Filey and Robin Hood’s Bay get the crowds. These six get the tide tables checked properly and a lot less company.
Everyone who has done a Yorkshire coast trip knows the big names: Filey, Scarborough, Robin Hood’s Bay. They earn the visitor numbers; parking is easy, and there is always a chip shop in sight.
The hidden beaches the Yorkshire coast actually hides are a different proposition. Several of them vanish completely at high tide. One has almost no facilities at all. Getting to them takes a bit more planning, and that planning is exactly what keeps them quiet.
Region: Yorkshire Coast, from Flamborough Head to Skinningrove
Best for: fossil hunting, rock pooling, quiet walking, an afternoon without a crowd
Getting there: a mix of car, coastal footpath and, for two of these, a walk that only works at the right point in the tide
Time needed: two to three hours per beach; check tide times before you commit to a full afternoon
What Makes These the Real Hidden Beaches Yorkshire Coast Has Left
None of these six was picked for being pretty; most of the Yorkshire coast manages that without trying. Each one made this list because there is a specific, checkable reason it stays quiet: a tide that closes the route, a lack of parking, no facilities at all, or simply a location awkward enough that most day-trippers never make it that far. Where a claim about safety or access could not be pinned down against an institutional source, it has been left out rather than softened into something vague.
South Landing, Flamborough
South Landing sits beneath the chalk cliffs of Flamborough Head, reached down a single-track road off South Sea Road to a car park and picnic site, then a path with steep steps down to the shingle. Yorkshire Wildlife Trust manages the surrounding nature reserve, balancing the beach’s popularity with the wildlife living in the chalk reef exposed at low tide.
Rock pools along that reef hold crabs and small fish for anyone willing to look properly, and the cliffs block enough wind to make it one of the more sheltered spots on this stretch of coast. Turn left along the coastal path from the beach, and it runs two miles out to Flamborough Head itself.
Low tide brings out the smell of bladderwrack and salt from the exposed reef, which the tide covers again within hours.
Where to Stay: The North Star Hotel, Flamborough, a clifftop hotel a short walk from the village with a restaurant built around local seafood.
Worth Knowing: the steps and cliff edges here are the specific hazards, not just a steep path; take care on both, especially with children or after rain.
Boggle Hole, near Robin Hood’s Bay
Boggle Hole sits a mile south of Robin Hood’s Bay, reached along the beach at low tide or via the Cleveland Way clifftop path when the sea is in. For three hours either side of high tide, the beach route is simply not passable, and tide times here run about ten minutes behind Whitby’s published times.
The cove takes its name from local folklore about boggles, mischievous spirits said to live in the rocks, and the National Trust took over the site in the 1990s to protect it after it was put up for sale. Rocky ledges lined with rock pools lead down to a stretch of sand that stays genuinely quiet even in summer, since most visitors never get past Robin Hood’s Bay itself.
At low tide, the smugglers’ cove sits in near silence, just the pull of water through the ledges and the gulls working the tideline.
Where to Stay: YHA Boggle Hole, Fylingthorpe, a hostel built into the old mill right above the cove, with a dog-friendly cafe and shared kitchen.
Worth Knowing: Add ten minutes to the published Whitby tide times to get an accurate read for this stretch of coast.
Saltwick Bay, Whitby
Saltwick Bay lies just over a mile from Whitby along the cliff path, close enough for an afternoon trip but awkward enough to access that it thins out the crowds fast. The bay has produced ammonites, belemnites and pieces of Whitby Jet for generations of fossil hunters, and dinosaur footprints were first recorded here in 1895.
Sections of the beach get cut off as the tide comes in, and the shale cliffs shed rock without warning, so the accepted approach is to search among loose rocks near the tideline rather than hammering into the bedrock, which is both dangerous and against site guidance.
Wind off the North Sea carries the smell of wet shale here even on a still day, sharper than anywhere else on this list.
Where to Stay: The Seacliffe Hotel, Whitby, a seafront hotel with sea-facing rooms, a short walk from the path down to Saltwick Bay.
Worth Knowing: A hammer and chisel help with fossil hunting here, but safety goggles matter more; chiselling into shale throws fragments further than people expect.
Runswick Bay
Runswick Bay curves into a horseshoe of golden sand backed by a village of holiday cottages climbing the hill behind it, and it looks entirely benign on a calm day. It is not always one. The RNLI’s Staithes and Runswick lifeboat crew have been called out repeatedly in recent years to people cut off by the tide near Kettleness and Sandsend Ness, either side of this bay, most recently in November 2024.
None of that makes the beach unsafe to visit; it makes it a beach where checking tide times before you walk is not optional. Fossil hunting is good here too, and at low tide the sand runs wide and flat enough for a proper walk in either direction.
The village lights come on above the bay just as the light goes, one of the better late-afternoon views on this coast.
Where to Stay: The Runswick Bay Hotel, Runswick Bay, six individually styled rooms, five minutes’ walk from the beach and the Cleveland Way.
Worth Knowing: if you get cut off by the tide anywhere on this stretch, call 999 and ask for the Coastguard immediately rather than trying to outwalk the water.
Skinningrove Beach
Skinningrove sits south of Saltburn, a working former ironstone village rather than a resort, and its beach reflects that: soft sand backed by cliffs, a small free car park that fills by mid-morning, and very little else. Permit-only bays take up much of the parking closest to the sand, and there is no cafe or kiosk directly on the beach itself, just a fish and chip shop back in the village.
That lack of infrastructure is the whole appeal. The beach stays clean and properly quiet even on a warm weekend, with clifftop walks running in both directions for anyone who wants to keep going past the sand.
Waves here carry a different sound than those on the chalk coast further south, flatter and harder against darker sand.
Where to Stay: The Spa Hotel, Saltburn-by-the-Sea, a Victorian seafront hotel a short drive from Skinningrove with sea views and two restaurants.
Worth Knowing: bring your own food and drink; Skinningrove has no beachside facilities at all, and the village itself has little beyond the one fish and chip shop.
Danes Dyke Beach, Flamborough Heritage Coast
Danes Dyke sits between Bridlington and Flamborough, reached through an ancient wooded ravine that is itself part of the appeal before you even see the sea. Ash, elm, lime and beech tower over the path down, and the wood shelters a Scheduled Ancient Monument, an Iron Age earthwork that cuts clean across the headland above the beach.
The 148-acre site became a Local Nature Reserve in 2002, and at low tide the beach below the cliffs opens up rock pools worth a proper look, sheltered enough that children can explore them with little supervision.
Walking down through the ravine in early summer, the woodland smell gives way to salt within a few hundred metres, one of the sharper transitions on this coast.
Where to Stay: The North Star Hotel in Flamborough, the same clifftop hotel that overlooks South Landing, a fair base for both beaches on one trip.
Worth Knowing: The earthwork through the woods predates the beach’s tourist history by well over two thousand years.
Practical Tips
- Check tide times before you set out for Boggle Hole, Saltwick Bay or Runswick Bay; all three have sections that disappear or cut off access at high tide.
- Add ten minutes to Whitby’s published tide times for the Robin Hood’s Bay and Boggle Hole stretch specifically.
- Carry your own food and water for Skinningrove and Saltwick Bay; neither has reliable facilities right on the beach.
- Wear boots with grip for any of the cliff-path approaches; several are steep, loose underfoot, or both.
- Use the AllTrails app to check the clifftop alternative route before you rely on a beach-level path that the tide could close off.
- If fossil hunting, search loose rock near the tideline rather than the cliff face, both for safety and because hammering into bedrock is prohibited at these sites.
Responsible Visiting
Stay well back from the cliffs at every beach on this list; shale and chalk both shed rock without warning, and the danger is real, not decorative signage. Take your rubbish with you; several of these beaches have no bins at all. If you are fossil hunting, take only loose material and leave anything still embedded in the rock. Respect the tide, not the clock; if in doubt, turn back early rather than betting on making it round the headland in time.
Reader Q&A
Which Yorkshire beach can you only reach at low tide?
Boggle Hole, near Robin Hood’s Bay, where the beach route is closed for three hours either side of high tide, with the Cleveland Way as the clifftop alternative.
Are there toilets at Yorkshire’s quiet beaches?
Not reliably. Skinningrove has no facilities directly on the beach, and several others on this list have limited or no toilets; plan accordingly before you set out.
What is the best hidden beach near Whitby?
Saltwick Bay, just over a mile along the cliff path, is known for ammonite and Whitby Jet fossil hunting and is quiet enough to avoid Whitby’s own crowds.
Is Runswick Bay safe to swim at?
It can be, but the RNLI has responded to repeated tidal cut-off incidents near Kettleness and Sandsend Ness either side of the bay, check tide times before you go in and do not rely on the beach looking calm.
Do any of these beaches allow dogs?
Most do, but check individual signage; some have seasonal restrictions during the summer months, particularly near nature reserves like Danes Dyke and South Landing.
What should I do if I get cut off by the tide?
Call 999 and ask for the Coastguard straight away rather than attempting to walk or swim back; this is the RNLI’s own advice after real incidents on this stretch of coast.
Where to Stay
The North Star Hotel, Flamborough. A clifftop hotel covering both South Landing and Danes Dyke, built around a seafood restaurant.
YHA Boggle Hole, Fylingthorpe. A hostel in the old mill above the cove, dog-friendly cafe on site.
The Seacliffe Hotel, Whitby. A seafront hotel a short walk from the Saltwick Bay path.
The Runswick Bay Hotel, Runswick Bay. Six rooms, five minutes from the beach and the Cleveland Way.
The Spa Hotel, Saltburn-by-the-Sea. A Victorian seafront hotel close to Skinningrove.
Six beaches, six different reasons nobody talks about them the way they talk about Filey, and every one worth a proper look at the tide table before you go. Warm up after any of them at one of the old stone pubs on the North York Moors; most are a short drive inland.
