Stonehaven tide times

Stonehaven is a working harbour town 25 kilometres south of Aberdeen on the northeast Scottish coast, where the Cowie Water meets the North Sea at a sheltered bay between two headlands. The town has two distinct parts: the harbour and old town to the south, and the newer town centre higher on the hillside. Mean spring tidal range is around 3.8 metres; the harbour provides shelter for the fishing fleet and the tidal basin gives reliable vessel access across most of the cycle.

The harbour at Stonehaven is a working port with genuine character. Boats land haddock, whiting, and crab; the fish market operates most weekday mornings. The harbour pool — a tidal open-air swimming pool cut into the rock at the harbour mouth — is one of the most memorable outdoor swimming facilities in Scotland, open from May through September. The pool fills with seawater from the harbour on the tide; it's typically 14 to 16°C in summer, cold but popular.

The Dunnottar Castle ruins sit on a dramatic isolated stack 2 km south of the town, cut off from the mainland by a narrow ravine, 50 metres above the North Sea. The castle was where the Scottish Crown Jewels were hidden from Cromwell's army in the 1650s. Access requires a cliff-path walk from the car park; the approach is about 15 minutes. The seaward face of the rock stack is one of the more dramatic coastal compositions in the northeast of Scotland — photograph from the cliff-top south of the path.

The coast north and south of Stonehaven has good sea angling. The rock platforms accessible at low water produce wrasse, pollock, and the occasional bass. Charter boats from the harbour work the offshore reefs (25 to 40 metres deep) for haddock, cod, coalfish, and ling. The haddock season is year-round, with the most consistent fishing from October through April when the fish move into shallower grounds.

The Stonehaven Fireball ceremony at Hogmanay (New Year's Eve) is an ancient winter tradition — participants swing balls of fire on wire ropes through the town before casting them into the harbour. The event draws thousands of visitors; if planning around it, book accommodation months ahead.

Tide predictions on this page come from Open-Meteo Marine, a gridded global ocean model, cross-referenced with UK Environment Agency gauge data. For the most accurate local predictions, consult the UK National Tide Gauge Network via CEFAS or the UKHO's EasyTide service.