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Withernsea Beach

📍 WithernseaEast Yorkshire

Long sandy resort beach with Excellent bathing water rating and seasonal RNLI lifeguards.

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Withernsea Beach, Withernsea, East Riding of Yorkshire, England.Photo: Andy Beecroft · CC BY-SA 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

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What’s free

Beach access and sea swimming.

About

Withernsea Beach is a kilometre-long sandy resort beach on the Holderness coast, with the seafront promenade and town directly behind it. It is a designated bathing water and is easy to reach on foot from the town centre.

Safety: the Environment Agency rated the water Excellent in 2025. RNLI lifeguards patrol in the summer season (check the RNLI site for dates): swim between the red and yellow flags when they are on duty. Outside those times there is no lifeguard cover. The North Sea is cold all year, and tides, rip currents and offshore winds can carry swimmers out, so check the tide times and stay within your depth.

If you want to swim

EA bathing water Withernsea: Excellent (2025). RNLI lifeguards in season: swim between the red and yellow flags.

Before you get in:

No lifeguards. Swim with someone else, stay within your depth and keep children close.
Cold water shock can hit even in summer. Get in slowly, and get out if you start shivering.
After heavy rain, don’t swim. Rivers rise and flow fast, and sewage overflows and farm run-off can make the water unsafe.
Never jump or dive without checking the depth first: rocks and branches hide under the surface.
Wear something bright, and take warm layers and a hot drink for afterwards.

Check before you go: official bathing water quality (designated spots, May to September), sewage overflows (Rivers Trust map) and the weather. In an emergency call 999 and ask for the Coastguard. Swimming is at your own risk.