Thornwick Bay Beach and Little Thornwick, Flamborough

There are four beaches, in Flamborough, East Yorkshire, all with varying degrees of steepness and accessibility. The beaches, are South Landing, North Landing, Selwick Bay (Flamborough Head) and Thornwick Bay. Each provides a very different experience.

What can you do at Thornwick Bay Beach?

Sitting at the top of Thornwick Bay Beach is a gorgeous spot for a picnic. There are plenty of benches or you can just sit on the grass. Thornwick Bay Beach has one of Haven’s larger parks behind it so it can get quite busy when the caravan park is open. When the car park/access is open it costs £1.50 for all-day parking which is great value for money. To get there you simply take a left off the B1255 to the North Landing in Flamborough. The turning is next to the Viking Pub.

The beach allows dogs all year round, there is no lifeguard and no soft sand. It’s a mostly rocky beach with huge rocks and boulders covering most of the shoreline. There is some shingle in both Thornwick Bay Beach and Little Thornwick. It’s a popular spot with snorkelers. It’s a good beach for spotting sea birds as many nest on the righthand side cliff. We even spotted a puffin which made my day. There are quite a few caves along the shoreline although not all are accessible by foot – even when the tide is out.

There are no facilities down on the beach but when the car park is open the cafe and toilets by the car park are usually open. All paths down to the beaches are steep and very narrow in places. You won’t get a wheelchair or a buggy down. Also depending on where you head down you may have a huge number of boulders to cross. The tide was out when we visited so we walked all the way around the headland from Thornwick Bay to Little Thornwick – this is not easy!

When the tide is out there are a huge number of rockpools. Perfect for paddling in and when the sun is out they are lovely and warm. We didn’t find any crabs, just lots of snails.