Beach · County Donegal

Portarthur, Derrybeg

Water quality: Excellent (2025)ParkingWheelchair accessDogs on a lead

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 7 September 2026, was excellent. Live status on beaches.ie, which the EPA updates hourly in season.

Portarthur beach is a north facing, long sandy beach; confined by a rocky outcrop east of Inishmeane Island to the North and a small estuary to the south. Fixed dunes are frequent throughout the site. They support a wide variety of plant species including some rare plant forms. There are also a wide range of bird species. Portarthur is situated in a Gaeltacht area with a variety of islands off the coast. Activities at Portarthur beach include swimming, kayaking, boating, sailing, power boating, jet skiing, diving and other land based activities on the beach. The designated bathing area is approx. 0.225km2 and the extent along the water is approximately is 1070m. There is a deep gradient off Portarthur Beach with the water depth reaching 1m approx. 10m from the water line and continuing out at a deep slope.

Excellent (2025): The highest standard: results over four years were consistently very clean.

The record, year by year

Year	EPA classification	Samples	Excellent	Sufficient	Poor
2026	—	6	6	0	0
2025	Excellent	6	5	1	0
2024	Excellent	6	6	0	0
2023	Excellent	6	6	0	0
2022	Good	6	6	0	0
2021	—	6	6	0	0
2020	—	6	6	0	0
2019	—	6	5	0	1

Facilities

Lifeguards	No
Toilets	No
Parking	Yes
Wheelchair access	Yes
Beach wheelchair	No
Public transport	No
First aid	No
Lifebuoy	No
Information board	Yes
Activity zones	No
Litter bins	Yes
Recycling	No

Dogs and cars

Dogs on a lead
No cars on the beach

Latest sample (2026-09-07): E. coli 62, intestinal enterococci 3 (cfu/100 ml).

The EPA's bathing water profile

Outdoors in County Donegal this week

Best day outdoors: Sun, 11 Oct — dry by day, breezy, up to 13°C

Status Yellow - Rain warning for Donegal

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° / 10°Medium rain showersWeather warning in force
Sat, 10 Oct12° / 9°Medium rain showersGood day outdoors
Sun, 11 Oct13° / 11°Sun with grey cloudGreat day outdoors

Make a day of it

The nearest trails, beaches, woods and heritage within 25 km.