East Lothian, Scotland

Longniddry Bents

Launch — An open, part-sand, part-rock beach on a designated bathing water; the water's edge lies between about 20 and 330 m out, depending on the tide.

Parking — Longniddry Bents No 2 car park, run by East Lothian Council, holds around 60 cars with a coin or RingGo pay-and-display charge; one ticket covers any of the council's coastal car parks that day, and an annual season permit is available. A height restriction of around 1.9 to 2.1 m applies at the entrance, and overnight parking is currently stated as prohibited between 11pm and 4am.

Access — Reached on foot from the car park, about 600 m away. East Lothian Council's Countryside Ranger Service manages the site day to day under a management agreement with the landowner.

Season — The car park's toilets keep seasonal hours: 9am to 4pm from October to March and longer hours from April to September, closed on 25 and 26 December and 1 and 2 January. SEPA's routine water-quality monitoring runs only within the bathing season, which ends in mid-September.

Regulations — Longniddry is a SEPA-designated bathing water under the Bathing Waters (Scotland) Regulations 2008; the designation covers activities including paddleboarding but sets no separate rule on launching a board. The shore lies alongside the Firth of Forth Site of Special Scientific Interest, Special Protection Area and Ramsar site. No launch fee, permit or craft registration was found from the council, the landowner or SEPA.

A wide, tidal beach on the Firth of Forth's south shore at Longniddry, East Lothian, part of a roughly 3 km stretch of dune and shore between Seton Sands to the west and Gosford Bay to the east.

From the water, the view west takes in Edinburgh's skyline and the Forth Bridge and Forth Road Bridge. Sea duck, wading birds and sandwich terns use the shore through the year, with red-necked grebes gathering in a small flock in neighbouring Gosford Bay during autumn.

A double row of Second World War concrete anti-tank blocks runs through the dunes for around a kilometre; many now lie hidden among the sea grass and sea buckthorn.

Nearby

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Joli

A café in Longniddry village, about 1 km south of the beach, serving cake, coffee and sandwiches.

Seton Sands

A touring and camping park run by Haven near Port Seton, about 2.4 km west, with 40 pitches for touring caravans and motorhomes.

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Conditions to check

Shallow or rocky

The shore is a mixed sand-and-rock beach, with rock among the sand across parts of its width.

Source

Other

The bathing water carries a risk of short-term pollution after heavy rainfall, linked to a combined sewer overflow to the north of the beach.

Source

Other

Jellyfish numbers can increase in the water during summer months.

Source

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