5 beautiful Scottish islands to rent

Isle of Carna in Loch Sunart where you'll have your own boat and 24-hour radio contact with the mainland. PIC: Contributed.

Switch off your smartphone, fall out of signal and step onto your own Scottish island for a holiday of extreme peace and natural beauty.

Here are five islands of Scotland ready to offer the perfect, tranquil getaway for those seeking the ultimate escape.

CARNA

The lighthouse at Sanda. PIC: Creative Commons.

Visitors to Carna will be given a private boat to navigate around their hideaway, a 600 acre island in Loch Sunart close to the Ardnamurchan peninsula.

There is no mobile signal, Wi-Fi or television here with the slow pace of island life the only thing to get caught up in.

Remote Scottish cottage for sale - complete with private island

Two cottages can be rented to enjoy total seclusion on an uninhabited island rich in wildlife and natural beauty.

The isle of Rona near Skye. PIC: www.geograph.co.uk

Guests arrive on boat from Laga Bay, with a quick lesson given on arrival on how to drive your own boat during your stay. A 24-hour radio link to the mainland is offered for peace of mind.

Prices start from £1200 a week or £720 for a short break.

www.isleofcarna.co.uk

SANDA

Guests to Sanda will be treated to a tune from a piper as they step onto the island.

Sanda sits off the southern tip of the Mull of Kintyre with visitors taking a 40-minute boat journey from the mainland.

Renting four cottages on Sanda, which sleep eight in total, will give your group sole run of the island for a cost of £2,000 a day.

Hours can be spent here roaming the foreshores or enjoying the bird life, with Sanda home to Scotland’s fourth bird observatory.

The island was bought by Swiss property developer Michi Meier in 2010.

For those seeking a little organised activity, a day trip to Ballycastle, Northern Ireland, which is just 20 miles away can be arranged, as well as a fishing excursion from Campbeltownand a supervised whisky tasting session.

www.vladi-private-islands.de

TORSA

Around a mile long and half-a-mile wide, Torsa is sheltered between the Isle of Luing and Degnish Point on the mainland.

Guests access it from motorboat from Ardinamir Bay on Luing, which is a 30-minute drive and short boat crossing from Oban.

Once on Torsa, guests have the use of an Egator electric buggy to carry luggage and shopping to Torsa House, the only property on the island.

From there, the island is all yours, save for the Dolphins and porpoises in Melfort Sound. Red and roe deer and foxes roam the island, otters hunt in the shoreline kelp and seals bask on the rocks in Cuan Sound.

Buzzards and eagles may also drop by.

www.torsa-island.co.uk

RONAY

If it was easy to get to, it wouldn’t be worth visiting, according to the brochure for Ronay.

But once you arrive here, you’ll have a private Hebridean retreat at your disposal.

The island is accessed by boat, which you can pick up from Kallin Harbour on North Uist. Food, drink and provisions should be bought before you leave.

A break on Ronay is all about the simple pleasures of island life. There are pristine lochs to plunge in, crags and gullies to ramble across and fish to catch.

You’ll find mussels ready to be picked off rockfaces and lobsters to be potted. A kayak is also available and you’ll likely see porpoises on your travels.

The five-bedroom self-catering cottage has a large, modern kitchen and dining area that sits 10.

The sitting room is kitted out with books, games and a wood burning stove.

The house can be rented from £800 a week.

www.ronayisland.com

RONA

Rent three cottages for you and your friends on Rona and the island will be - almost - all yours.

With no shops, roads or traffic, and just one permanent residence, where the island manager and his wife life, Rona is perfect for those seeking a true getaway.

The holiday cottages have been re-built from the ruins of Dry Harbour settlement, last inhabited in the 1920s. Now kitted out with 21st century technology, the properties are powered by wind energy.

The clock will tick gloriously slow on Rona, where days can be spent beachcombing, gathering seafood, sunset watching and relaxing by a real fire.

You may also find the occasional camper on Rona, but there is enough of this island wilderness to go round.