Sandyhills Beach
Sandyhills is a large sandy beach located along the southern coastline of Dumfries and Galloway. The beach slopes gently so the water is shallow and it is a popular beach for paddling and exploring rock pools. However, there are water quality issues at Sandyhills so it is recommended to check latest updates on the water pollution if you are intending to enter the water.
At low tide, vast stretches of sand are exposed which make it an excellent beach for walkers.
Behind the beach there are car pay for parking spaces, a small shop and a café and public toilets. More facilities can be found in the adjacent holiday park and the village of Colvend, a few miles drive from the beach.
This area of coast is renowned for its natural beauty and is a paradise for walkers, especially as dogs are allowed on the beach all year round. To the west, visitors can enjoy the wonderful cliff- top coastal scenery on the way to Rockliffe. To the east, Southerness lighthouse, one of the oldest lighthouses in Scotland is a few miles away along Southerness beach.
Type of beach
Sandy
Lifeguard service
No
Dogs friendly beach?
Dogs allowed
No dog restrictions.
Dumfries and Galloway dog friendly beaches »
Activities
- Rock pooling
Facilities
- Toilets
Nearest town
Postcode
DG5 4PT
OS grid ref.
NX 8928 5509
Parking
Parking available next to the beach.
Water quality
Submit a correction
Sandyhills Beach Reviews
Nice beach, just need to be careful of the high tide coming in. £5 for car parking though which let it down…
Good for a walk
The biggest downfall is the cost for Parking. I live reasonably local and walk my dog down here regularly however it is extremely frustrating when u have to pay £4.50 for an hour or 2. Water quality is fairly poor and had a few run ins with people who allow dogs to approach you even though there is a sign saying to keep dogs on leads
Dangerous
Anita
Aug 13th 2021Be very careful just one rubbish sign about tides.
We walked to the left of beach tide was out by miles,within ten minutes the water level had risen by the rocks up to our waistlines.
We made a joke of it but really it was very dangerous and urge anybody reading this to take care.
We had a large golden retriever with us and only just managed to get back to safely.
Great for walking along the sea shore
Justin
Oct 03rd 2020Lovely walks westwards towards Brandy Cove and Portling Bay.
Plenty to see - interesting caves and Needle’s Eye along with the old Salmon fishermen’s nets.
Stunning along the Solway Coast. Well worth a visit on fine weather.
Sea can disappear for miles at low tide!
Parking is £3.50 and easy to justify in the right weather.
£3.50 rip off car park!!
Jane
Sep 06th 2020Only wanted to park 30mins to run dogs about,
Complete rip off car park,
Cones down road way to make sure you dont park,
They dont even clean the beach dead sheep very smelly on beach, other than that was a clean beach,
Manage to park by toilets in end, so had 30mins free, certainly wont pay to park, neither do i want to spend all day there,
Dog friendly?
Classed as dog friendly, with no restrictions for dogs, however we were challenged by another dog walker, and his wife, who were quite aggressive, to have our dog on a lead.
No sign advising this on or near the beach, there was a sign in car park advising to keep dog on lead, so I assumed this meant within the car park.
We only went to the beach to let the dog have a good run about, and a play in the water to destress as she is a guide dog, and has been working in an unfamiliar area as we are in this area on holiday.
Public beach Closed to the public!
Unfortunately beach this is no longer available to the public. Which is extremely sad. It’s a lovely small beach. The beach car park has been barricaded. No explanation given other than the owners want it this way.