Two stretches of coast hold most of this list. Around Sligo town, Strandhill faces the conical hill of Knocknarea and takes a consistent Atlantic swell, though rip currents mean the water is for surfers rather than swimmers. Culleenamore, on the sheltered Ballysadare Bay side of the same peninsula, is its opposite: a tidal strand where the sea pulls right back to expose sandbanks that one of Ireland’s largest seal colonies hauls out on. Rosses Point sits 8 km from town on its own peninsula, with two blue-flag beaches and the 1821 Metal Man, and Cummeen Strand fills the gap between them, becoming a wide sandplain at low tide with fourteen cut-stone pillars marking the old walking route across to Coney Island.
North of Grange the beaches run long and open under Benbulben. Streedagh is a 3 km strand where Armada timbers still work loose at low tide, Bunduff carries a Blue Flag and shelves gently at its eastern end, and Trawalua and Yellow Strand have no car park and no facilities at all.
The outlier is Enniscrone, five kilometres of sand and dune on Killala Bay at the Mayo end of the county, with lifeguards on a marked zone in summer. Several strands here are surf beaches rather than bathing beaches, so check which is which before you get in.
One of the most consistent surf breaks in Ireland, set under Knocknarea beside a village of cafés, pubs and seaweed baths; rip currents rule out swimming.
Two blue-flag beaches, three lighthouses and the Yeats family's summer haunt, all on a peninsula 8 km from Sligo town at the harbour mouth.
Low tide turns it into a wide sandplain under Knocknarea, with fourteen stone pillars marking the old walking route out to Coney Island.
A quiet dune-backed strand on the south side of Sligo Bay, gentler than Strandhill and a 2.5 km coastal walk from Aughris Head.
Five kilometres of sand on Killala Bay with a lifeguarded zone in summer, seaweed baths running since 1912 and a links course in the dunes.
12 of 12 shown — tap a pin for the place.
Strandhill, sligo
Strandhill's beach is one of the most consistent surf spots in Ireland, faced by the conical hill of Knocknarea and a village of cafés and pubs. The catch is that rip currents make it unsafe to swim, so the water is for surfers; everyone else walks the strand, climbs Knocknarea or books a VOYA seaweed bath.
sligo
Rosses Point sits on a peninsula at the mouth of Sligo Harbour, 8 km from Sligo town, with two blue-flag beaches and three lighthouses including the 1821 Metal Man. W.B. and Jack B. Yeats summered at Elsinore House here, and County Sligo Golf Club has played the links since 1894.
sligo
At low tide Cummeen Strand becomes a wide sandplain under Knocknarea, and fourteen cut-stone pillars mark the old walking route across to Coney Island. The flats draw wintering Brent geese and basking harbour seals, and are protected as both an SAC and an SPA.
sligo
Dunmoran Strand is a quiet 0.85 km beach on the south side of Sligo Bay, backed by dunes and holding a Green Coast Award. It's gentler and less crowded than Strandhill, good for beginner surfers and families, and a 2.5 km coastal walk west leads to Aughris Head and the 17th-century Beach Bar. Lifeguard cover is patchy, so don't rely on it.
Enniscrone, sligo
Five kilometres of sand and dune on the eastern shore of Killala Bay make Enniscrone one of the most accessible surf beaches in Ireland. Lifeguards patrol a marked zone in summer, the Kilcullen seaweed baths have run since 1912, and a 27-hole links course sits right on the dunes.
Grange, sligo
Echoes of surf crash against the golden sands of Streedagh Strand as you approach Grange, perched between Benbulben’s looming silhouette and the Atlantic. The village’s history is etched into the shoreline, where the wrecks of three 1588 Spanish Armada ships lie beneath the tide, their story commemorated at the nearby interpretive centre.
Maugherow Peninsula, sligo
Lissadell House was the childhood home of Countess Markievicz and her suffragist sister Eva, and a retreat for W.B. Yeats. Guided tours – late May to August only – show the only complete set of Williams & Gibton furniture left in Ireland, and below the estate Lissadell Strand is a free, open-access beach under Benbulben.
Grange, sligo
Three Spanish Armada ships ran aground on Streedagh in September 1588, and their timbers still work loose at low tide alongside the wreck of an 18th-century butter boat. It's a 3 km strand under Benbulben, good for cold-water surf and Carboniferous fossil-hunting, with a Green Coast Award for its clean water.
Sligo, sligo
Culleenamore Strand, sligo
Trawalua Strand, sligo
Raghly Peninsula, sligo
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