County KerryBlue FlagGreen Coast

Baile an Sceilg (Ballinskelligs)

Baile an Sceilg (Ballinskelligs) is one of the waters the EPA tests and grades in County Kerry, 0.4 km south-east of Ballinskelligs. The Environmental Protection Agency classified it excellent for water quality for the 2025 season. The register records a lifeguard, toilets, parking, bins, recycling, a lifebuoy, first aid, an information board and a beach wheelchair.

Excellent

water quality, 2025

Yes

Blue Flag

Yes

lifeguard

0.4 km

from Ballinskelligs

Water quality: Excellent, 2025
Seasons before: 2024 Excellent, 2023 Excellent, 2022 Excellent
Water testing: Tested by the EPA sampled through the season and given a water quality grade
Season restriction: None in place
Pollution after rain: Prone to short term pollution, closed 4 days last season
Awards: Blue Flag, Green Coast · the register does not say which year's award
County: County Kerry
Managed by: Kerry County Council
Nearest town: Ballinskelligs, 0.4 km south-east of it, in a straight line
From that town: 0.6 km by road, about 2 min drivingor 0.6 km on foot, about 7 minutes at 4.8 km/h
Lifeguard: Yes, hours not recorded
Toilets: Yes
Parking: Yes
Access: A beach wheelchair is available. Ramp
Dogs: Dogs are not allowed on the Blue-Flag section of the Beach (ie. within the Lifeguard Patrol area) between 11am and 7pm each day from the 1st June to 15th September inclusive.
Cars on the beach: No
Public transport: No
First aid: Available from Lifeguard hut
Protected area: Recorded as a natural sensitive area
Position: 51.8215° N, 10.2709° W
Record changed: 2026-03-31

Ballinskelligs Beach, County Kerry·Phil Champion, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Ballinskelligs Beach, County Kerry·Phil Champion, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Ballinskelligs Beach and McCarthy Mór Tower·Phil Champion, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Ballinskelligs Beach and McCarthy Mór Tower·Phil Champion, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

What the EPA says about it

Baile an Sceilg is a sandy beach backing onto Baile an Sceilg village. The beach is sheltered from Atlantic wave action by Horse island. It is exposed to southerly winds. The lands behind the beach are primarily a mixture of agricultural grassland and residential/tourism development. The coastal waters of Ballinskelligs Bay and the estuary of the River Inny are designated as Special Area of Conservation, as part of the Ballinskelligs Bay & Inny Estuary SAC (Site Code 000335). Regulation and control of a number of activities on the beach are dealt with under the Kerry County Council Beach Bye-Laws, 2013. The full extent of the beach is approximately 1km in length, however, the identified bathing waters is only 400m of this.

Baile an Sceilg (Ballinskelligs) is classified as achieving Excellent Water Quality in 2025 based on the assessment of bacteriological results for the period 2022 to 2025. Baile an Sceilg (Ballinskelligs) has achieved an Excellent Water Quality rating for the four consecutive years 2022 to 2025. Annual water quality ratings are generally calculated using monitoring results over a four-year period and are assessed against stringent bacterial limits to protect bather health.

The EPA’s own beach profile

Where it is

Baile an Sceilg (Ballinskelligs), and the other places to swim in County Kerry. Share your position and the map will show how far each one is from you.

Getting to Baile an Sceilg (Ballinskelligs)

Going toBaile an Sceilg (Ballinskelligs)Destination: the mapped location

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About these directions

Public transport times come from National Transport Authority. Timetables cover 2026-09-18 to 2027-09-19. These are scheduled services; check with the operator for cancellations and changes before travelling.

Walking and driving times are estimates. A town search starts at its centre; choose your location or a point on the map for a more precise starting point. Eircode search is not available.

How journey planning works

Destination, access and nearby stops

Baile an Sceilg (Ballinskelligs) is in Ballinskelligs, County Kerry. Routes here end at the point the map records for this place. The entrance has not been verified, so the last few metres are for you to judge.

The nearest settlement is Ballinskelligs, 0.4 km south-east of the beach. The register records parking here. Getting to the town is not getting to the beach, so the journey below is worked out to the beach itself and the last stretch on foot is measured rather than left out.

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Stops near it

The nearest scheduled stop is Baile an Sceilg (10841), 1.5 km away in a straight line. Use the planner to check walking connections for your journey.

Baile an Sceilg 1.5 km
bus 287b
Scheduled departures from this stop
Day

Getting to Ballinskelligs covers the journeys into the town itself.

Other places to swim in County Kerry

Questions people ask

Is the water clean at Baile an Sceilg (Ballinskelligs)?

The EPA classified it Excellent for the 2025 season, which is worked out from four years of samples. Baile an Sceilg (Ballinskelligs) is classified as achieving Excellent Water Quality in 2025 based on the assessment of bacteriological results for the period 2022 to 2025. Baile an Sceilg (Ballinskelligs) has achieved an Excellent Water Quality rating for the four consecutive years 2022 to 2025. Annual water quality ratings are generally calculated using monitoring results over a four-year period and are assessed against stringent bacterial limits to protect bather health. A classification is a record of seasons that have finished; it is not a reading of the water today.

Is swimming restricted at Baile an Sceilg (Ballinskelligs)?

The register records no season-long restriction. That is about the season, not about today: a short notice after heavy rain would not appear here, and this water is recorded as prone to short term pollution. Check with Kerry County Council before swimming.

Does Baile an Sceilg (Ballinskelligs) have a Blue Flag?

The register records one. It does not record which year's award, and the flag is awarded each season, so it is worth checking the flag is flying when you arrive.

Is there a lifeguard at Baile an Sceilg (Ballinskelligs)?

The register records one, without giving hours. Outside those hours nobody is watching the water.

How do you get to Baile an Sceilg (Ballinskelligs) without a car?

The nearest stop in the national timetable is Baile an Sceilg, 1.5 km from the beach in a straight line, and bus 287b call there, run by TFI Local Link Kerry. The planner on this page works out the walk from that stop over real footways, and the whole journey from wherever you are starting, for the day and time you pick. Where no footway joins the stop to the beach it says so rather than making a number up.

Where does this come from?

The Environmental Protection Agency's list of places people swim, which it calls the bathing water register, read on 2026-09-20, where this record was last changed on 2026-03-31. Water quality, awards, lifeguards and facilities are the EPA's own fields, and a field it leaves blank is shown as not recorded rather than as a no. The distance to the nearest town is this site's own measurement, in a straight line.

Water quality, awards, lifeguards, toilets, parking and access are the Environmental Protection Agency’s own fields, from its bathing water register, read 2026-09-20. The classification covers four years of sampling and is not a reading for today: after heavy rain the water can be worse than the classification suggests, and the EPA and the local authority post notices when it is. Positions are the EPA’s grid references, projected to latitude and longitude. Journeys are the National Transport Authority’s published timetable.

Beaches and bathing waters in Ireland·Beaches in County Kerry