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A landscape view of the Blue Cabin at the foot of the brae, lamps lit by its red door and boats drawn up on the grass.
Scottish Borders

Blue Cabin by the Sea

For four, with two bedrooms, firewood and room for the dog.

Book on their website
Welcome

Cove is a harbour south of Dunbar with no pubs, no chip shops and no road to the water.

The way in is a tunnel cut through the rock in 1752, and on the far side is a crescent of sand, two stone piers and a handful of houses. The Blue Cabin stands at the top of the beach, painted the blue of the local fishing boats, with red windows and a signwritten gate. It was built in the 1880s and by the 1920s was already a holiday chalet.

Its owners, the architect Ben Tindall and the sculptor Jill Watson, imagined it as the home of a retired sea captain who had travelled the world. The living room has two straw-backed Orkney chairs and a stove in a blue-tiled fireplace, under a mirror Ben ringed with shells. Charts pull down like blinds, and the shelves hold a library about the harbour. There is a box bed that sleeps two and a bunk room for children.

Ben and Jill bought the harbour in 1991 to save it, and the cabin's profits pay for its upkeep.

Emerging from the tunnel into the salt air felt like stepping into another world.
Karla Hall, on a January stay at the cabin, in Issue 12
What is here

A living room with two Orkney chairs, a table for six, a wood stove that burns wood, coal and peat, laid ready for your arrival, and fuel in the shed.

Wood for fires
Private terrace or patio
Barbecue
Board games
Books
Children’s books and toys
Dishwasher
Garden
Kitchen
Local maps and guides
TV
Underfloor heating
Wood-burning stove
Good to know
Arriving
After 4pm.
Leaving
Before 10am.
Getting there
Unload at the top of the track, park up, and wheel the cabin's barrow through the tunnel.
Bring
A torch, binoculars, charcoal for the barbecue and extra toilet paper.
Families
Suited to young children. Not for parties.
Access
Unsuitable for limited mobility: rough ground, sand, uneven steps and narrow doors.
Dogs
Well-trained dogs by written arrangement. Bring their bedding; no dogs on beds.
The stove
Laid for your arrival. Wood, coal and kindling are in the shed, included in the rent.
Crab and lobster
From the fishing boats, when the sea allows. There is a crab and lobster cookbook.
Mobile signal
Variable; there is no landline.
The harbour
The owners ask guests not to post it online in a way that draws attention. No drones or jet-skis.
Where it is

Cove Harbour lies on the Berwickshire coast by Cockburnspath, about eight miles from Dunbar station and an hour from Edinburgh.

The village has a community shop open every day, and Dunbar has supermarkets and a community bakery. Cockburnspath is where the Southern Upland Way ends and the Berwickshire Coastal Path begins.

Close byWhere Ben and Jill send their guests, nearest first.
  1. A green headland and dark sea cliffs curving away above a rocky shore by Siccar Point under a pale blue sky.Siccar PointWhere James Hutton first read the depth of time in the rocks, the start of modern geology.4 miles11 min by road
  2. Fragments of Fast Castle's stone walls on a grassy sea stack above the waves, a path leading out to it.Fast CastleA walk from Dowlaw Farm's car park to the clifftop ruin, Dowlaw Dene and Lumsdaine: three to six hours.Dowlaw Farmthen on foot
  3. The Creel Restaurant lit up on a wet street corner at nightThe CreelOne of the two restaurants the owners recommend, by the harbour in Dunbar.9 miles14 min by road
  4. Dunbar High Street under a blue sky, the white Town House with its tower and spire among the old buildings.Dunbar Town HouseDunbar's original town house, now the local museum.9 miles14 min by road
  5. John Muir's Birthplace on Dunbar High Street, a white-harled house with flowers by the open door.John Muir's birthplaceWhat remains of the birthplace of the great naturalist, in Dunbar. Cockburnspath, by the cabin, is the south end of the John Muir coastal link.9 miles14 min by road
  6. Concorde's nose and cockpit on display inside a hangar at Concorde ExperienceMuseum of FlightNear Dunbar, an outstation of the National Museums of Scotland.19 miles29 min by road
  7. Sandstone mansion with pediment roof, stone steps leading through terraced garden bordersPaxton HouseNear Eyemouth, an outstation of the National Galleries of Scotland.21 miles32 min by road
Directions
Grassy headland overlooking a rocky shoreline and calm coastal watersAttractionsBerwickshire Coastal Path1.4 miles
White clubhouse with red tiled roof beside a links golf courseAttractionsDunbar Golf Course8.5 miles
Railed path leads from grassy clifftop down to a rocky shorelineAttractionsDunbar High Street8.6 miles
Fishing boats moor beneath Dunbar Castle's red sandstone ruins on the harbourAttractionsThe Creel Loaders8.8 miles
Aerial view of North Berwick's twin harbours, rooftops and coastline stretching inlandAttractionsDunbar Battery8.9 miles
The ruins of a red sandstone tower and harbour walls stand on a rocky promontory, small boats sheltering in the water beside them.AttractionsDunbar Castle8.9 miles
Metal footbridge crosses a tidal creek on a wide sandy beachAttractionsBelhaven Bridge9.9 miles
Waves breaking on a sandy beach under a blue sky with scattered cloudsWalksDunbar Clifftop Path to Belhaven Bay10 miles
Low sun through the café's sash windows and glazed garden door, wooden chairs at the tables and green fields outside.CafeThe Woodlands Café11 miles
In Issue 12

There was something about the harbour's salty-aired seclusion that had already worked its spell on us.

Blue Cabin by the Sea, Hidden Scotland Issue 12
Hidden Scotland, the magazine

Scotland, in print.

Blue Cabin by the Sea is in Issue 12, written up by Karla Hall.

Get Issue 12Read it here