Scarborough South Bay

10.6°C Water temp · May 5

United Kingdom Coastal 4 - Poor 10.6°C

Scarborough South Beach is a popular resort beach situated on the North Yorkshire coast. It is 0.5 kilometres in length with a gentle slope. At low tide a large area of the beach is exposed and the water's edge can be some distance away. The beach is backed by a promenade with a large number of tourist establishments, including restaurants, takeaways, amusements and shops. Above these and at the top of a steep cliff lies the rest of the town of Scarborough. To the north of the bathing water is Scarborough harbour a busy working harbour with associated buildings. Beyond this is a headland upon which sits Scarborough Castle and to the north of this Scarborough North Bay.

Reviews

No reviews yet.

Write a review

Photos

Upload a photo

Water

Coastal bathing water

Location

North Yorkshire

Season

Designated bathing water since 1988. Official monitoring season runs from May to September.

Water Quality

Poor (2025). Assessed under rBWD

Risks

The quality of the bathing water may sometimes be affected by storm, emergency and surface water outfalls. Storm overflows may operate during and after heavy rainfall. This is when the sewer system can become overwhelmed by the amount of surface water entering it. The overflows prevent sewage from backing up pipes and flooding properties.

There are a number of storm emergency and surface water outfalls that may have an affect on bathing water quality at Scarborough South. One storm overflow outfall is located at the southern end of the bathing water and there are a number of other outfalls located to the north of the bathing water in Scarborough North Bay. When these outfalls are operating they discharge diluted and screened effluent onto the beach and into the North Sea and may result in reduced bathing water quality.

This bathing water is included in the Surfers Against Sewage “Safer Seas Service”. This service can alert you to Combined Storm Sewer Overflow discharges via a phone App and in addition, it includes the Environment Agency Pollution Risk Forecast warnings where they are available. Further details of the service can be found at - http://www.sas.org.uk/safer-seas-service/