Scotland's Beach Award: The 13 Fife beaches to receive the award in 2026

The Kingdom retains its title as the region with the most awards, with Aberdeenshire following with eight beaches receiving the award and seven in East Lothian.

Scotland’s Beach Award celebrates the achievements of well managed beaches across Scotland allowing visitors and locals to choose where they want to visit with the knowledge that the beach is being looked after for people and the environment.

Across Scotland a total of 52 beaches have received the award this year.

Barry Fisher, CEO of Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: “Scotland's Beach Awards are the benchmark for quality, celebrating clean, well-managed and sustainable beaches. Our award-winning beaches are all beautiful but seeing that flag flying means visitors can be assured that they are being looked after for people and nature.

“It is amazing to see the consistency of standards and continuation of award status matters to those who apply year after year, and I’d like to thank all those, in councils and communities, who do so much to protect, maintain and enhance our beaches, protecting the sand and sea for us all to enjoy."

In order to achieve Scotland’s Beach Award, a range of criteria must be met including beach safety, access and facilities and cleanliness. Focusing on local environmental quality, the award is designed to complement the work undertaken by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency on bathing water quality.

For three decades some of the most popular beaches including St Andrews West Sands and Aberdour Silver Sands have retained the honour of award status. Additionally, 43 beaches on the list have successfully achieved an award for 10 or more years.

Here are the 13 Fife beaches to have received the award in 2026.