Naturist / Nudist Beaches in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland

Kinshaldy Beach

Fife

SE of Dundee. Long sandy beach, backed by dunes and forest. Walk about 1km either south or north of the access point

General

Kinshaldy Beach is located at the northern tip of Scotland's Fife peninsula, in an area known as Tentsmuir Forest.

Getting There

Satnav: KY16 0DP (about 1km away), OS Map Ref: NO 502254 and NO 502233

From Edinburgh:
Cross the Forth road bridge and continue north on the M90, leaving the motorway at Junction 8. Take the A92 through Cupar toward St. Andrews. Continue on this road until you reach the roundabout at Guardbridge. Take the A919 Leuchars road (left), past the turning for R.A.F. Leuchars and continue straight ahead. Upon Entering Leuchars, there is a small roundabout, with a sign for Kinshaldy Beach pointing to the right.. Simply follow the signs! The Tentsmuir Forest car park is 4 miles or so from here.. .

From Dundee:
Cross the Tay Road Bridge and follow the A92 southwards for about two miles before joining the A92 for Leuchars. On reaching the roundabout in Leuchars, follow the directions given above to the Tentsmuir Forest car park.

Follow the path from the Forestry Commission car park which leads on to the (textile) beach. Once on the beach, you have a choice... "mostly gays at north end but more straight at south"

turn right and head south, passing a tatty, faded plastic oil drum filled with sand, with the number "4" on it. The (unofficial) naturist section is a short way beyond.
turn left and head north for about 1km

Description

The beach consists of "three miles of golden sand" backed by sand dunes. At low tide the beach is often a mile wide with "ample scope for nude sun and sea bathing". Behind the dunes there is a wild life conservation site, please respect the signs and keep out!

Facilities

There are no facilities on the beach per se, so please take any litter home with you. A one pound entry fee to the Tentsmuir forest car park pays for the maintenance of the car park toilets.

Map

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Comments

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Jim Auld

Apr-20

Went for the first time, really enjoyed it, nothing sexual about it, would love company
Paul Morton

Jan-20

I like it,the freedom of it.You can't beat it.
John Trataris

Feb-20

I am a Naturist and would love t visit this beach if I have company. No fun going on your own.
Nicki Malone

Jan-20

myself and my sister had a slow walk down to this beach as it was a lovely day, we didnt know that it was for naturists but hey we would try anything once and to be very honest we really enjoyed the freedom of it once we got over our nervousness, will definaley be returning real soon :)
Craig Lunn

Apr-20

Entry is now £2.
Nudedave

Sep-20

Yes for sure nudists do still go to this beach i prefer north for the dunes south is good too and a shorter walk from the car park
clunieguy

Jul-20

In reply to C Ward, Yes Kinshaldy is still well used as a nudist beach, mostly gays at north end but more straight at south. Been quite busy this summer.
Anonymous

May-20

I tied Kinshaldy beach on 02/05/06 it was very cold (7 deg C) and windy, the blue barrel is still there. I was the only one there, can't understand why, it could be lovely on a good day, try it.
Anonymous

Aug-20

As a naturist I enjoy going to Kinshaldy beach. The area north of the boundary of the forestry... is great for naturists as it has many sand dunes. It is busy at the weekends, but I usually go mid-week... tends to be mainly gay men . The area is a beauty spot that is isolated enough to allow the freedom of naturism.
Anonymous

May-20

I spent the last two days (May 30-31.2005) on this beach and - as the other lads have said - it is very quiet indeed, I saw two other lads sunbathing and walking about in the nude but no one seemed to want to have a chat, I assumed that they just wanted to be left alone.
The beach was fairly clean and as the other lads have said if you didn't know that it is the unofficial nudist beach for this area you wouldn't know. Would a sign post not be a good idea just for information to other users of the beach? This may stop the textile people getting a shock if they came across a naked bather. I have been going to this beach now for a couple of years now and it never gets busy and there are few naturists to be seen at the best of times. The blue drum is still there and each time I visit the beach I lift the drum to the up-right position to make it more visable but like the other comments I believe the horses knock it over. I will try and get some more pictures of the beach and send them onto you that is if the weather stays fair long enough before I return to work and hope that they will be helpful to others.
Anonymous

Apr-20

Visited this beach in April. I was not 100% sure where I was going, but I found the drum. Walked a short way beyond that and went into the dunes to strip off. Wandered down to the water and saw clothed people in the distance. Weather started to turn bad so I put my clothes back on and headed home. This was my first time sunbathing in the nude in public and i enjoyed it. I intend to visit this beach once again very shortly.
Anonymous

Jan-20

I've been to this beach and the nice picnic area there when I was younger and it was lovely and warm and very continental feeling in the summer. On a more recent visit I had to walk quite a way before getting nude in the dunes/ trees and had problems with some of the other beach users. It's really lovely though but don't go alone!
Anonymous

Aug-20

I have made three visits this month on hot sunny days and have seen several naturists each time in the dunes. They pop their heads up every so often. I don't like to sit for long but rather wander along the beach to the far end and back or out to the sea. One day as I was leaving and walking back, naked of course, I had an interesting conversation with a single man who stood up to watch me. It seemed he had only just started going there and was unsure where to go.
I like to go to the flatter part of the beach/dunes where I can see and can walk about easily. Yesterday there were 3 naturists in the dunes at one spot and a single man in another. Another single man came along, totally nude except fo a rucksack, and sat in the open fairly close to me for a while then dressed and returned north. I'm not sure why Alan E has not seen other naturists [see below]- they are there!
Anonymous

Aug-20

Visited this beach on a hot August day. My first visit since learning of naturist use there. Undressed and paddled along the shore once I was out of sight of clothed people. On my way back thought I saw a nude man in the dunes so went to investigate and sat with him for a while.
Would visit more often if it were closer to home.
Anonymous

Jun-20

This was my third visit this year and have yet to see any other naturists. I have been going here for about 3 years now and have only ever seen a couple of other male naturists last summer.
As for the beach it was quite busy with people walking their dogs and a few horses and riders from the local stables none of whom seemed to bother about my naked state, a couple even said hello as the passed by quite close to me. Hopefully a good summer will encourage more people to shed their clothes and inhibitions and get down to this wonderful beach.
Anonymous

Aug-20

The report on Kinshaldy, Fife, is very helpful but misses a couple of points. First, there is a stream across the beach south of the car-park. If you don't want to splash through it find the little bridge in the trees before you reach the beach. Second, the blue plastic drum which is supposed to mark the start of the naturist beach is a good 25 minute walk from the car-park - almost a mile either along the beach or through the dunes, where the grass is quite sharp pointed and there are some thistles. I collected a lot of red pin-pricks on my shins. The drum, judging by the hoofprints and the smell, is mainly used as a turning-point for riders from the nearby stables. Anyway, the beach and dunes are very flat here and you will want to go further. In fact the dunes never rise very high and are almost completely overgrown, so that if you don't lie on the sand itself (which is very open and windswept) you will need a rug or blanket to lay over the prickly grass.
The other main point to make is that when I was there last week (mid-August 2002) there was absolutely nobody else on the beach, and so no sign that this was a nudist beach at all. This is fine if you are anxious not to be overlooked, as no-one will see you but the pilots of the planes from RAF Leuchars which pass overhead (they must have a nice collection of aerial photos), but a bit lonely. I felt like Robinson Crusoe. If in fact this is not the part of the beach where naturists gather perhaps someone would let me know. It is a long walk to the north end of the beach just to check, and even longer to return to the south again. I suspect the north end is less agreeable, because it is accessible from nature trails that run that way and by picnicers from Newport-on-Tay.
Anonymous

May-20

As you can see I had the beach to myself after I passed the blue drum on the south side of the entrance. The north side tends to be busier. The beach had a lot of debris on it but the sand was very clean otherwise.

Photos

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Tracks in the sand

via Geograph