Ballroom Beach (Aberdeen)

Ballroom is a long, wide, sandy beach along the seafront of the city of Aberdeen.  The beach is interspersed by regular wooden groynes, and is backed by a sea wall, on top of which there is a promenade popular for walking, cycling, and skating.

If you look carefully out onto the surf for long enough, there is a chance of spotting dolphins, seals, and even whales.

Water sports such as wind surfing, jet skiing, sailing, and kayaking are popular here, as is bathing. During the summer months, electronic signs indicate the current water quality for swimming.

Dogs are banned between groynes 5 and 13, but dog bins are provided along the promenade.

The southern end of the beach is in an urban setting, continuing down to Footdee Beach and Aberdeen Harbour Wall. However, the northern end of the beach, which is backed by King’s Links Golf Course, becomes a little more rural.  The extreme northern end of the beach runs all the way to Donmouth Local Nature reserve at the mouth of the River Don.

Parking, including disabled parking, can be found along the esplanade, with access to the beach either down stairs or a slipway. Thanks to its proximity to the centre of Aberdeen, plenty of facilities can be found near to the beach, including a leisure centre, the ballroom from which the beach gets its name, and the Linx Ice Arena, with a science centre just 100 meters from the beach. A little further south at Queen’s Links one finds an amusement park, another leisure park, and a retail park.

The centre of Aberdeen is about half a mile inland from the beach, offering a wide selection of shops, places to eat and drink, places to stay, museums including the Aberdeen Maritime Museum, and a Railway Station.