapped above utilise facilities or rely on particular attractions. The following maps have been included to provide supporting contextual information to the coastal and marine recreational activities recorded in the survey. Where possible, information on where to view the data in more detail is provided in the text below each map.

Map A: Adopted core paths and St Magnus Way

The survey demonstrated that these are used heavily for coastal walking and wildlife watching. To view an interactive version of this data, visit:

https://oic.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=462f21e42d74428984b868be3a8c57

IMAGE: Map of Orkney showing adopted core paths in red and the St Magnus Way as a black dotted route. The paths and route are marked across the main islands and smaller islands, with the St Magnus Way running across parts of mainland Orkney. The map includes a north arrow, a 0–10 kilometre scale bar, and map source information.

Map B: Recreational/Leisure Anchorages

Many of the anchorages above are routinely used for recreational purposes. Further information on the Clyde Cruising Club anchorages can be found in the CCC Sailing Directions and Anchorages Publication for Orkney and Shetland.

IMAGE: Map of Orkney showing recreational and leisure anchorages. Red points identify Visiting Yacht Moorings (VYM), and green points identify anchorages listed in the Clyde Cruising Club (CCC) Sailing Directions and Anchorages publication. The map includes a north arrow, a 0–10 kilometre scale bar, and map source information.

Map C: Piers and Slipways

These are the piers and slips operated by the Orkney Harbour Authority, as well as Geo Slipway Deerness and St Margaret’s Hope Pier. Inclusion in this map is not an endorsement for recreational use.

IMAGE: Map of Orkney showing piers, harbours, slipways and marinas. The key identifies Orkney Harbour Authority piers and harbours with green triangles, St Margaret’s Hope Pier and Harbour Infrastructure with pink triangles, Geo Slipway, Deerness with a blue triangle, and marinas with blue circles. The map includes a north arrow, a 0–10 kilometre scale bar, and map source information.

Map D: Priority Marine Features (PMFs)

PMFs are habitats and species that the Scottish Government has identified to be marine nature conservation priorities in Scottish waters. This survey revealed that these are often sought out by recreational divers and snorkellers. They can be viewed here.

IMAGE: Map of Orkney showing the locations of Priority Marine Features using coloured dots and symbols. The key identifies kelp and seaweed communities on sublittoral sediment; maerl or coarse shell gravel with burrowing sea cucumbers; horse mussel beds; flame shell beds; burrowed mud; seagrass beds; kelp beds; maerl beds; fan mussel; northern feather star; ocean quahog; and white cluster anemone. The features are distributed throughout Orkney’s coastal waters, with dense concentrations around Scapa Flow and the central islands. The map includes a north arrow, a 0–10 kilometre scale bar, and map source information.

Map E: Locations of beaches highlighted in the survey

IMAGE: Map of Orkney showing 22 numbered beach locations. The numbered locations correspond to Grobust, Bay of Tafts, Mussetter, Rothiesholm, Aikerness, Brough of Birsay, Tresness, Bay of Lopness, Backaskaill, South Bay Beach, Newark Bay, Glimps Holm, Rackwick, Sands o'Wright, Eastside, St Catherine's Bay, Bay of Skaill, Warebeth, Waulkmill, Scapa, Inganess and Dingieshowe. The map includes a north arrow, a 0–10 kilometre scale bar, and map source information.

Map F: Public toilet locations

For more information visit: https://www.orkney.gov.uk/Service-Directory/S/public-toilets.htm

IMAGE: Map of Orkney showing public toilet locations as red points distributed across the inhabited islands and coastal settlements. The map includes a north arrow, a 0–10 kilometre scale bar, and map source information.

Map G: Wrecks of Scapa Flow

These wrecks often act as tourist attractions, with the German High Seas Fleet in particular attracting much interest from divers. Many wrecks are also visible by snorkelling and coastal walking. More information on the Scapa Flow wrecks can be found at http://www.scapaflowwrecks.com/

IMAGE: Map of Scapa Flow and surrounding waters showing wreck locations. The key distinguishes dangerous wrecks, non-dangerous wrecks, undefined wrecks, and wrecks showing any portion of hull or superstructure. Numerous wreck symbols are concentrated in Scapa Flow, with additional wrecks around the surrounding islands and coastlines. The map is oriented sideways in the page layout and includes a north arrow, a 0–5 kilometre scale bar, and map source information.

This project will be updated on a rolling basis. If you would like to contribute further information to any of the maps, or would like to suggest other maps for inclusion, then please contact Orkney Islands Council’s Marine Planning team at marine.planning@orkney.gov.uk.

Section 4, focusing on facilities, will be added to this document in due course.