Attractions and Heritage, Beaches, Robins Hoods Bay

Robin Hoods Bay and Beach

Historic beach and bay with rock pools.

The beach at Robin Hood’s Bay has a powerful, natural beauty, all of its own, making a great destination for amateur photographers. With its backdrop of craggy cliffs and sweeping views round the bay, this is a popular destination for day trippers and dog walkers.

At high tide the beach is largely submerged by water, but when the tide is out, an attractive, small, sandy beach with rocks and rock pools is revealed. The rocky shoreline here and the fact the water is bracingly cold make this generally an unsuitable area for swimming.
Robin Hoods Bay is on the Dinosaur Coast, and at low tide the cliffs and rocks around the beach are popular with fossil hunters. Ammonites, belemnites and footprints from the Cretaceous and Jurassic Periods are plentiful.
In more recent history the bay was known to have been used by smugglers, and there are reputed to be underground passages underneath some of the old houses in the village which lead down to the beach.
Visitors need to take care when walking around the cliff and beach area as some areas of the cliffs might be prone to rock falls and some dog walkers and fossil hunters have been caught out by the incoming tides, which come in surprisingly quickly. Check tide times before visiting. For these reasons, Robin Hood’s Bay is not the best of the local destinations to take children fossil hunting.
There is no parking area by the sea front. Visitors may park in one of the two public car parks in the village. The car park at the top of the bay has disabled facilities.
From the car park at the top of the village there is then a steep climb down through the narrow streets of the old, picturesque village with its choice of pubs and delightful tea shops.
The beach and surrounding area is very dog-friendly and there are no restrictions at any time of the year.