Portobello Beach

Portobello's two-mile promenade fronts a wide, gently sloping sandy beach on the Firth of Forth, about three miles from Edinburgh city centre, and a club of year-round sea swimmers has used it since 2010. Water quality is rated Sufficient and can drop after heavy rain, so check SEPA's daily prediction, shown on the beach sign in summer, before getting in.

Directions

Photo: Colin Kinnear · CC BY-SA 2.0

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Latest reading · SwimScore 79/100 (Good swim) for a typical swimmer: air 13°C, wind 14 km/h, waves 0.2 m, UV 0. Updated 23 Sept, 22:00 UTC.

Know before you go

Best conditions: After a dry spell, around the higher half of the tide when the water is closest to the promenade.
Getting in: Open public beach along a promenade of about two miles, 3 miles (5 km) east of Edinburgh city centre. The Portobello (Central) bathing water covers about 1.4 km of sand that slopes gently towards the water.
Water quality: SEPA classifies Portobello (Central) and Portobello (West) as Sufficient (awarded 2025, applying in 2026). SEPA advises against bathing during or 1-2 days after heavy rain because of sewer overflows and surface-water discharges, and publishes daily good/poor predictions online and on an electronic sign at the beach from 15 May to 15 September.
Season: SEPA monitors the bathing water from 15 May to 15 September; swimmers use the beach all year.
Who swims here: A wild swimmers' club has swum here year-round since 2010, and rowing and kayaking clubs such as Portobello Sailing, Kayaking and Rowing Club and Rowporty use the beach. Ned Barnie, the first Scot to swim the English Channel (1950), was born in Portobello.
Watch for: Short-term pollution after heavy rain, including combined sewer overflows into the Braid (Figgate) Burn and at Joppa
The water's edge can be anywhere from 20 m to 310 m from the promenade depending on the tide
Jellyfish can be more numerous in summer; most UK species are harmless
Facilities: Restaurants and cafés along the front · Portobello Swim Centre on the Promenade, built 1898-1901, with one of Scotland's three remaining Victorian Turkish baths (Edinburgh Leisure reported its pools and Turkish baths closed for repairs in September 2026)