Scarborough Beach Resort
Unofficial Guide

Planning a holiday or day trip to the beautiful beach resort of Scarborough? Find out all you need to know here...

Unofficial guide to the the South and North Bay in Scarborough...

Scarborough beach resort is really 2 separate beaches:

• The Scarborough North Bay Beach
• The Scarborough South Bay Beach

These are on the north and south sides of the Castle Headland - but there is a seafront road that goes right around the bottom of the headland, to connect the 2 Scarborough beaches...

The Seafront

• You can walk (or drive) the whole length of Scarborough seafront - it makes a very nice (if somewhat lengthy) promenade, with the beach right next to the seafront path.
• There is car parking available most of the way along the seafront, but this does fill up very quickly in the Summer. Try the quieter North Bay for a better chance of getting a free parking space.
• There are public toilets all the way along the Scarborough seafront.






The picturesque harbour between the two bays...
• The central part of the seafront - the Harbour to the Cliff Lift - is the more commercial part, with:
  • amusements
  • gift shops
  • candyfloss
  • ice-cream
  • etc...
  ...and the beach opposite this section is usually the busiest too.
• Near the harbour visit Luna Park funfair (great for kids) and the lighthouse and RNLI Scarborough Lifeboat Station.
• For yummy seafront eating, try:
  • The Golden Grid
  • The Tunny Club
  • Winking Willy's
  • The Tea Pot Cafe and East Pier Shops
  • The Sunrise Cafe
  • Jaconelli's Ice Cream

South Bay Scarborough Beach

• This is the most popular beach - so it is usually the busiest.
• The sands are lovely, soft and golden, so it's no wonder that it is so popular.






The kids always enjoy a day out at Scarborough...
• It's a real family beach, filled with happy, laughing children, on fun family days out.
• Look out for the sandcastle competitions that they often hold right on the beach - the entries are truly spectacular - real works of art!






Beautiful sand art on the beach at Scarborough
• Also enjoy proper, old-fashioned donkey rides on Scarborough beach. The donkeys are beautiful, gentle, doe-eyed creatures... Scarborough donkeys are cute, clean and well-cared for...
• The Scarborough donkeys owned by Amanda Pickles won the regional title of Best Group of Beach Donkeys in the Scarborough and North Yorkshire Coast, and Melanie Fisher's donkey, Freddie, won the regional title for Best Individual Beach Donkey. (2009)

  The awards are from 'The Donkey Sanctuary' charity in Devon, who consistently campaign for high welfare standards for donkeys all over the world.

North Bay Scarborough Beach

• If you want to get away from the hustle, bustle and crowds of the South Bay beach, try Scarborough North Bay instead...
• Scarborough North Bay beach backs onto cliff-side gardens, so although there are regular food and refreshment stops, there aren't the same shops and amusements backing onto the North Bay as you get on the South Bay.
• This means that the beach does tend to be a lot quieter - ideal for a gentle stroll, or a more sedate and relaxing day out at the beach.
• Part of Scarborough North Bay has dogs allowed on it too - this means a lot of dog walkers are attracted to this area too.
• Scarborough North Bay stretches from the Castle Headland, up to the Sealife Centre (Scalby Mills) at the far northern end.
• Also pop in and visit Peasholm Park at the far end of Scarborough North Bay.
• Eating Out at North Bay in Scarborough: We enjoyed the The Watermark Cafe (Beach Cafe), and, just next door, the Oasis cafe-restaurant, with snack-bar

Dogs at Scarborough Beach Resort

• Dogs are banned on Scarborough beaches:
  • 1 May to 30 September:
    • North Bay: from the former corner cafe to Scalby Mills
    • South Bay: west pier to Foreshore Road (near the roundabout)
  • See up-to-date details of Dog Control and Fouling Orders here...

Scarborough beach resort is wonderful on a hot summer's day - deservedly a popular seaside family day out on the UK coast...

For a fun, family day out, with kids, laughter, buckets and spades, hustle and bustle and all the trimmings, choose the popular Scarborough South Bay beach...

For a quieter experience, go for Scarborough North Bay instead.

I'm sure you will enjoy your fun, sunshine day out on the beaches at Scarborough...

If it does rain, there are plenty of amusements along the seafront and places to eat, or you can visit the town centre, the Rotunda Museum and Scarborough Art Gallery or Sealife Centre

Let us know what you like about Scarborough...

More Scarborough tourist information

Take a look at David's great photo of Scarborough South Bay on a Summer Evening

More Yorkshire coast beaches

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