County Galway

Trá na bhForbacha, Na Forbacha

Trá na bhForbacha, Na Forbacha is one of the waters the EPA tests and grades in County Galway, 1.2 km west of Furbo. The Environmental Protection Agency classified it good for water quality for the 2025 season. The register records parking, bins, a lifebuoy and an information board.

Good

water quality, 2025

Blue Flag

lifeguard

1.2 km

from Furbo

Water quality: Good, 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: None
County: County Galway
Managed by: Galway County Council
Nearest town: Furbo, 1.2 km west of it, in a straight line
From that town: 1.3 km by road, about 2 min drivingor 1.3 km on foot, about 16 minutes at 4.8 km/h
Lifeguard: No
Toilets: No
Parking: Yes
Access: No
Dogs: Allowed on a lead
Cars on the beach: No
Public transport: No
Protected area: Recorded as a natural sensitive area
Position: 53.2475° N, 9.2254° W
Record changed: 2026-04-08

Looking SW across Galway Bay from Trá na bhForbacha·Ian Hawfinch, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Looking SW across Galway Bay from Trá na bhForbacha·Ian Hawfinch, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Landward side of Trá na bhForbacha (Furbo Beach)·Ian Hawfinch, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Landward side of Trá na bhForbacha (Furbo Beach)·Ian Hawfinch, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

What the EPA says about it

Trá na bhForbacha is a sandy beach and can be subject to very strong wave action and currents. The beach supports a wide variety of shellfish, birds, animals and plants. Seals and otters may be spotted along the coastline. Trá na bhForbacha is a proposed Natural Heritage Area. Activities include swimming, bathing and water sports.

Trá na bhForbacha, Na Forbacha is classified as achieving Good Water Quality in 2025 based on the assessment of bacteriological results for the period 2022 to 2025. Trá na bhForbacha, Na Forbacha achieved an Excellent Water Quality rating in 2024, 2023 and 2022. 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

Trá na bhForbacha, Na Forbacha, and the other places to swim in County Galway. Share your position and the map will show how far each one is from you.

Getting to Trá na bhForbacha, Na Forbacha

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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

Trá na bhForbacha, Na Forbacha is in Furbo, County Galway. 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 Furbo, 1.2 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.

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Stops near it

The nearest scheduled stop is Dr na bhForbach (532601), 340 m away in a straight line. Use the planner to check walking connections for your journey.

Dr na bhForbach 340 m
buses 424 and 525
Scheduled departures from this stop
Day
Na Forbacha 1.6 km
buses 424 and 525
Scheduled departures from this stop
Day

Getting to Furbo covers the journeys into the town itself.

Other places to swim in County Galway

Questions people ask

Is the water clean at Trá na bhForbacha, Na Forbacha?

The EPA classified it Good for the 2025 season, which is worked out from four years of samples. Trá na bhForbacha, Na Forbacha is classified as achieving Good Water Quality in 2025 based on the assessment of bacteriological results for the period 2022 to 2025. Trá na bhForbacha, Na Forbacha achieved an Excellent Water Quality rating in 2024, 2023 and 2022. 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 Trá na bhForbacha, Na Forbacha?

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 Galway County Council before swimming.

Does Trá na bhForbacha, Na Forbacha 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 Trá na bhForbacha, Na Forbacha?

No. The register records no lifeguard here, so nobody is watching the water.

How do you get to Trá na bhForbacha, Na Forbacha without a car?

The nearest stop in the national timetable is Dr na bhForbach, 340 metres from the beach in a straight line, and buses 424 and 525 call there, run by Bus Éireann and Island Ferries Teoranta. 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 Galway