Beach · County Donegal
Rossnowlagh
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 9 September 2026, was excellent. Live status on beaches.ie, which the EPA updates hourly in season.
Rossnowlagh is west facing consisting of a long sandy beach confined by the Coolmore cliffs to the South and extends up to Inishfad at Durnesh Lake to the North. Rossnowlagh Beach is in the Donegal Bay SPA and is a very large, marine-dominated, site. There is a wide and diverse variety of wildlife including birds and seals. Activities at Rossnowlagh beach include swimming, kayaking, boating, windsurfing, sailing, surfing, power boating, jet skiing, diving and other land based activities on the beach. The designated bathing area is approx. 0.9054km2 and the extent along the water is approximately is 2150m. There is a medium sloping gradient off Rossnowlagh Beach with the water depth reaching 1m approx. 20m from the water line.
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 | — | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | Excellent | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | Excellent | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | Excellent | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | Excellent | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | — | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | — | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | — | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Facilities
| Lifeguards | Yes | |
|---|---|---|
| Toilets | Yes | |
| Parking | Yes | |
| Wheelchair access | Yes | |
| Beach wheelchair | Yes | Rossnowlagh Beach wheelchair is available from the Sandhouse Hotel and Marine Spa. Tel: +353 (0) 71 9851777 or email info@sandhouse.ie |
| Public transport | Yes | |
| First aid | Yes | |
| Lifebuoy | No | |
| Information board | Yes | |
| Activity zones | No | |
| Litter bins | Yes | |
| Recycling | No |
Dogs and cars
- Dogs on a leadDogs are not permitted in the Blue Flag Area of this beach from 12 pm to 7 pm (1st June - 15th September annually). Dogs are permitted on leads outside the Blue Flag Area at all times.
- Cars allowed on the beach
Latest sample (2026-09-09): E. coli <10, intestinal enterococci <1 (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 showers
- Sat, 10 Oct12° / 9°Medium rain showers
- Sun, 11 Oct13° / 11°Sun with grey cloud
Make a day of it
The nearest trails, beaches, woods and heritage within 25 km.
Trails & walks
Beaches & bathing waters
Forests & woodlands
Parks, gardens & islands
Nature spot · 7.7 km awayTrá na dTulánTullan StrandBeachBundoranPopular with serious surfers, Tullan Strand is a 2km beach stretching from the north end of Bundoran Town to the Erne Estuary at Ballyshannon.
Nature spot · 8.6 km awaySea View GardenGardenDromoreSea View Garden, Mountcharles, County Donegal, is a unique garden retaining old world charm, overlooking Donegal Bay. The garden is planted with a great variety of herbaceous and shrub borders as well as ornamental trees, so there is always something of interest in bloom.