South Bay is Scarborough’s main beach: a curve of sand between the harbour and the Spa, under the castle headland, backed by the Foreshore Road promenade with everything a British seaside resort has ever had along it.
Scarborough has a claim to being the first seaside resort in England. A mineral spring was found on the shore in the 1620s, the town developed as a spa, and sea-bathing followed in the 1730s — the first recorded use of a bathing machine anywhere was here.
Sand, firm and clean, with a large expanse at low tide and considerably less at high water.
Lifeguards in season.
Donkey rides, still, on the sand.
Deckchairs, beach huts and the usual apparatus.
Boat trips — pleasure boats, speedboats and a ferry running from the harbour, which is one of the better things to do on a fine afternoon.
An honest note: the beach is smaller than some visitors expect, particularly compared with the vast flat sands at Filey or the Lancashire coast, and it can feel busy in August. The character is compact resort rather than open sands.
Arcades, and a lot of them, running the length of Foreshore Road.
Fish and chips, several long-established.
Crazy golf and pirate mini golf.
A Ferris wheel and fairground rides.
Bowling and the amusement complexes.
Luna Park on Sandside by the harbour.
The comparison visitors most often reach for is a “mini Blackpool”, which is fair for this stretch and unfair to Scarborough as a whole, since the town also has the castle, the spa, the Italian Gardens and North Bay.
Working, small and interesting. Fishing boats, lobster pots, the lighthouse on Vincent Pier, and the fish market.
The harbour end of the beach is the older and better part — narrow streets climbing behind it into the Old Town towards St Mary’s Church, where Anne Brontë is buried.
The full beach is not open to dogs in the main season. There are designated dog-permitted sections at either end, clearly signposted, and the restriction is enforced between roughly May and September.
The signs are good and visitors report them as clear. Check on arrival.
Free, open at all times.
Parking: on Foreshore Road opposite the beach and in the town car parks. It is busy in summer, and the seafront spaces go early.
Facilities: toilets, cafés, everything along the front.
Access: the promenade is level; there is ramped access to the sand in places. The Central Tramway and the Spa Cliff Lift are Victorian funiculars connecting the beach to the town above, which solve the hill.
Getting there: Scarborough station is ten minutes’ walk, with direct trains from York and Leeds.
Ten minutes the other side of the castle headland is North Bay: a longer, quieter beach with Peasholm Park, the North Bay Railway, SEA LIFE and Alpamare behind it, and far fewer arcades.
Families staying more than a day generally end up using both, and North Bay is the calmer of the two.
Only on designated sections in the main season, clearly signposted, from roughly May to September.
Moderate — smaller than Filey or the Lancashire sands, and it can feel busy in August.
Yes, on Foreshore Road opposite the beach and in the town car parks, both busy in summer.
Arcades, crazy golf, a Ferris wheel, boat trips from the harbour, and the castle on the headland above.
Longer, quieter, fewer arcades, with Peasholm Park, the miniature railway, SEA LIFE and the waterpark behind it.