Looking for a home - near water

[ExpatMrs]

Hello,
Looking to move back home to Scotland after 15 years overseas. DH wants to live near water. My only real want is a decent school. We have a 10yo DC. Private school financially not an option.
Now, when searching on RightMove etc. it's easy to go round the coast (and I have been lingering on Dunoon... albeit I have never been in my life!) but wondering if I am missing any nice places along a riverside or lochside?
Fully accept that my home country knowledge is poor.🙄
Any recommendations for places to check out? TIA

East Lothian, Peebles and along the Tweed also beautiful

Balfron High School is supposed to be good, close to Loch Lomond. East Renfrewshire not too far from the Clyde. Avoid more isolated areas for good school options if not going private.

I hear that a lot of North Sea oil platforms are being decommissioned ?

What does he want to water for ?

Sailing? Outdoor swimming ? Walking near?

How close - walking distance or on a shore line?

Sea, loch, river ?

Dunoon is the back of beyond from memory

You want a good school - what about weather - would west coast wet and midges bother you? What about work? What about activities for you/ childen as they grow up? What about supermarkets and doctors surgeries and hospitals ? Access to motorways , stations, airports?

Scotland is quite big and has a lot of water one way and another - you need to be more focussed

I totally agree with all that you say and of course, I will do research, I am just hoping for some inspiration to refine the search. I always think people's recommendations or lived experience is really valuable. My DH grew up on the coast so sea would be idea, but he's amenable to rivers/ lochs as it's just a calming thing. Closer to shore/ riverside. After so long renting overseas we are looking forward to home ownership with a nice (watery) outlook. Although I suspect we will get quite a bit of that with rain anyway. Not bothered about the midges. Both Scots. We get it. Both not bothered with a drive for airport access. Both work from home hence why location can be flexible.
Thanks for replying.

North Berwick would be my choice. Good schools and train to Edinburgh. What about jobs?

Callander

Balloch

Helensburgh

Rhu

Gourock

Troon

Oban

Fort William

Mallaig

Portree

St Fillans

Culross

Aberdour

Gullane

North Berwick

Dunbar

Broughty Ferry, to the north of dundee is on the stunning banks of the Tay. Houses often come up there with fabulous river/sea views. It very sunny and has good schools.

West coast has midges and rain, east coast has Haar and the biting easterly wind. Pretty much 6 and half on the negatives with an element of personal genetics for how tasty you are to to the bitey bastards. Proximity to water means more midgies.

Don't go for Dunoon by the way, very parochial, school is limited and people either stay forever (and might get accepted 3 generations later) or leave as soon as they can. Also access is very weather dependent as the road more vulnerable than the ferries...

Largs? I have had 2 kids go through the primary and now at the academy and no real complaints although the primary is very large. There is an active sailing community and sea swimming etc

East coast every time. I’d take cold and dry over incessant drizzle.
broughty ferry is a good idea, or North Berwick.

St Andrews.

NE coast
2 bedroom fisherman's cottage around 120K just yards from the sea

Second this. We moved back from overseas to Scotland too and chose Largs for the exact combination of sea views and decent state school that OP is looking for. DD arrived at a similar upper primary age, had time to settle in to the primary, then the secondary is on the same campus so it saves a second big transition. House prices more expensive than rest of North Ayrshire but cheaper than Scotland in general. Wonderful place to work from home, sea on one side and hills on the other to explore. Airport only 45minute drive, usually a fine drive, can be a bit dodgy in heavy rain or snow. I know and love areas of the east coast mentioned here too but the views from Largs over Bute, Cumbrae and Arran are on another level.

I was thinking Broughty Ferry or North Berwick too

Cramond in Edinburgh. Excellent catchment school and on the Forth.

I’d suggest Troon (Marr College is excellent)

Newport or Wormit, in catchment for Madras college in St Andrews. Or in or around St Andrews itself

But directly under the flight path - planes are very very low at Crammond!

Wormit/Newport/Tayport, five mins drive from Dundee High.

Isn't that a private school? OP looking for a good state school. Madras in that area fits the bill though.

Dunoon is across from inverclyde. I’d look at inverkip. Has a marina/beach and travel links to Glasgow city.
not much in Dunoon and anyone I know who has lived there has had to travel across water for work if unable to work in the town. When ferries go off the drive is a long and scary one !

Catchment secondary school for Inverkip is Inverclyde Academy in Greenock. Unless you can confirm a placing request to Clydeview academy in Gourock or Largs Academy which you would need an address for first, that would rule out Inverkip. Also Dunoon - neither school or location are good.

To focus on the schools part of your criteria OP - league tables are a crude tool and of course do further research with people who know the school, but they do help rule out some of the locations mentioned in this thread. You are looking for a school that will be a good fit for a former international school pupil, which is a bit of a cushioned bubble ime and any UK state school will be a culture shock at first. Lower on the list of all 360 Scottish secondaries is just a measure of academic success and doesn’t speak to ethos but typically will indicate lower ambition and poorer behaviour. My former international DD would not have coped with many of them so I looked at this very very carefully alongside local research.

Inverclyde academy was at 239 in Scotland in 2023, Dunoon grammar 199. Clear no from me!

Clydeview (Gourock) was 47, Largs 60, Madras (St Andrew’s) 57, the Royal HS (Cramond) 21, Marr college (Troon) 67, North Berwick 55 - these are all good suggestions on this thread so far that are likely to fit the brief for a 'good state school' by water. Grove academy (Broughty ferry) is 102, Hermitage (Helensburgh) 86.

https://datamap-scotland.co.uk/tables/educ/2023/SCOTGOVTEDUCSCNDDHIGHERS020222WEBSITEYearronYearrcolourcodedd_deciles.csv

i think this will partly boil down to budget. North Berwick is great but property prices are as high as in Edinburgh, whereas in Dunoon you can get a good sized house for less than the price of a flat in Edinburgh.

Oh @largsvegas for some reason I read private school! Yeah my kids go to Madras.