St. Andrews beach faces NE. You want West Beach, which is a long, straight beach, miles long, backed by sand dunes. The beach is in the background at the right of the photograph above. Drive along the beach road, not the golf club car park road. You could park by the loos, but it doesn't much matter. There is a lot of room for parking. Parking used to be free, out of season.
The beach is all in one direction, so there is no protection from breaking waves. This can be a problem. The town and harbour are to the South, so you get some protection from the waves in a SE. This beach works best with a NNW or SE wind.
Further north, the beach curves around into the river estuary. There are sand banks here, often covered by seals.
There used to be a lot of windsurfing here, with a good local crowd. I have not sailed here for some time.
St. Andrews has a university, a harbour, an old castle, a ruined cathedral and coastal walks. It is 50 miles from Edinburgh.