[7] Scarba is not served by any public ferries, but access from Craobh Haven or Crinan Harbour is possible by arrangement with local boatmen.

The rough summit ridge can be accessed from the harbour at the north end, from where a vehicle track leads up past Kilmory Lodge to a height of about 200 metres.

Separated from these rocks by a north–south aligned geological fault, the bedrock of the eastern third is the Neoproterozoic Scarba Conglomerate Formation, and the subordinate Jura Slate Member belonging to the Easdale Subgroup of the Argyll Group.

Raised marine deposits of sand and gravel occur on the northeast coast, a legacy of late Quaternary changes in relative sea-level.

Writing in 1549, Dean Monro wrote of "Skarbay" that between it and "Duray": Ther runnes ane streame, above the power of all sailing and rowing, with infinite dangers, callit Corybrekan.