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County Dublin

Sandycove Beach

Sandycove Beach is one of the waters the EPA tests and grades in County Dublin, 1.2 km north-west of Dalkey. 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 and an information board.

Good
water quality, 2025
No
Blue Flag
Yes
lifeguard
1.2 km
from Dalkey
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 4 days last season
Awards
None
County
County Dublin
Managed by
Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council
Nearest town
Dalkey, 1.2 km north-west of it, in a straight line
From that town
1.5 km by road, about 3 min drivingor 1.5 km on foot, about 19 minutes at 4.8 km/h
Lifeguard
Yes: During bathing season only
Toilets
Yes
Parking
Yes
Access
Disabled parking bay
Dogs
Guide dogs only
Cars on the beach
No
Public transport
No
First aid
Available from lifeguard hut when lifeguard is on duty
Protected area
Recorded as a natural sensitive area
Position
53.2886° N, 6.1147° W
Record changed
2026-04-30
Sandycove Harbour
Sandycove Harbour·Nick Lansley, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Sandycove Harbour·Nick Lansley, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Early evening at Sandycove
Early evening at Sandycove·Ian Paterson, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Early evening at Sandycove·Ian Paterson, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

What the EPA says about it

Sandycove beach is a tiny beach which offers shallow water to paddle and lovely views to admire. This seaside suburb is located around a pleasant harbour and has a famous Martello Tower where the writer James Joyce once stayed for a week as a guest of poet Oliver St. John Gogarty. It is also home to the traditional Irish bathing place, the Forty Foot, where brave bathers swim all year round.

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

Sandycove Beach, 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 Sandycove Beach

Your journey, your way

Let’s get you to Sandycove Beach.

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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

Sandycove Beach is in Dalkey, 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 Dalkey, 1.2 km north-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.
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Stops near it

The nearest scheduled stop is Elton Park (3052), 300 m away in a straight line. Use the planner to check walking connections for your journey.

  • Elton Park 300 m
    buses 59, 111, 7n and 7D
    Scheduled departures from this stop
  • Sandycove Road 310 m
    buses 59, 111 and 7D
    Scheduled departures from this stop
  • Breffni Road 400 m
    buses 59, 111 and 7D
    Scheduled departures from this stop
  • Brudett Avenue 430 m
    buses 59, 111 and 7D
    Scheduled departures from this stop
  • Glasthule 530 m
    buses 59, 111, 7n and 7D
    Scheduled departures from this stop

Getting to Dalkey covers the journeys into the town itself.

Other places to swim in County Dublin

Questions people ask

Is the water clean at Sandycove Beach?
The EPA classified it Good for the 2025 season, which is worked out from four years of samples. Sandycove Beach is classified as achieving Good Water Quality in 2025 based on the assessment of bacteriological results for the period 2022 to 2025. Sandycove Beach achieved 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 Sandycove 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 Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council before swimming.
Does Sandycove Beach 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 Sandycove Beach?
The register records one, During bathing season only. Outside those hours nobody is watching the water.
How do you get to Sandycove Beach without a car?
The nearest stop in the national timetable is Elton Park, 300 metres from the beach in a straight line, and buses 59, 111, 7n and 7D call there, run by Go-Ahead Ireland and Nitelink, 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 2026-04-30. 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