Description: West Sands in St Andrews is an iconic, vast beach stretching along the famous St Andrews Links which comprise the Old, New and Jubilee golf courses. The beach stretches for almost two miles from the town to Eden River Estuary. Most of it is tidal, but at low tide a huge expanse of sand is exposed and available. The beach is flanked by grassy dunes along which runs a car-accessible road with several parking areas. The beach was a setting for scenes in the Chariots of Fire film. It is a popular location for swimming, walking, running, sand yachting and kite flying.
The beach is very tidal: at high tide there is hardly much sand left, and at low tide there is a huge expanse of sand stretching into the sea. Seals are known to appear occasionally to sun themsleves on the sandbanks, though we have never seen any.
It's a windy beach and it needs hardy Scottish sun-bathers and rare sunny days (though St Andrews is among the sunniest parts of Scotland) to use it in the summer-beach manner. You could also attempt water activities, but I think only children would happily immerse themselves in these waters (and Polish sea is cold by reasonable standards - but Scottish sea is colder).
Better use it for those quentesentially British seaside pursuits: walking, shell picking and wrapping yourself tightly in your wind-and-waterproof jacket. We went on a windy, semi-sunny March morning and it was a glorious little walk, a four-mile bracing circuit with the sea sparkling and rolling in a calaidoscope of gunmetal grey, pearly silver and pale blue. Behind, the ancient skyline of St Andrews under the crepuscular sun rays, slightly sinister but magical too.
Eden estuary stretches wide between West Sands and the Tentsmuir, a haven for wildlife of all kinds, surprisingly as the Leuchars jets taking off from the opposite bank certainly scare the living daylights out of me.
There is a viewing platform from which you can look at the estuary but also, if this is the kind of thing that rocks your boat, observe golfers on the Jubilee course. As it's certainly not our thing, we stumble across through the dunes to the sands and walk back along the beach.
There is a road all the way along the West Sands, as well as a cycle path, but I think the best way is to just walk along the beach, away from the golfers and rabid cyclists.
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