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County MayoBlue Flag

Bertra Beach, Murrisk

Bertra Beach, Murrisk is one of the waters the EPA tests and grades in County Mayo, 2 km north-east of Lecanvey. 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
2 km
from Lecanvey
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 Mayo
Managed by
Mayo County Council
Nearest town
Lecanvey, 2 km north-east of it, in a straight line
From that town
No road routeNothing on the map joins the two by road. This beach is on an island, or the way in is not mapped.
Lifeguard
Yes, hours not recorded
Toilets
Yes
Parking
Yes
Access
Recorded as accessible, with no detail given
Dogs
Dogs only allowed before 12pm and after 6.30pm during the bathing season (1st June to 15th September), otherwise allowed at all times onto beach.
Cars on the beach
No
Public transport
No
Protected area
Recorded as a natural sensitive area
Position
53.7893° N, 9.6612° W
Record changed
2026-03-11
Bertra Strand
Bertra Strand·Robert Ashby, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Bertra Strand·Robert Ashby, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Murrisk Millennium Park geograph.org.uk 1404127
Murrisk Millennium Park geograph.org.uk 1404127·Oliver Dixon, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Murrisk Millennium Park geograph.org.uk 1404127·Oliver Dixon, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

What the EPA says about it

Bertra beach consists of a sandy dune area with the centre of the designated bathing area enclosed by caged stone. Bertra Beach is an exposed beach and can be subject to rip tides/strong currents. The sand dunes consist of embryonic dunes and marrram dunes both of which are listed under Annex I of the EU Habitats Directive. Restoration work on the sand dunes due to erosion has taken place over the last decade and has reduced the extent of the erosion. Bertra Beach forms part of the Clew Bay Complex (SAC & SPA) Site Code 001482. In close proximity to Old Head Beach is Old Head SAC/pNHA (Site Code 000532). Bertra Beach lies at the foot of Croagh Patrick. Activities include swimming, surfing, canoeing and angling. The bathing water is approximately 1km2 in area. The medium and the maximum water depth within the designated bathing area is 0.5m and 5.0m respectively depending on the tides.

Bertra Beach, Murrisk is classified as achieving Excellent Water Quality in 2025 based on the assessment of bacteriological results for the period 2022 to 2025. Bertra Beach, Murrisk achieved an Excellent Water Quality rating for 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

Bertra Beach, Murrisk, and the other places to swim in County Mayo. Share your position and the map will show how far each one is from you.

Getting to Bertra Beach, Murrisk

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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

Bertra Beach, Murrisk is in Lecanvey, County Mayo. 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 Lecanvey, 2 km north-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 Murrisk (500021), 1.8 km away in a straight line. Use the planner to check walking connections for your journey.

  • Murrisk 1.8 km
    bus 450
    Scheduled departures from this stop
  • Leckanvy 1.9 km
    bus 450
    Scheduled departures from this stop

Getting to Lecanvey covers the journeys into the town itself.

Other places to swim in County Mayo

Questions people ask

Is the water clean at Bertra Beach, Murrisk?
The EPA classified it Excellent for the 2025 season, which is worked out from four years of samples. Bertra Beach, Murrisk is classified as achieving Excellent Water Quality in 2025 based on the assessment of bacteriological results for the period 2022 to 2025. Bertra Beach, Murrisk achieved an Excellent Water Quality rating for 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 Bertra Beach, Murrisk?
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 Mayo County Council before swimming.
Does Bertra Beach, Murrisk 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 Bertra Beach, Murrisk?
The register records one, without giving hours. Outside those hours nobody is watching the water.
How do you get to Bertra Beach, Murrisk without a car?
The nearest stop in the national timetable is Murrisk, 1.8 km from the beach in a straight line, and bus 450 call there, run by Bus Éireann. 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 2026-03-11. 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 Mayo