County Dublin

Dollymount Strand

Dollymount Strand is one of the waters the EPA tests and grades in County Dublin, 3.6 km south-west of Sutton. The Environmental Protection Agency classified it good for water quality for the 2025 season. The register records a lifeguard, toilets, parking, bins, a lifebuoy, first aid, an information board and a beach wheelchair.

Good

water quality, 2025

Blue Flag

Yes

lifeguard

3.6 km

from Sutton

Water quality: Good, 2025
Seasons before: 2024 Good, 2023 Good, 2022 Good
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 18 days last season
Awards: None
County: County Dublin
Managed by: Dublin City Council
Nearest town: Sutton, 3.6 km south-west of it, in a straight line
From that town: 5.5 km by road, about 7 min drivingor 6.4 km on foot, about 80 minutes at 4.8 km/h
Lifeguard: Yes, hours not recorded
Toilets: Public toilet at the North Bull Wall entrance to Dollymount Strand.
Parking: Parking available along the Causeway and North Bull Wall.
Access: A beach wheelchair is available. Beach wheelchairs available, from North Bull Wall entrance.
Dogs: Dogs must be kept on a lead at all times. This bathing area is a designated bird sanctuary, dogs can scare birds and destroy protected habitats when off the lead.
Cars on the beach: No
Public transport: Public transport available to Clontarf Road. Short walk to bathing location.
Protected area: SAC, SPA, UNESCO Biosphere
Position: 53.3663° N, 6.1486° W
Record changed: 2026-04-08

Dollymount Strand on North Bull Island·William Murphy, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Dollymount Strand on North Bull Island·William Murphy, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

What the EPA says about it

<span style="text-align: justify; color: #606060; text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; font-family: Arial, 'helvetica neue', Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; word-spacing: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important; white-space: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: #ffffff; text-decoration-color: initial; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial;">Dollymount Strand is the closest large beach to Dublin City Centre and is situated on North Bull Island, a coastal sand spit located in Dublin Bay. Dollymount Strand is a sandy beach that runs from the north Bull wall to the northern tip of the Island. There is a wide variety of activities available which include walking, kite flying, rowing and canoeing. North Bull Island is one of the finest sand dune systems in Ireland, is internationally important in terms of its conservation value and has high quality examples of several rare and threatened coastal habitats. The area is protected by the Flora Protection Order (S.I. No. 94 of 1999) and Red Data Book (Curtis & McGough 1988).</span>

Dollymount Strand is classified as achieving Good Water Quality in 2025 based on the assessment of bacteriological results for the period 2022 to 2025. Dollymount Strand had a Good 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

Dollymount Strand, and the other places to swim in County Dublin. Share your position and the map will show how far each one is from you.

Getting to Dollymount Strand

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

Dollymount Strand is in Sutton, County Dublin. 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 Sutton, 3.6 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

Or open it inGoogle Mapsdirections Apple Mapsdirections Wazedriving satnav

Stops near it

The nearest scheduled stop is Causeway Road (7729), 1.5 km away in a straight line. Use the planner to check walking connections for your journey.

Causeway Road 1.5 km
bus 6
Scheduled departures from this stop
Day
Watermill Road 1.5 km
bus 6
Scheduled departures from this stop
Day
Fox's Lane 1.5 km
bus 6
Scheduled departures from this stop
Day
The Oaks 1.7 km
buses 130 and 31n
Scheduled departures from this stop
Day
Baymount Pk 1.7 km
bus 130
Scheduled departures from this stop
Day

Getting to Sutton covers the journeys into the town itself.

Other places to swim in County Dublin

Questions people ask

Is the water clean at Dollymount Strand?

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

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 Dublin City Council before swimming.

Does Dollymount Strand have a Blue Flag?

No. A beach without one can still have excellent water: the Blue Flag also asks for facilities, lifeguards and information boards, which a quiet strand may not have.

Is there a lifeguard at Dollymount Strand?

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

How do you get to Dollymount Strand without a car?

The nearest stop in the national timetable is Causeway Road, 1.5 km from the beach in a straight line, and bus 6 call there, run by Bus Átha Cliath – Dublin Bus. 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 2026-04-08. 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 Dublin