Cruden Bay's beach is a wide, gently curving sweep of sand with a distinctly pink-red tinge — an effect of the local granite eroding into the dune system over thousands of years. The beach stretches over a kilometre from the village to the headland to the south, and it is usually quiet even in summer. The dunes behind the beach support a varied ecosystem with marram grass, wildflowers, and several species of coastal birds.
The sea is cold — this is the North Sea — but calm days in July and August make swimming possible. More practically, the beach is excellent for walking at low tide, and the views back to the village with the hills of Aberdeenshire behind it are handsome. The Water of Cruden, a small river, runs across the beach near the village before reaching the sea, creating a shallow lagoon that children tend to enjoy.