The long sandy beach below the West Cliff is the town's main bathing beach: bright beach huts in pastel colours along the seawall, donkey rides in summer, and a paddling pool at the south end. The cliffs above are dotted with Edwardian hotels and the Royal Crescent terrace, all built when Whitby reinvented itself as a seaside resort in the 19th century.
At low tide the sand stretches a long way out and you can walk north below the cliffs all the way to Sandsend. Watch the tides — the cliff base disappears underwater and you can be cut off. The beach is reached either via the steep slope from the whalebone arch or by the funicular Whitby Cliff Lift, opened in 1931.