Six Scottish beaches among UK's finest - but the number is falling

Balmedie beach forms part of a 13 miles stretch of sands along the north east coast

The number of beaches in Scotland named among the best in the UK has fallen for a second year running, with the list becoming more selective over water quality criteria.

Six beaches make the Times and Sunday Times top 50, including three in the Highlands, two in the north east and one in East Lothian.

Last year seven Scottish beaches featured on the list while in 2022 there were nine.

Chris Haslam, the newspaper's chief travel writer, says only beaches rated as 'excellent' by environment agencies have made it into the guide.

He said: "In years past, if it's only got a good rating (for water quality) it's got onto the list but such is the concern now about the state of our waters that this year they're only getting on if they're excellent."

The list describes Findhorn beach in Moray as "more Iberian than Hibernian" while visitors to Gullane Bents "could be in the Aegean."

Chris visited all 50 beaches listed and evaluated them through an 11-point checklist which covered water quality, accessibility and dog-friendliness.

Jayne Batey and Rob Wynne from Balmedie are regular visitors with their dog Rolo

In fact he visited 543 beaches across the UK before selecting the final 50.

From last year's guide, only Findhorn beach in Moray made it onto the list again.

Among the beaches which dropped out were West Sands in St Andrews and Coldingham in the Borders.

Jayne Batey and Rob Wynne are regular visitors with their dog Rolo to the beach at Balmedie in Aberdeenshire, which stretches for 13 miles along the north east coast.

They like the contrast between the sand dunes, wind farms and the tower blocks in nearby Aberdeen.

Jayne said: "It's beautiful. It's on our doorstep, we've got a dog and five times out of ten we come down and it's empty."

Lewis and Leah Poppe visited the beach with their grandparents

Five-year-old twins Lewis and Leah Poppe from Aberdeen brought their grandparents Geoff and Sandra to the beach at Balmedie.

Despite the cloud cover, they were making the most of the golden sands and one of the many burns which runs into the North Sea.

Geoff explained: "You can take the kids down here, it's a huge, huge area and there's plenty of places for picnics and barbeques and things like that.

"It's really great, apart from the weather."

Mabel and Adelaide enjoy the constantly changing sand dune landscape

Mabel Sim and Adelaide O'Brien visit several times a week for a walk with 'spoodle' Rosie, a cross between a cocker spaniel and a poodle.

They enjoy the constantly changing and dunes which collapse and reform with the wind.

Mabel said: "We really just enjoy the natural surroundings. It's changing very quickly and it's changed a lot because of the weather. But it's just a relaxing place to come."

The three Highlands beaches which make the list are at Sanna, Achmelvich and Mellon Udrigle.

Concerns about the sustainability of infrastructure around the North Coast 500 meant the authors didn't include more.

Achmelvich was praised for its white sands, turquoise waters and red-throated divers while Mellon Udrigle - between Gairloch and Ullapool - "seems like the set of some sword-and-sorcery blockbuster."