County SligoBlue FlagGreen Coast

Rosses Point Beach

Rosses Point Beach is one of the waters the EPA tests and grades in County Sligo, 1.1 km west of Rosses Point. 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

1.1 km

from Rosses Point

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, Green Coast · the register does not say which year's award
County: County Sligo
Managed by: Sligo County Council
Nearest town: Rosses Point, 1.1 km west of it, in a straight line
From that town: 1.5 km by road, about 2 min drivingor 1.6 km on foot, about 21 minutes at 4.8 km/h
Lifeguard: Yes, hours not recorded
Toilets: Yes
Parking: Yes
Access: 2 no. designated parking spaces, footpath to beach, concrete access ramps in place
Dogs: Dogs are not permitted in the bathing area between 10am and 7pm from 1st June to 15th September
Cars on the beach: No
Public transport: Bus Eireann service to and from Rosses Point - Sligo -Strandhill
First aid: First Aid kit and AED available in bathing season, during lifeguard patrol hours
Protected area: Recorded as a natural sensitive area
Position: 54.3090° N, 8.5744° W
Record changed: 2026-05-14

View N along beach at Rosses Point·Colin Park, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
View N along beach at Rosses Point·Colin Park, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Holiday cottages, Rosses Point Looking across the bay towards Knocknarea mountain.·Willie Duffin, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Holiday cottages, Rosses Point Looking across the bay towards Knocknarea mountain.·Willie Duffin, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

What the EPA says about it

Rosses Point Beach is a sheltered sandy beach, backed by sand dunes. The beach lies between the Drumcliff Bay Special Protection Area (Ref. SPA 004013) to the north which contains the Drumcliff Bay Designated Shellfish Area, and the Cummeen Strand/Drumcliff Bay (Sligo Bay) Special Area of Conservation (Ref. SAC 000627) to the south which contains the Sligo Bay Designated Shellfish Area. There is a nice coastal walk along Rosses Point Penninsula and harbour which continues along the headland to Rosses Point beach. The beach is popular for running, walking and kite surfing. Rosses Point beach is approximately 1.5km in length however the bathing area is approximately 300m in length.

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

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

Getting to Rosses Point Beach

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

Rosses Point Beach is in Rosses Point, County Sligo. 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 Rosses Point, 1.1 km 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 Rosses Point West (559331), 590 m away in a straight line. Use the planner to check walking connections for your journey.

Rosses Point West 590 m
bus S2
Scheduled departures from this stop
Day
Oyster Island 780 m
bus S2
Scheduled departures from this stop
Day
Rosses Pt Promenade 1.2 km
bus S2
Scheduled departures from this stop
Day
Rosses Upper 1.3 km
bus S2
Scheduled departures from this stop
Day
Rosses Point East 1.7 km
bus S2
Scheduled departures from this stop
Day

Getting to Rosses Point covers the journeys into the town itself.

Other places to swim in County Sligo

Questions people ask

Is the water clean at Rosses Point Beach?

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

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 Sligo County Council before swimming.

Does Rosses Point Beach 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 Rosses Point Beach?

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

How do you get to Rosses Point Beach without a car?

The nearest stop in the national timetable is Rosses Point West, 590 metres from the beach in a straight line, and bus S2 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 2026-05-14. 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 Sligo