Scarborough’s North Bay is a popular, consistent, mainly sand break, offering a user friendly wave, easy access and nearby parking.

Peaks

• Main beach offers various A-frames up and down the southern half of the bay. Generally a softer and slower wave, particularly on smaller days, great for longboarding and learning.
• Rights is a right hand shingle point under the castle headland which works best with an ENE swell, or a large easterly wrapping around the headland, and has shelter from southerly and SSE winds.
• Supersucks, to the north of the main beach, is a fickle, punchy, and sometimes hollow, board breaker of a reef break best only tackled by intermediate+ surfers, and is the only option in the bay that works mid to high tide.

Tide: Low to Mid only. Hits sea wall at mid to high, making access difficult and waves backwashy - only the supersucks peak is likely to work. At high tide, Bunkers at nearby Cayton Bay is an alternative.

Swell: N/NE ideal. Open to the dominant northerly swells, so during the summer lulls North Bay, Cayton Bay, Whitby, and Saltburn to the north are the only real choices in the area. When too big, South Bay and even bigger, Filey to the south, offer shelter from northerly swells.
North can be a good choice in E, and even larger SE swell, as the southern headland can clean up and take the sting out of swell as it wraps, plus provide shelter from following winds.

Wind: SW ideal. High cliffs and the imposing southern castle headland mean North Bay is sheltered from S/SSE winds at all tides for the rights peak, plus the very southern each of the main beach, and offers some shelter from overly strong offshore (SW/W) winds at mid tide for all peaks, as it drops off or comes up onto the sea wall.

Hazards: rips, rocks, reef, access, crowds, pollution. Fixed rip at the south end of the bay (useful for getting out on bigger days), and flash rips all along the bay, particularly in bigger swell. Mainly sandy, but plenty of rocks and reef around to watch out for. Access to the beach is tough once the sea is on the sea wall. Heavy crowds likely on sunny summer swell days. Sadly holds the title for most frequently sewage polluted surf break in the UK 2025, thanks to Yorkshire Water's scalby mills combined sewage outflows - best avoided after rain, check SSRS app.

Access, parking, facilities. Lots of parking on Marine drive, which wraps the bay (paid most of the year, free over winter currently, van suitable), or disc zones slightly further away. Busy in summer. Access to the beach down two sets of steps in the sea wall at the south end, or one at the north for supersucks only - be aware of the tide times, as climbing up the seawall when the tide is too high to get back to the steps is both tough, and something of a rite of passage for local surfers.
Paid toilets and elsan point to south of bay, cafes along marine drive. Best chips in the area at North Bay fisheries just up Columbus Ravine.

Links

Dexters - shop, hire and school at north end of bay.
CoastalConcepts - van based surf coaching.
Offshore - van based surf coaching.
LowBrow Surf - local shaper & ding repair.
Scarborough Boardriders - local surf club.