Love Island: Introducing the Tinder-style app that matches you to your perfect Scottish escape

North of Scalasaig, on the island of Colonsay, the potholed single track road took me to the beach where I sort of fell in love. It was raining, naturally, and I walked towards the ocean without plan, the golden curve of Kiloran Bay nuzzling up against a lip of machair and a hill specked with blackface ewes. I looked around and realised I could see wavelengths of light bleeding through the clouds, making the sand shine and glow. It was the beginning of a heart-loading two days that felt edifying and full of possibility.

Looking for an autumn car-free break and Googling ‘last-minute availability’, I chanced upon the home page of the new Scottish Islands Passport app — serendipitously, it had been launched this spring. With a terrific landing picture of whaleback skerries on a glassy blue sea, the free app is a gateway to Scotland’s inhabited islands, many of which most travellers will never have heard of. Everywhere is covered, from Kerrera in Argyll to Wyre in Orkney to Fetlar in Shetland, and the idea is simple; with so many to choose from, the app plays matchmaker, helping you decide where your next holiday might be based on what attracts you. It’s Tinder for tartan-eyed travellers. A Love Island app for thalassophiles. And even if you have no knowledge of Scotland, you could have a fair stab at it (plus flirty emojis and GSOH abbreviations don’t apply).

There are 72 islands listed on the app and, by selecting keywords that most appealed to my personality (seafood, beach walk, gin, distillery, festivals), it filtered out dozens of profiles, acting as a liaison between me and the slender island of Colonsay, a hidey-hole on the margins of the Southern Hebrides. I imagined a seashore hotel with lobster creels stacked casually outside, a quiet local’s pub with spitting fire, a big sky under which to bike and beach walk. More than that, a place of stillness.

“Known as ‘The Jewel of the Hebrides’, Colonsay is famed for its sandy bays, stunning natural scenery, huge diversity of flora and fauna, and fascinating archaeological sites,” read the island’s app profile. It was the nudge I needed: I booked a return CalMac ferry from Oban, a bike from Colonsay Bikes and Boards, and landed at Scalasaig harbour the following week, albeit in swirling rain.