County KerryBlue Flag

Ballyheigue

Ballyheigue is one of the waters the EPA tests and grades in County Kerry, 0.4 km south-west of Ballyheigue. 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 and an information board.

Excellent

water quality, 2025

Yes

Blue Flag

Yes

lifeguard

0.4 km

from Ballyheigue

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
Awards: Blue Flag · the register does not say which year's award
County: County Kerry
Managed by: Kerry County Council
Nearest town: Ballyheigue, 0.4 km south-west of it, in a straight line
From that town: 0.2 km by road, about 2 min drivingor 0.2 km on foot, about 2 minutes at 4.8 km/h
Lifeguard: Yes, hours not recorded
Toilets: Yes
Parking: Yes
Access: 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: 52.3872° N, 9.8394° W
Record changed: 2026-02-25

The Ballyheigue beach at low tide·Rauenstein, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The Ballyheigue beach at low tide·Rauenstein, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

What the EPA says about it

Ballyheigue is an exposed sandy beach facing due west onto the Atlantic ocean, thus the beach can be rough at times. There is no vegetation of note at the rear of the majority of the bathing water. A section of the southern end of the bathing water backs onto a sand dune system which is part of an extensive area of sand dunes running south for approximately 9km to Barrow. The Akeragh, Banna and Barrow Harbour Special Protection Area, site code 004079, and the Akeragh, Banna and Barrow Harbour Special Area of Conservation, site code 000332, are located 600m south of Ballyheigue bathing waters. Activities include swimming, walking, sailing and surfing. The bathing area is approximately 343m wide.

Ballyheigue is classified as achieving Excellent Water Quality in 2025 based on the assessment of bacteriological results for the period 2022 to 2025. Ballyheigue 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

Ballyheigue, 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 Ballyheigue

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

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 Ballyheigue, 0.4 km south-west 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.

Get directions

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Stops near it

The nearest scheduled stop is Ballyheigue (11335), 420 m away in a straight line. Use the planner to check walking connections for your journey.

Ballyheigue 420 m
bus 274
Scheduled departures from this stop
Day
Buncurrig 860 m
bus 274
Scheduled departures from this stop
Day

Other places to swim in County Kerry

Questions people ask

Is the water clean at Ballyheigue?

The EPA classified it Excellent for the 2025 season, which is worked out from four years of samples. Ballyheigue is classified as achieving Excellent Water Quality in 2025 based on the assessment of bacteriological results for the period 2022 to 2025. Ballyheigue 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 Ballyheigue?

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 Ballyheigue 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 Ballyheigue?

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

How do you get to Ballyheigue without a car?

The nearest stop in the national timetable is Ballyheigue, 420 metres from the beach in a straight line, and bus 274 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 2026-02-25. 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