Overview
The waves that made Mullaghmore famous – the ones big-wave surfers fly in for, reaching around 15 m in the storms of 2012 – break off the Head, not off Bunduff Strand. The strand is the calm side: a wide sweep of pale sand next to Mullaghmore village in north County Sligo, shelving gently into shallow water, with the flat top of Benbulben filling the view inland. It carries Blue Flag status, so the water quality and management are checked and up to standard.
If you only do one thing here, walk the coast. The strand is the start of the roughly 8 km Mullaghmore Head loop, about two and a half hours on a mix of boardwalk, sand and grassy cliff-top, passing beneath Classiebawn Castle with Benbulben in sight most of the way. For a swim, the sheltered eastern bay is the spot: gently sloping and calm enough for children.
The river and the boundary
The Bunduff River empties into the bay at the southern end of the strand, and is said to mark the old boundary between the provinces of Ulster and Connacht. It rises in the Glenade valley over in County Leitrim and feeds the dune system that shelters the beach.
Surfing and the walk
Mullaghmore Head, the headland just north, is one of the best-known big-wave reefs in Europe, working hardest in the autumn and winter storms. For most people it is a spectator sport, not a place to paddle out unless you know exactly what you are doing. Back on the sheltered side, the calm eastern bay suits beginners on a board or a paddleboard when the sea is flat.
The Mullaghmore Head loop is the walk to build the day around. It runs past rocky coves, pebble stretches and tide pools, with Classiebawn’s turret on the rise above and the mountain behind. Several sections of the headland path go under water at high tide, so check the tide before you set out.
Getting there and practical information
By car – The N15 runs past the turn for the beach, with a car park by the strand. Parking is charged, with rates that vary by day and area (reductions for disability permits); spaces fill by mid-morning on a fine summer day.
Facilities – Keep expectations low: this is an open strand, not a resort beach, so bring what you need. There is no admission charge for the beach itself.
Nearby attractions
- Classiebawn Castle – A 19th-century private house on a grassy rise over the bay, its conical turret the landmark you will pick out from all along the coast walk. Not open to visitors, but unmistakable on the skyline.
- Streedagh Beach – A long sandy spit about 15 km south, where three Spanish Armada ships were wrecked in 1588.
- Inishmurray – An uninhabited island off the coast with the ruins of an early monastic settlement.
- Gleniff Horseshoe – A 9 km loop drive inland through the Dartry Mountains.
Come before 10am on a summer day and you will have both parking and Benbulben at its clearest, before the light flattens out.