The 7 best beaches and bays on the North Yorkshire coast
Curving sandy bay backed by red-roofed cottages and cliffs on the North Yorkshire coast
Seven stretches of the 45-mile coast ranked on sand, shelter and how hard the walk back up is, from a sheltered sandy crescent to a five-mile flat sweep under Filey Brigg.
1. Runswick Bay
The best-looking beach in the county and a genuinely sheltered one, curving south-east under a cliff of red-roofed cottages eight miles north of Whitby. The sand is firm and wide at low water, the headland at Kettleness blocks the worst of the northerly wind, and the rock pools at the northern end near the old lifeboat house keep children occupied for hours. There is a beach café and a pub at the top. It takes first place because it combines shelter, sand and scenery without an arcade in sight.
The catch is access and parking. The road down into the old village is one in four and the bottom car park is small, so most visitors use the clifftop car park and walk down, which is easy going out and a genuine haul coming back with beach kit. Fossil hunting along the scaur towards Kettleness is productive after winter storms. Check tide times before walking north from the bay, since the base of the cliffs floods. Seasonal dog restrictions apply on many North Yorkshire beaches; confirm with the council.
2. Sandsend
Two miles north-west of Whitby along the A174, Sandsend is where locals go when Whitby's own sands are full. Three miles of open beach run back towards the town, with the sea on one side and the road, a beck and a row of cottages on the other, so you can arrive, park on the roadside pay-and-display, and be on sand in 30 seconds. Surf schools operate here in the warmer months and the beach is one of the better learner breaks on this coast.
It sits second because it lacks Runswick's shelter: a north-easterly hits it square, and on those days the sand blows. The compensation is that you can walk the whole way to Whitby along the beach at low tide, roughly 45 minutes, and ride the bus back. The cafés at the Sandsend end handle breakfast and cake competently, and the ruins of the alum works at Sandsend Ness are worth the scramble at the far end. Parking spaces on the front disappear by ten on a hot Saturday.
3. Filey
Five miles of flat, hard sand in one gentle crescent from the Coble Landing to Hunmanby Gap, backed by the Crescent Gardens and sheltered to the north by the mile-long finger of Filey Brigg. It is the safest big beach on this coast for small children: the gradient is shallow, the sand takes a football, and there is no undertow of the kind you meet at Cayton. Filey has a lifeguard presence during the main summer season, though cover and dates should be confirmed with the RNLI or the council.
Third rather than first because the town is a resort, and the seafront is functional rather than picturesque. That said, it is a much quieter resort than Scarborough, with a proper working boat landing where cobles are tractor-launched. Walk out to the Brigg at low tide for the rock pools and seals, but read the tide table first, because the causeway floods and people get cut off every year. Beds in the guesthouses on The Crescent and West Avenue run around £85-130 in summer.
4. Scarborough North Bay
The quieter of Scarborough's two bays and the better one for actually being on a beach. North Bay has clean sand, a row of beach chalets, the sea life centre at Scalby Mills at the far end and the 20-inch-gauge North Bay Railway running along the back of it from Peasholm Park. The headland with the castle shelters it from southerly winds. Water quality on this stretch has generally been good, but check the Environment Agency bathing water rating for the day if you plan to swim.
Fourth because it is still a town beach with everything that implies, and because the walk round the headland from South Bay is longer than it looks. South Bay, by contrast, has the harbour, the arcades and the crowds; go there for the atmosphere and the chips, not for the sand. Parking at North Bay along Royal Albert Drive is pay-and-display and easier than anywhere central. On a hot August day arrive before ten or accept a fifteen-minute walk from a side street.
5. Whitby West Cliff Sands
The town beach, running north-west from the pier below the whalebone arch and the Captain Cook statue, with a long line of beach huts and the cliff lift connecting it to the West Cliff hotels above. It has the shortest distance between a good beach and a good chip shop of anywhere on the coast, which counts for a great deal in practice. The sand is decent, the tidal range is large, and at low water the beach connects all the way to Sandsend on foot.
It ranks fifth because it is busy, it is narrow at high tide, and the harbour end can smell of the fishing fleet on a still day. Those are honest trade-offs for the location. The cliff lift has seasonal operating hours; the alternative is the Khyber Pass road or a long set of steps. If you want Whitby as a base but a better beach, drive or walk the two miles to Sandsend. If you want to be in the town with a beach attached, this is the compromise.
6. Cayton Bay
Three miles south of Scarborough, Cayton is the surfers' beach: a wide bay facing north-east that picks up more swell than anywhere else on this list, with a surf school operating from the car park above. The sand is good and the crowds thin out fast once you walk away from the access path. Rip currents are a real hazard here and the bay is not lifeguarded along its whole length, so anyone swimming should stay in the middle section and take local advice seriously.
Sixth on the list because of the walk. From the clifftop car park off the A165, the path down is steep, muddy after rain and about ten minutes each way, which rules it out for anyone carrying a lot of gear or a small child. The reward is a bay that feels remote despite being minutes from a major resort. There is no café on the sand, so bring what you need. Skip it entirely on a flat calm day, when Filey gives you the same sand with an easier approach.
7. Robin Hood's Bay, plus Staithes
Robin Hood's Bay is not a swimming beach and should not be treated as one. What it is, at low tide, is the best fossil and rock pool beach in the north of England: wave-cut scaurs running out for hundreds of metres, ammonites weathering out of the shale, and the smugglers' village stacked above the slipway. Check the tide before you go down, and never attempt the beach walk to Boggle Hole on a rising tide. The Bank back up to the car park is a steep ten to fifteen minutes.
Staithes, ten miles north-west, is the same idea in miniature: a harbour, a beck, a cluster of cottages where Captain Cook was apprenticed, and rock pools rather than sand. Both are picture-postcard villages where parking is at the top and the walk down is the price of admission. Skip both if your priority is lying on sand; take Runswick Bay instead, which is two miles from Staithes and gives you the sand and the cottages together. Bring proper footwear for the scaurs, which are slippery with weed.
Before you book
What people ask before booking Whitby.
The North Sea here typically runs about 6-8C in late winter and peaks around 15-17C in late August and early September, which is the warmest swimming window. Most people swim in a wetsuit outside July and August, and the surf schools at Sandsend and Cayton supply them.
Restrictions apply on the main resort sections of Whitby, Scarborough and Filey during the summer months, usually from around May to the end of September, while stretches such as Sandsend and Runswick are more relaxed. Rules are set locally and change, so check with North Yorkshire Council before travelling with a dog.
Filey, for its shallow gradient, hard flat sand and five miles of space, with Runswick Bay a close second for shelter. Avoid Cayton Bay with toddlers because of the steep access path and rip currents, and treat Robin Hood's Bay as a rock pool trip rather than a swimming beach.
Yes, more than most English coasts. Filey Brigg, the scaurs at Robin Hood's Bay and the cliff base north of Runswick all cut off on a rising tide, and people are rescued from them every summer. Check a tide table for the day and turn back well before high water.
