A mother coaxes her daughter into the cold water. A group of friends bob nearby in matching wool beanies. A woman lies face-up on a paddleboard to catch the summer sun. And I slowly breaststroke my way up and down the length of Cellardyke Tidal Pool, on the coast of Fife, Scotland. The water is salty. It’s a reminder that, though protected by the pool’s stone walls, I am swimming in the North Sea.
Scotland’s tidal pools are man-made structures that fill with seawater at high tide when waves wash over their walls. At low tide, the water is retained, providing sheltered spaces to swim. There are currently half a dozen such pools open along Scotland’s east coast, which were built in the early 20th century, when shorter working hours (and increased railway access) made seaside day trips possible for working-class Scots. By the end of the century, the pools fell out of favor—and into disrepair—as cheap flights and package holidays enticed travelers to sunnier shores abroad.
But over the past five years, that has been changing. Thanks to an increased interest in outdoor swimming, Scottish locals are now bringing their communities’ tidal pools back to life.
Coastal village Pittenweem is home to one of Scotland’s last active fishing fleets.
Photo by Stephen Bridger/Shutterstock
This wave of restorations includes pools in the pretty fishing villages of Pittenweem and St. Monans, and in Wick, 250 miles to the north, where The Trinkie’s inviting cerulean waters are a striking contrast to the waves that batter the surrounding cliffs. All three were restored in 2021. In the west, on the Ayrshire coast, restoration work is ongoing at Saltcoats, once Scotland’s largest tidal pools. Cellardyke Tidal Pool reopened in 2024, following repairs and the creation of safe access points.
As I swim at Cellardyke, I watch visitors wrapped in towels refuel, sipping teas bought from a café housed in a trailer and munching on pizzas served from a small shack. Some dash between a glass-fronted sauna and the pool, trying to hold on to their body heat before jumping into water that quickly brings it down. Both the food vendors and the sauna are recent additions to the site. On a day like today, it’s difficult to believe that a few years ago, the pool was run-down and almost forgotten.
Keep an eye out for dolphins and seals in the North Sea while relaxing in the Cellardyke Seaside Sauna.
Courtesy of Cellardyke Seaside Sauna
The restoration “stirred a lot of emotions” among Cellardyke residents, says Andy Hancock, secretary of the nonprofit organization that maintains the pool. “I heard a lot of stories like ‘My mum used to run the changing rooms in the 1940s,’” he says. But it was also transformative for newer residents in the area—including Andy and his wife, Angie, who moved here roughly four years ago—providing a sense of community in a rural region.
Angie sees the pool as a social space and a great leveler. “You all go into that freezing cold water in a swimming costume, and you don’t know anything about each other—you have to communicate to find out,” she says.
Most mornings, you will find her at the pool at 7 o’clock, swimming with a group called the Nae Richters. They meet year-round, and anyone is welcome to join their swims.
Angie’s favorite season to visit the pool is not the relatively warm Scottish summers, when water temperatures reach the mid-50s, but October through December, when the air is biting, and the sunrise over the North Sea is most dramatic. Average winter water temperatures hover around 45 degrees Farenheit.
“Yes, it’s cold,” she says, but “it’s phenomenal. I go home on such a high.”
