It is a quiet suburb at the Southern edge of Aberdeen City and in 2020 won the Silver Gilt award for Scotland in Bloom.

Cove Bay is situated to the east of the ancient Causey Mounth, which road was built on high ground to make passable this only available medieval route from coastal points south from Stonehaven to Aberdeen.

[2] The route was that taken by William Keith, 7th Earl Marischal and the Marquess of Montrose, who led a Covenanter army of 9000 men in the battle of the Civil War in 1639.

[3] Historically in the extreme north-east corner of Kincardineshire, until 1975 it was governed from the county town of Stonehaven, when it was added to the City of Aberdeen district.

[4] In 2019, 5 cairns were erected with information plaques detailing the history of Cove Bay and Altens as a farming community.

This was made possible with a donation from the late Margaret Allan, whose family occupied the Mains of Loirston farm, and latterly Sergent's Croft.

Owing to its close-grained texture, Cove granite was one of the hardest in north-east Scotland and proved highly resistant to frost, making it ideal for causeway stones used in the construction of roads.

The village itself sprung up around the fishing industry, with the boats berthed on a shingle beach, a gap in the rocks that afforded a natural harbour.

In the mid 19th century the fishing was at its height, which, over years, has included cod, haddock, salmon, herring and shellfish.

In 2019, many of the remaining boats on the shore and the storage shed were set ablaze in what was thought to be a deliberate arson attack.

It became locally known as "the stinker" because of the processing odour, which was highlighted by the Aberdeen entertainer Harry Gordon in a parody entitled A Song of Cove.

Originally located on Catto Walk, moved to a new facility accessed from Earns Heugh Road.

Bupa Dental Care Cove Bay has since moved into the old surgery building on Catto Walk.

A private allotment site, Nether Loirston Growers Association, is located behind the Altens Community Centre.

Current tenants at the site include well decommissioning specialists Well-Safe Solutions, National Oilwell Varco (NOV), Driving Standards Agency and Hydrasun.