Some people are happiest with salt in the air and sand in their shoes. If that is the person you are buying for, Scottish island gifts for someone who loves the sea are an easy win – made by island makers who live with the tide on their doorstep, and in a lot of cases lifted straight off the beach.
Seven picks below, gathered from across the islands – Shetland, Orkney, Skye, Harris, Ulva, Tiree and Mull. There is sea glass tumbled smooth by the Atlantic, a suncatcher in the colours of the surf, a candle with a lucky cowrie inside, and a bit of seaweed spa for good measure. Prices run from £12 to £60, so there is something for a small thank-you and something for a proper keepsake.
A small note – island post takes a little longer than the mainland, so order with a bit of head room if you have a date in mind.
Sea Glass Gel Candle – £12
A clear gel candle made with Shetland beach finds – sand, a scatter of sea glass and a lucky cowrie shell set inside, so it looks like a wee rockpool before you have even lit it. Hand-made in Shetland and available in two sizes. The right small gift for anyone who pockets shells and stones every time they reach a beach.
Safe Harbour Tea Towel – £13
Fishing Float Art, Isle of Skye
A 100% cotton tea towel carrying Fishing Float Art’s “Safe Harbour” design, made in the UK. A useful, washable bit of the coast for the kitchen, and there is a matching coaster and card if you want to build it into a set. A good pick for someone who loves the sea and has run out of wall space.
Orkney Sea Colours Necklace – £15
A one-of-a-kind pendant, hand-made in polymer clay and wrapped in silver-plated wire, in the blues and sandy tones of the waters around Orkney’s shores. It measures about 3.75cm by 2.3cm with a hidden bail at the back, and arrives in a gift box. Being a single piece, once it is gone it is gone.
Hebridean Starfish – £22
Harris Glass Studio, Isle of Harris
A fused-glass suncatcher that runs from deep ocean blue through to the surf, with specially made granite glass standing in for the shoreline and an orange starfish picked out at the base – the kind that washes up on Harris beaches on the tide. Each one is hand-cut and fired in the maker’s home kiln, measures 15cm by 4cm, and comes in a gift box with a raffia loop to hang it where it can catch the light.
Ormaig Seaweed Bath Soak – £24
Ormaig Seaweed Skincare, Isle of Ulva
Made in the tiny island of Ulva, off the west of Mull, this bath soak brings a Hebridean seaweed spa to your own tub. For the sea-lover who would happily be in the water more often than the weather allows, it gets the next best thing into the bathroom. A nice middle-of-the-list treat that posts easily.
Tiree Texture, Beach Walks – £40
Hebridean Sea Glass, Isle of Tiree
A collection of sea glass gathered from the shores of Tiree, arranged and set in a white box frame measuring 19cm by 19cm. Every piece has been worn smooth by the Atlantic over years, so no two frames come out the same. A lovely thing for someone who walks beaches with their eyes down, looking for exactly this.
Memories of the Beach Two-Sided Pendant – £60
Drift Designs Mull, Isle of Mull
Inspired by the turquoise seas off the Ross of Mull and Iona – the maker’s own words are that the beaches are “so beautiful and white” that on a sunny day “it seems tropical”, and on a good day in Mull she has a point. A two-sided pendant you can wear either way round, carrying those bright beach blues. The keepsake end of the list, for someone who holds those particular beaches close.
Bring the sea home
Whichever you pick, it comes from a maker who knows the beach it is named after. Want more from one island in particular? Have a wander through our island pages, or carry on with the Isle of Skye gift guide and the Tiree Tea maker story.
Fair winds, and happy giving.
