County GalwayBlue Flag

Bathing Place at Portumna

Bathing Place at Portumna is one of the waters the EPA tests and grades in County Galway, 1.3 km south-east of Portumna. 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

1.3 km

from Portumna

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 Galway
Managed by: Galway County Council
Nearest town: Portumna, 1.3 km south-east of it, in a straight line
From that town: 1.5 km by road, about 2 min drivingor 1.5 km on foot, about 19 minutes at 4.8 km/h
Lifeguard: Yes: 12-6 weekends July Aug
Toilets: Yes
Parking: Yes
Access: Access to waters edge.
Dogs: No dogs allowed on designated blue flag beaches during lifeguard hours. Dogs allowed on a lead at all other times.
Cars on the beach: No
Public transport: No
First aid: lifeguard huts during lifeguard season
Protected area: Recorded as a natural sensitive area
Position: 53.0822° N, 8.2104° W
Record changed: 2026-08-13

Shore of Lough Derg near Portumna·David P Howard, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Shore of Lough Derg near Portumna·David P Howard, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Portumna Harbour A fine modern harbour with plenty of mooring space·Alan Murray-Rust, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Portumna Harbour A fine modern harbour with plenty of mooring space·Alan Murray-Rust, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

What the EPA says about it

Portumna bathing water is a pleasant well maintained facility used throughout the year. It is situated in a shallow area of Lough Derg near the town of Portumna. This is an important lake in Ireland for waterfowl. Lough Derg is an area of conservation because of its numbers of fish and freshwater invertebrates. Activities around the bathing area and lake include sailing, windsurfing, canoeing, angling and horse riding.

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

Bathing Place at Portumna, and the other places to swim in County Galway. Share your position and the map will show how far each one is from you.

Getting to Bathing Place at Portumna

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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

Bathing Place at Portumna is in Portumna, County Galway. 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 Portumna, 1.3 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 Portumna (135982), 1.3 km away in a straight line. Use the planner to check walking connections for your journey.

Portumna 1.3 km
bus 844
Scheduled departures from this stop
Day
Workhouse Ctr 2.1 km
bus 547
Scheduled departures from this stop
Day
Workhouse Centre 2.1 km
bus 547
Scheduled departures from this stop
Day

Getting to Portumna covers the journeys into the town itself.

Other places to swim in County Galway

Questions people ask

Is the water clean at Bathing Place at Portumna?

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

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 Galway County Council before swimming.

Does Bathing Place at Portumna 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 Bathing Place at Portumna?

The register records one, 12-6 weekends July Aug. Outside those hours nobody is watching the water.

How do you get to Bathing Place at Portumna without a car?

The nearest stop in the national timetable is Portumna, 1.3 km from the beach in a straight line, and bus 844 call there, run by Kearns Transport. 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 2026-08-13. 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 Galway