Best Beaches in Aberdeenshire
Written by UK Hidden Gems Editorial
Updated 5 August 2026
The best beaches in Aberdeenshire are Rosehearty Beach, Muchalls Beach, Aberdour Beach, Blackdog Beach, Balmedie Beach, Newburgh Seal Beach, Scotstown Beach and Cullykhan Beach.
Aberdeenshire holds one of Scotland's most rewarding coastlines, a long run of North Sea shore that swings from wide sandy sweeps to rocky coves tucked beneath red sandstone cliffs. This is a coast of contrasts, where great dune systems roll behind empty strands at Balmedie and Blackdog, and small working harbours sit beside heritage trails at Rosehearty.
Further along, the sand gives way to caves, arches and sea stacks around Muchalls and Aberdour, while grey seals haul out at the mouth of the River Ythan near Newburgh. Some of these beaches are big, breezy places for a long solitary walk, better suited to birdwatchers and beachcombers than sunbathing crowds.
Others offer rock pools, quiet coves and traces of Iron Age forts and wartime defences. Scotstown and Cullykhan reward those willing to seek out the quieter corners, away from the busier resorts.
Whether you come for paddling, geology or simply the roll of the sea, this stretch of coast repays exploration in every season. Here are eight of the best beaches to seek out in Aberdeenshire.
Rosehearty Beach
Photo: Bob Jones via Geograph.org.uk
Rosehearty Beach is a sandy bay a few miles west of Fraserburgh, sitting between an old harbour and pier on one side and rocky outcrops on the other, with scrub and woodland behind. The rocks hold pools brimming with marine life, making this a fine spot for beachcombing and rock-pooling as well as paddling and swimming.
As one of Scotland's oldest seaports, Rosehearty still keeps a small working harbour that largely empties at low tide, standing alongside a heritage trail and a shoreline lookout tower. It is a beach with plenty of character.
Seek it out for a mix of history, sand and rock pools on the Aberdeenshire coast.
Muchalls Beach
Photo: Nigel Feilden via Geograph.org.uk
Muchalls Beach is a small rocky cove at the old fishing village of Muchalls, between Stonehaven and Newtonhill. This is shingle and rock rather than a sandy bathing beach, set among a dramatic coast of reddish cliffs, sea stacks, arches and caves, framed by a headland known as the Grim Brigs.
An old smugglers' cave is said to lie here, linked in legend to a tunnel toward Muchalls Castle. It is a place for coastal walking, geology and watching seals and seabirds, with parking near the shore and no lifeguard.
Seek it out for its cliffs and folklore rather than sunbathing.
Aberdour Beach
Photo: Christopher Gillan via Geograph.org.uk
Aberdour Beach lies below the village of New Aberdour, between Fraserburgh and Banff, a quiet bay of shingle and sand backed by steep grassy cliffs. This is the northern Aberdour, not the better-known one in Fife.
A single-track road drops toward the shore, where the beach runs east to red sandstone cliffs pocked with caves and a natural arch cut through the rock. The stones grade from coarse shingle at the top to firmer sand lower down, and St Drostan's Well, a small stone wellhead from 1884, stands close by.
The bay draws walkers and rock-poolers more than sunbathers. Seek out the caves at the eastern end.
Blackdog Beach
Photo: Bill Harrison via Geograph.org.uk
Blackdog Beach is a long, wild stretch of sand and dunes a few miles north of Aberdeen, undeveloped and windswept, where great banks of marram-covered dune shift with the weather. The moving sand uncovers and buries again the concrete relics of wartime defences, including a toppled pillbox.
Part of the shore lies beside an army rifle range, and the beach was mined during the Second World War before being cleared afterwards. Behind the dunes lies rough grassland, and offshore the turbines of a wind farm turn out at sea.
It is a big, empty, natural beach, better for birdwatchers and walkers. Seek it out for a long solitary walk with the North Sea rolling in.
Balmedie Beach
Photo: Richard Webb via Geograph.org.uk
Balmedie Beach is a long, wide sweep of sand a few miles north of Aberdeen, backed by one of the largest dune systems in Britain. The sand runs for miles, with tall marram-covered dunes rising behind and paths and boardwalks threading through them from the country park.
It is a big, open, breezy beach where you can walk a long way and see few people. Among the dunes lie the concrete remains of wartime defences, anti-tank blocks and pillboxes left from the 1940s, while golf links spread over part of the dunes to the south.
The North Sea rolls in grey and cold. Seek it out for space and solitude.
Newburgh Seal Beach
Photo: Martyn Gorman via Geograph.org.uk
Newburgh Seal Beach is the dune-backed sand spit at the mouth of the River Ythan, opposite the village of Newburgh, on the edge of the Forvie nature reserve. A large colony of grey seals hauls out on the sandbanks at the estuary mouth, best watched from the Newburgh side, where a short walk from the car park on Beach Road leads to a viewpoint across the channel.
Crossing to the seals' side is discouraged, especially in the bird-nesting season. The reserve is rich in birdlife, with the tide reaching several miles inland.
Seek it out for the seals and estuary birds rather than a bathe.
Scotstown Beach
Photo: Oliver Dixon via Geograph.org.uk
Scotstown Beach is a long, unspoilt stretch of golden sand backed by high dunes, lying between the village of St Fergus and the town of Peterhead. It is quiet and little visited, reached down a narrow track off the main road to a car park, with a steep climb down the dunes to the sand and no facilities.
Walks lead north along the coast toward Rattray Head and south toward Peterhead, and the beach is a good spot for solitude and birdlife, with the St Fergus gas terminal standing along the shore to the north. Seek it out when you want an empty beach to yourself.
Cullykhan Beach
Photo: Colin Park via Geograph.org.uk
Cullykhan Beach is a sheltered sandy cove near Pennan, reached by a stepped path and a wooden walkway down from a small car park. Above the beach a grassy promontory called Castle Point carries the faint remains of an Iron Age fort, a later castle and an eighteenth-century gun battery.
To the north a partly collapsed sea cave known as Hell's Lum runs back into the cliff, and the point looks along the coast toward Pennan village. It is a small cove with a lot of history packed above it.
Seek it out for the bay and the layers of the past on Castle Point.
FAQs
Which Aberdeenshire beaches are best for swimming?
Rosehearty offers sand for paddling and swimming alongside its rock pools, and Balmedie and Scotstown give long open sands. Bear in mind the North Sea is cold and many of these beaches have no lifeguard, so take care in the water.
Where can I see seals on the Aberdeenshire coast?
Newburgh Seal Beach is the standout, with a large colony of grey seals hauling out at the mouth of the River Ythan. Watch from the Newburgh side and avoid crossing to the seals during the bird-nesting season.
Are there quiet, uncrowded beaches in Aberdeenshire?
Yes, plenty. Blackdog, Scotstown and Aberdour are all little visited and reward those after solitude, with wide sands, dunes and caves and few other people about.
Conclusion
From the wide dune-backed sweeps of Balmedie and Blackdog to the rocky coves of Muchalls and Cullykhan, the Aberdeenshire coast offers something for every kind of visitor. Some of these beaches are places to swim and paddle on a fine day, while others reward a long walk, a spot of rock-pooling or a quiet hour watching seals and seabirds.
History runs all along this shore, in old harbours, wartime defences, Iron Age forts and holy wells. What ties them together is a sense of space and a raw North Sea beauty that rarely feels crowded.
Pack sturdy footwear, check the tides and be ready for the wind, and you will find corners of coast that feel entirely your own. Whether you want sand, seals or solitude, these are the best beaches to seek out in Aberdeenshire.
