Port Arthur in evening light: no footsteps.

Many people who come to Ireland come to see the coastlines, castles and experience the craic in the pubs. For irish people holidays at the west coast are very much about the water. Especially Donegal sports some of the finest beaches in Europe. And yes, you can swim there, in spite of the temperatures.

Continental Europeans are often flabbergasted how Irish approach the water: you run into it, you dive in – and then you just don’t leave it again until you are blue. The alternative is the wet-suit.

Bundoran Beach on a not-so-sunny-day: our grandson (4) in his wet-suit

Everybody wears them, you often get them in supermarkets on special offer, you can buy them second hand at surf-shops – Neoprene made Ireland a 12-month-a-year swimming-nation. The Temperatures vary between 15 and 19 degrees in the summer and fall to 10 in winter-time, but with 5mm neopren on your body that is not much of a problem.

Rossnowlagh Beach: a young girl experiences her first waves. On that busy day aprox. 100 kids were in the water, many with their surf-schools. Cost of the courses: around 35 euros a day

Rossnowlagh is all about the surfing: You can walk a 100 meters and more into the surf which is mostly moderate – ideal for beginners

Rossnowlagh bay, seen from the cliffs: Irritating for foreigners it still is a “drive-on-beach” – until the tide comes in

Icecream-vans are part of the fun. And mobile chip-shops

Sheltered beaches and bays like Bunbeg or Rossnowlagh feel considerably warmer than the open Atlantic waters you get at Bundoran, but it is all the same: the water is crystal clear and fun, fun, fun.

So yes, even for us our holidays at the west coast are very much beach-holidays meanwhile. Many of them are pristine and almost unreal in their untouched beauty. Even a busy beach like Bundoran has a tidal zone teeming with life: plants in rock-pools with shrimps, crab, starfish – an open-air-aquarium for the kids to explore.

All photos in this article where taken within 1.5 week in July 2024. Temperatures varied between 13 and 22 degrees. The beaches we visited were Bundoran and Rossnowlagh, Cliffoney, Bun Beag and Port Arthur. All are completely different.

Evening-mood at Port Arthur in the very north of Donegal

Looks like Sardinia, doesn’t it?

Bundoran is a buzzing kids paradise, with its rock pools and the nearby playground and summer fairground. Tullan at the other end of town is a long-stretched beauty mostly frequented by walkers and surfers.

Cliffoney is hard to reach, but totally pristine: We got there for 8pm on a lovely day, and our footsteps were the only ones we could make out.

Kids paradise: Beach, fun-park, playground: Bundoran in the summer is a lively place – and has a very nostalgic flair to it at the same time

I f*** dare you: a young man makes his way into the waves at Bundoran at sunset

Same place, next day: there are no seasons in Ireland, only changing weather. We experienced days like that in October 2023 – Late summer and early autumn can be the nicest time of the year, if you are lucky. And early September is the month with the highest water temperatures.

Need a private beach? Go to Bun Beag

Bun Beag with all its beaches, the backdrop of Errigal mountain in the background, the famous Bad Eddie-wreck in the bay and all its secluded little beaches offers stunning natural beauty and privacy: If you don’t want neighbours, you pick a 500-meter-stretch of beach for yourself.

Port Arthur is similar, but different again: The little beaches are divided by mighty rounded rocks – the pictures look more like North-Sardina or Corsica than Ireland. A plenitude of islands in front of the coast calm the waters that are teeming with fish. The biggest ones you see around are Basking sharks, if you are lucky: the second biggest sharks in the world – and totally harmless.

Cliffoney-beach, famous Classiebawn-castle in the background: The castle was the Mountbattens holiday-home, members of the english royal family spent their holidays here. The beach was almost private for them

Where we walked: At the end of a long, beautiful summer day the only footsteps in the sand were ours. Irelands beaches might be colder than the ones in the Mediterranean, but they offer you something you will not find in warmer parts: the luxury of solitude in places of breathtaking beauty