The Holderness Coast is a world-famous stretch of coastline that runs from the Tees estuary to the Humber estuary on the east coast of England. The coastline between the two estuaries was historically made up of the East and North Ridings of Yorkshire. The North York Moors National Park extends up to the coastline and traverses 42 km of the coast between Boulby and Cloughton, taking in the historic fishing villages of Staithes, Runswick Bay and Robin Hood's Bay.

It has the unenviable reputation as the number one place in Europe for coastal erosion, and in a stormy year waves from the North sea can remove between 7 and 10m of coastline. It is one of the fastest eroding coastlines in Europe as a result of its geology. The coastline starts with blowholes, stacks and stumps at Flamborough, and culminates with Spurn head, a very large spit that runs across part of Humber Estuary. The exposed chalk of Flamborough provides examples of erosion, features such as caves, arches and stacks. The soft boulder clay underlying Hornsea provides clear evidence of the erosional power of the sea.

The coastline today is around 4km inland from where it was in Roman times, and there are many lost villages of the Holderness coastline that have long disappeared into the sea. Indeed, today, farmland, tourist sites such as caravan parks and villages remain under threat.