County Cork

Garryvoe

Garryvoe is one of the waters the EPA tests and grades in County Cork, 0.3 km south of Garryvoe. The Environmental Protection Agency classified it good for water quality for the 2025 season. The register records a lifeguard, toilets, parking, bins, recycling, a lifebuoy, first aid and an information board.

Good

water quality, 2025

Blue Flag

Yes

lifeguard

0.3 km

from Garryvoe

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
Awards: None
County: County Cork
Managed by: Cork County Council
Nearest town: Garryvoe, 0.3 km south of it, in a straight line
From that town: 0.2 km by road, about 1 min drivingor 0.3 km on foot, about 3 minutes at 4.8 km/h
Lifeguard: Yes, hours not recorded
Toilets: Yes
Parking: Yes
Access: Wheelchair Ramp
Dogs: Allowed on a lead
Cars on the beach: No
Public transport: No
First aid: With Lifeguards
Protected area: Recorded as a natural sensitive area
Position: 51.8578° N, 8.0023° W
Record changed: 2026-04-08

Garryvoe beach·Robert Ashby, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Garryvoe beach·Robert Ashby, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Beach south of Garryvoe·Gordon Hatton, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Beach south of Garryvoe·Gordon Hatton, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

What the EPA says about it

Garryvoe beach is a south east facing, gently sloping, sandy/pebble beach located on a long stretch of sandy coastline. It is quite open to rough weather and rough seas. There is an area of sand dunes to the rear (west). The bathing water is located within Ballycotton, Ballynamona and Shanagarry proposed Natural Heritage Area (pNHA 000076) and is also located within Ballycotton Bay Special Protection Area (SPA 004022). The beach is used to some extent by anglers, walkers, surfers and windsurfers.

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

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

Getting to Garryvoe

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 Garryvoe, 0.3 km south 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 Garryvoe (232191), 190 m away in a straight line. Use the planner to check walking connections for your journey.

Garryvoe 190 m
bus 240
Scheduled departures from this stop
Day

Other places to swim in County Cork

Questions people ask

Is the water clean at Garryvoe?

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

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 Cork County Council before swimming.

Does Garryvoe 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 Garryvoe?

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

How do you get to Garryvoe without a car?

The nearest stop in the national timetable is Garryvoe, 190 metres from the beach in a straight line, and bus 240 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 2026-04-08. 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 Cork