The best thing about Findhorn Beach, apart from the soft sand, fancy beach huts and fascinating WW2 MOD fortifications is that if the weather is foul you can always swim instead in Findhorn Bay. See reports here and here. That way you can check the beach to see if conditions are okay for swimming and, if not, you can still swim in the sheltered calm of the bay. However, for this visit, the sea was flat calm, the skies were blue, the thermometer was hitting 20 and Findhorn was doing a good job of imitating the Caribbean. I couldn’t have had better conditions or a location for a sea swim.

REVIEW

Ease of Access: There’s plenty of parking beside the beach. There used to be a sign that warned that parking costs £1. However, I’d never paid anything and nothing happened and now it’s disappeared so I’m assuming that parking is now free.

There’s plenty of grass beside the car park and it’s easy to walk to the beach, even barefooted.

Water quality: Very clear. There’s also plenty of room to swim before the beach starts to drop away. You can easily move away from shore and still, not only see the bottom, but also find places to stand and keep your head above water. The water temperature was c15 degrees.

Swim Quality: Excellent – at high tide, the sea was calm and there were views straight across the Moray Firth. Watch out for the estuary though – someone has told me it has a “whopping great whirlpool”, not sure if that’s true but I’d definitely avoid swimming near it and head east along the beach only.

Other People: Findhorn Beach is popular but, at more than five miles long there’s plenty of quiet spots away from entrance to the car park.

Would I go back: Yes.