Northern Ireland is a beautiful part of the world, steeped in her own history. With the majority of the beaches being on the North Coast, with an abundance of iconic landmarks and world heritage sites along the route. And granted, Northern Ireland isn’t famous for having the best weather. We’re more known to experience all four seasons in one afternoon – it’s happened many a time! Considering the lack of constant good weather, the island makes up for in beautiful beaches to enjoy long walks & picnics.

Best Beaches in Northern Ireland

I have lived in Northern Ireland for most of my life. And have lived within a mile walk from not one, but two beaches. Which we feel very lucky to be able to say that and even though they are not blue flag beaches, they are still beautiful and my kids enjoy them immensely. 

However, I am here to share with you the top beaches to visit within Northern Ireland, and here we go…

Ballycastle Beach

One of our favourite parts of Northern Ireland is the beautiful town of Ballycastle, which is also home to the stunning Ballycastle Beach. It is 1.2 kilometres of sand and shingle. With plenty of benches nearby to enjoy the view and even gym equipment to work out with a sea view. 

The quaint Ballycastle town is just across the road, with a great selection of places to eat or just simply enjoy an ice-cream. There are public toilets over by the bowling green just beyond the gym equipment area and also over towards the dock.

Facilities available at Ballycastle Beach:

• Car parking available
• Child-friendly areas
• Visitor Information Centre
• Toilets available
• Dogs welcome, but restrictions apply seasonally
• Disabled toliets and parking also available
• Wheelchair access

By the Rathlin ferry Dock, you can also get a ferry over to the beautiful Rathlin Island, which I highly recommend. You can also visit the RSBP Seabird Centre by the West Lighthouse while there, too. 

Newcastle Beach

Newcastle town in Northern Ireland is already a top tourist attraction. With pubs to enjoy good food, amusements, both indoor and outdoor for the family and even swan boats on the lake in Castle Park to enjoy. But as an added bonus, Newcastle Beach makes the town even better and that’s before you even clock the gorgeous views of the Mourne Mountains behind you! 

Newcastle beach is around 2.5 kilometres of sand and pebbles to enjoy. Whether its for walking the dog, making sandcastles with the kids or even having an old fashioned pony ride. It’s a beautiful place to visit while you devour a well deserved ice-cream or cronut from Black Box Donuts. 

If you wanted to make your stay longer than the day, then consider staying over in YMCA Residential accommodation at Greenhill, we have stayed as a family twice and highly recommend it. Being at the foothills of the Mournes, surrounded in forest, with a nearby pub and restaurant to visit. It is a good spot to enjoy a family staycation. 

Facilities available at Newcastle Beach:

• Life saving equipment available
• Car parking
• Child-friendly areas
• Dogs allowed
• Lifeguard service
• Shops nearby
• Toliets onsite
• Tourist/Visitor Information centre
• Disabled car parking and access available

Downhill & Castlerock Beach

Downhill strand is 11km/7 mile stretch of beautiful soft sandy beach. Offering scenic walks, watersports e.g. body boarding, surfing and paddle boarding. This particular area, as well as Magilligan and Benone beaches, it is an area of Special Scientific Interest {ASSI}. As well as being a special area of conservation {SAC} due to the quality of the beautiful sand dunes and associated flora and fauna in the area. 

Facilities for this stunning beach location is: 

• On-beach free car parking, however, beware of the soft sand as I have seen many a car getting stuck.
• Dogs are allowed.
• Horse riding is permitted between certain times. Check Castlerock website for more information.
• Public toilets and baby changing facilities situated at the entrance of Castlerock beach.

Murlough National Nature Reserve

This stunning stretch of 2.5 miles of sandy beach is a National Trust site with a 6000 year old sand dune system. With boardwalks between the dunes, you can enjoy long walks with the added bonus of wild flowers and butterflies. It was the first nature reserve in County Down since 1967, known to be the first in Ireland.

There are man made trails for you to walk along when visiting the nature reserve. This helps to keep disturbance to the dunes and wildlife in the surrounding area. There may also be restrictions to certain areas of the nature reserve at particular times of the year. Something to keep in mind.

Murlough Nature Reserve/Beach facilities available:

• Car parks have a pay & display for visitors and card scanning machines for members
• Car park gates close at 5pm and reopens again at 8am
• The ring reserve is closed during the months of March to September due to nesting bird season
• A few picnic tables are available across the reserve
• Play area for the children available near the main car park
• Dogs welcome however must be on leads and they also have further restrictions depending on the time of year.

Crawfordsburn Beach

Crawfordsburn is a lovely beach which is also connected to the Crawfordsburn Country Park. A place that you could easily spend the day with the family e.g frisbee, the dog, bring a picnic, a kite even! When walking along the beach you have views of Belfast Lough, heading out towards Carrickfergus. Another one of my favourite places.

At lowtide at Crawfordsburn, you can enjoy rockpools and search for small fish, crabs and other crustaceans. And in high tide, due to the beach not being particularly wide, almost, if not all of the sand will be submerged under the ocean. Like most small beaches, really. However, it’s still a beautiful place to visit and enjoy if you time the low tide right. I am sure there is an app for that because there is an app for everything these days, isn’t there!?

Facilities available at Crawfordsburn Beach is:

• Nearby town – Bangor
• Parking available in the Country Park, fees apply
• Dogs welcome, but restrictions apply
• Shop nearby

Portrush West Strand

Portrush has been a much-loved seaside town of mine, for many a year. I spent my childhood school holidays here with my family and we were very lucky as we had a family caravan in Castlerock. Which is still my favourite place in the whole world, to this very day. However Portrush has oodles of charm! From thr newly opened Currys Fun Park, which was formally the infamous Barry’s Amusements! I hear it still has the old ghost train, so we cannot wait to check that out this summer.

As well as the amusements, tourist gift shops, cafes and restuarants with good food, watersports activities, Portrush also has a beautiful beach known as Portrush Strand.

This beautioful stretch of beach is has a classic arch to its formation as well as being a blue flag beach. Blue Flag Beach is a sort of honourary declaration of a beach to be clean, safe and beautiful. Just like Castlerock and Downhill Beach mentioned above. This beach is a loved location for paddle boarders, swimmers, surfers as well as horse riding, runners and more. A really beautiful place to hang out after a fun session at Curry’s Fun Park, with an ice cream and that view to enjoy!

Facilities available at West Strand Portrush:

• Free car parking
• Dogs allowed, with seasonal restrictions
• LIfeguard service over the momths of July & August
• Cycle path available
• Toliets available
• Shops nearby
• Amusements nearby
• Disabled toliets and disabled parking also available

Whiterocks Beach

The stunning Whiterocks Beach can be found along the infamous Causeway Coastal route. With beautiful limestone cliffs stretching from Curran Strand, all the way to Dunluce Castle. This stretch of beach is a magnet watersports enthusiasts, such as surfers, paddle and body boarders, as well as kayakers and even swimmers. To help with this sport, there is a surf outlet onsite, open all year round, to help when wishing to hire equipment, depending on what watersport you are looking to do.

You can also walk from East Strand in Portrush, right round to Whiterocks. This is a popular stretch for walkers or runners, especially. Whiterocks Beach is also another one of Northern Ireland’s prestigious Blue Flag Beaches.

The facilities available at Whiterocks Beach is:

• Wifi available
• Picnic Tables
• Onsite parking
• Dogs allowed with restrictions
• Toilets available

And there you have it, my top beaches to visit in Northern Ireland. From small beaches to beaches that span on for miles, there is something for everyobody. Whether you just want to walk the dog, go for a decent walk with a friend, enjoy a picnic with the family or enjoy some watersports. There is something for everyone.

I would love to know if you have already visited or are coming to Northern Ireland for a family holiday and are now planning to visit one of the beaches mentioned above. I would love to know your thoughts and plans! Or, if you feel another beach within Northern Ireland deserves a mention, let me know! 

It’s worth mentioning that when your trip to Northern Ireland comes to an end, consider taking home a unique souvenir to preserve those wonderful memories. Iron On Patches are an excellent choice.

You can customize patches with iconic Northern Irish elements or even capture a special moment you experienced on the beach.

These Iron on atches UK onto your backpack, jacket, or travel journal, and every time you see them, you’ll relive the sea breeze and relaxed atmosphere of Northern Ireland, making your travel memories even more vivid and tangible.