Broadhaven Bay is one of very few places in Ireland where all five of the marine mammals on the EU’s Annex II list turn up regularly: bottlenose dolphin, harbour porpoise, grey seal, common seal and otter. Subtidal surveys here have logged 72 marine species in all, which is why the whole bay is a Special Area of Conservation and part of the Blacksod Bay and Broadhaven Ramsar wetland. If you come for one thing, come for the water and what’s in it – best seen on a boat out of Ballyglass pier, where local operator Wavesweeper Sea Adventures runs trips past the lighthouse and seabird cliffs.
This is a wide Atlantic inlet in the far north-west corner of Mayo, its mouth facing north and stretching 8.6km between Erris Head in the west and Kid Island in the east. The shore runs from blanket bog and machair grassland to white sand and sheer cliffs. Be clear-eyed about the remoteness: this is the Erris coast, about 32 miles west of Ballina, with Belmullet the only town of any size – there’s no visitor centre or ticket gate, just a working, weather-beaten coast that rewards people who’ve made the effort to get out here.
The Stags and the seabirds
The set-piece view is from the clifftop at Benwee Head, looking out to the Stags of Broadhaven – five jagged stacks (some sources count four) rising over 100m straight from the sea, a little over a mile offshore. They’re a breeding ground for puffins and petrels, and they’re a genuinely dramatic sight whether you reach them by the headland walk or by boat. The inner inlet, Sruwaddacon Bay, is a separate Special Protection Area, important in winter for wildfowl, brent geese in particular.
The lighthouse and older history
Broadhaven Lighthouse, known locally as Ballyglass Lighthouse, sits on the north-eastern tip of the Mullet Peninsula. The 15m tower was built in 1846–48 and the light first shone on 1 June 1855 – a fixed light, 87 feet above high water, visible for twelve miles, and attributed to the great lighthouse engineer George Halpin. Because the bay is relatively sheltered compared with its wild neighbours at Eagle Island and Black Rock, it earned a reputation as a ‘retirement station’ for keepers seeing out their final years. It was automated to unwatched acetylene around 1930 and later electrified.
The bay has a long seafaring past. Spanish vessels used it as a harbour, and several Armada ships – among them the Santiago – foundered in these North Mayo waters in the 16th century. In more recent times it was the site of a basking shark fishery.
Beaches, activities and getting there
The nearest Blue Flag beaches, Elly Bay and Mullaghroe, are about 9km away over on the Blacksod side of the Mullet; closer to the bay itself are quieter sandy strands at Carrowteige/Rinroe, Glengad, Inver, Cross and Claggan. For activity, Wavesweeper run coasteering, snorkelling, kayaking and fishing as well as boat tours from Ballyglass; there’s kite-surfing tuition through 360KiteSurfing, and the Gateway Leisure Centre in Belmullet for indoor family options on a wet day.
To get here, head to Ballina and follow the R313 west to Belmullet; Benwee Head and Ballyglass pier are a short drive north of the town. There’s free parking in Belmullet and at Ballyglass, but spaces at Benwee Head fill on fine summer weekends, so come early. The base for most visitors is the three-star Broadhaven Bay Hotel in Belmullet, which has a pool and leisure centre. One practical note: the bay’s wide mudflats are only fully exposed at low water, so check the tide before you plan a long beach walk.