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County GalwayBlue Flag

Traught, Kinvara

Traught, Kinvara is one of the waters the EPA tests and grades in County Galway, 4.8 km north-west of Kinvarra. 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
4.8 km
from Kinvarra
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 · the register does not say which year's award
County
County Galway
Managed by
Galway County Council
Nearest town
Kinvarra, 4.8 km north-west of it, in a straight line
From that town
6.4 km by road, about 9 min drivingor 7.1 km on foot, about 89 minutes at 4.8 km/h
Lifeguard
Yes: 12-6 7 days July & Aug weekend June/Sept
Toilets
Yes
Parking
Yes
Access
Access to shore.
Dogs
No dogs allowed on designated Blue Flag Beaches during lifeguard hours. Dogs allowed on a lead at all other times
Cars on the beach
No
Public transport
No
First aid
lifeguard huts during lifeguard season
Protected area
Recorded as a natural sensitive area
Position
53.1711° N, 8.9881° W
Record changed
2026-04-10
Traught Beach
Traught Beach·Ian Capper, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Traught Beach·Ian Capper, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Traught Beach
Traught Beach·Ian Capper, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Traught Beach·Ian Capper, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

What the EPA says about it

Traught beach is a long, sandy, gently sloping beach consisting of a lower sand/mud shore with shingle on the upper shore. There is a wide variety of animals, plants, shellfish and birds supported at Traught beach. Seals and otters are sometimes spotted along the coastline. Traught Beach is located within the conservation areas of Galway Bay and Inner Galway Bay which is a protected area for birds. Activities include swimming, bathing, windsurfing and angling.

Traught, Kinvara is classified as achieving Excellent Water Quality in 2025 based on the assessment of bacteriological results for the period 2022 to 2025. Traught, Kinvara 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

Traught, Kinvara, 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 Traught, Kinvara

Your journey, your way

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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

Traught, Kinvara is in Kinvarra, 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 Kinvarra, 4.8 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 Nogra (555511), 1.7 km away in a straight line. Use the planner to check walking connections for your journey.

  • Nogra 1.7 km
    bus 351
    Scheduled departures from this stop

Getting to Kinvarra covers the journeys into the town itself.

Other places to swim in County Galway

Questions people ask

Is the water clean at Traught, Kinvara?
The EPA classified it Excellent for the 2025 season, which is worked out from four years of samples. Traught, Kinvara is classified as achieving Excellent Water Quality in 2025 based on the assessment of bacteriological results for the period 2022 to 2025. Traught, Kinvara 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 Traught, Kinvara?
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 Traught, Kinvara 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 Traught, Kinvara?
The register records one, 12-6 7 days July & Aug weekend June/Sept. Outside those hours nobody is watching the water.
How do you get to Traught, Kinvara without a car?
The nearest stop in the national timetable is Nogra, 1.7 km from the beach in a straight line, and bus 351 call there, run by TFI Local Link Limerick Clare. 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 2026-04-10. 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