Monitored bathing water

Forty Foot

Co. Dublin, Ireland

Water qualityExcellent EPA

Blue Flag 2026No

Green CoastNo

DogsTo be confirmed

Always verify the car-park location on arrival. Road and access conditions may change.

⚠ Safety first: Deep water with no lifeguard, entered by steps off the rocks. Confident swimmers only, and take care on the steps in swell.

About Forty Foot

The Forty Foot at Sandycove is Dublin's most famous swimming spot — a rocky sea-bathing place on the southern edge of Dublin Bay where people have swum year-round for some 250 years. There are no sands here: swimmers cross the rocks and descend by steps and rails into deep, clear water, a ritual that peaks with the traditional Christmas Day swim. It sits directly beneath the Martello tower that opens James Joyce's Ulysses, now the James Joyce Museum, beside the gentler family cove at Sandycove. The EPA classifies the water Excellent. This is deep, unsupervised water with no lifeguard — go in only if you are a confident swimmer, mind the steps in swell, and check conditions first.

Nearby beaches

The Forty Foot and Sandycove sit side by side at Sandycove Point.

Get directions to the car park

This searches for the named car park on Google Maps — a place-name match, not yet a GPS-confirmed pin.

📍 Find Forty Foot, Sandycove, Co. Dublin on Google Maps

Named from official sources but not yet pin-verified — always confirm on arrival.

Map

Approximate location, auto-geocoded from a named car park — not yet a GPS-verified pin. Always verify on arrival.

Activity suitability

Surfing — No surf
Walking — Short walk (under 1km)
Lifeguard (summer) — No
Not yet confirmed: Swimming

Facilities

Car park — No car park
Disabled access — No
Lifeguard — No
Not yet confirmed: Toilets, Shower, Café nearby

Facilities confirmed from the relevant local authority and Fáilte Ireland Source.

Water quality

Water quality information is sourced from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Ireland and is updated annually. During the bathing season real-time water quality updates are available at beaches.ie. Always check beaches.ie and local signage at the beach before swimming, particularly after heavy rainfall. IrishBeaches.ie accepts no liability for water quality conditions at the time of your visit.

EPA classification: Excellent (latest annual bathing-water assessment). Always check beaches.ie for the current rating.

Where to stay nearby

Search accommodation near Forty Foot

Verified local listings for Dublin are coming as we build out our accommodation guide.

Nearby golf

From the GolfIreland.ie network. Distances are straight-line (as the crow flies), not driving distance.