Beach · County Mayo
Carrowniskey, Louisburgh
Can I swim here? Outside the bathing season
The bathing season runs from 1 June to 15 September. Outside it the water is not tested weekly and lifeguards are not on duty. The last sample, on 2 September 2026, was excellent. Live status on beaches.ie, which the EPA updates hourly in season.
Carrowniskey Beach is a large sandy, gradually sloping beach open to the west. Carrowniskey Beach is an exposed beach and can be subject to rip tides/strong currents. There are a number of different habitats including sand hills and an area of machair, three lagoon type lakes and their associated riverine channels. The Lagoon habitat is of extreme ecological importance. Carrowniskey Beach forms part of the Lough Cahasy, Lough Baun and Roonah Lough Special Area of Conservation (cSAC) and proposed National Heritage Area (pNHA) (Site Code 001529). The bathing water is approximately 0.8km2 in area however the beach extends approximately 1.7km. The medium and maximum water depth within the designated bathing water is 0.5m and 5.0m respectively depending on tides.
Excellent (2025): The highest standard: results over four years were consistently very clean.
The record, year by year
| Year | EPA classification | Samples | Excellent | Good | Sufficient | Poor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | — | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | Excellent | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | Excellent | 8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2023 | Excellent | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | Excellent | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | — | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | — | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | — | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Facilities
| Lifeguards | Yes | |
|---|---|---|
| Toilets | Yes | |
| Parking | Yes | |
| Wheelchair access | No | |
| Beach wheelchair | No | |
| Public transport | No | |
| First aid | Yes | Available at Lifeguard Station |
| Lifebuoy | Yes | |
| Information board | No | |
| Activity zones | No | |
| Litter bins | Yes | |
| Recycling | Yes |
Dogs and cars
- Dogs on a lead
- No cars on the beach
- Car-free zone
Latest sample (2026-09-02): E. coli <10, intestinal enterococci 8 (cfu/100 ml).
The EPA's bathing water profile
Outdoors in County Mayo this week
Best day outdoors: Sun, 11 Oct — dry by day, breezy, up to 14°C
Status Yellow - Rain warning for Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Sligo
From Thu, 8 Oct, 09:00 until Fri, 9 Oct, 04:00
Heavy spells of rain.
Be aware of potential impacts:
- Difficult travelling conditions
- Localised flooding possible
Issued by Met Éireann · met.ie/warnings
- Fri, 9 Oct12° / 8°Medium rain showers
- Sat, 10 Oct12° / 7°Sun with light cloud
- Sun, 11 Oct14° / 13°Sun with light cloud
Make a day of it
The nearest trails, beaches, woods and heritage within 25 km.