Six strands here, and four of them cluster around Tramore Bay and the estuary just east of it. Tramore is the anchor: five kilometres of flat, firm sand, dependable surf, Ireland’s oldest surf club, and the cast-iron Metal Man standing over the bay since the 1820s. At the eastern end of the same bay, Saleen Beach is cut off from the main strand by a fast stream, good for a quiet walk and long views across the sound, but unsafe for swimming whatever the tide is doing.
Round at Dunmore East, Counsellors’ Strand is a small Blue Flag cove under red sandstone cliffs, reached down a steep slipway from a free clifftop car park. It floods at high tide, so go on a falling tide, when the sand opens out and joins Lawlor’s Beach next door. Woodstown, the sandy estuary beach near Passage East, is the sheltered option in that corner.
Two of the six need a proper drive. Bunmahon lies west on the Copper Coast, a UNESCO Global Geopark, where the River Mahon meets the sea; its beach regained Blue Flag status in 2026, and the cliffs above hold copper-mine ruins, a geopark centre and clifftop walks. Ballyquin Strand, about 4km north-east of Ardmore, is 400 metres of fine sand and tidal rock pools with no lifeguard and a small car park, so arrive before midday in summer.
Five kilometres of flat, firm sand with dependable surf, Ireland's oldest surf club and the Metal Man watching over the bay since the 1820s.
A long Blue Flag beach where the River Mahon meets the Copper Coast geopark, with surf breaks, copper-mine ruins and clifftop walks above.
A sandy estuary beach down near Passage East, sheltered water for a swim, and a name it shares with a major Viking longphort site.
Four hundred metres of fine golden sand and tidal rock pools north-east of Ardmore, rarely busy, with no lifeguard and a small car park.
A sheltered Blue Flag cove under red sandstone cliffs at Dunmore East, good for snorkelling on a falling tide when the sand opens out.
6 of 6 shown — tap a pin for the place.
Tramore, waterford
Tramore’s five-kilometre strand is the draw, long, flat and firm, with dependable surf and Ireland’s oldest surf club. Above the bay, the cast-iron Metal Man has warned ships off the rocks since the 1820s, and at low tide the Backstrand lagoon drains to a quiet stretch of salt-marsh good for wading and for waders. A Victorian railway resort that still works as one.
Bunmahon, waterford
Bunmahon sits where the River Mahon meets the sea on Waterford's Copper Coast, a UNESCO Global Geopark. Its long sandy beach regained Blue Flag status in 2026, and the cliffs above hold the ruins of a copper-mining boom that once packed 21 pubs into the village. Surf breaks, a geopark centre and clifftop walks fill out a day.
Woodstown, waterford
Two places share the name Woodstown near Waterford. One is a field west of the city that hides one of Western Europe's most important Viking sites, a 9th-century longphort dug up in 2003 when the N25 was rerouted to save it. The other is a sandy estuary beach down near Passage East. This page covers both, and is clear that they are separate trips.
Ballyquin, waterford
Dunmore East, waterford
Corbally, waterford
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