Take a daytrip from Dingle and visit Ventry Beach to feel the soft sand between your toes and breathe in the fresh sea air. This picturesque beach curves around a sheltered bay and sits in the shadow of Mount Eagle. Ventry Beach is a Blue Flag beach, recognized for its cleanliness, safety and water quality. The wide stretch of sand is ideal for flying kites, playing beach sports and taking long walks. The calm water invites you to cool off on sunny days.
Located within a sheltered bay, the beach is popular with people practicing watersports such as kayaking and windsurfing. Rent equipment and take classes at the watersports center, which opens during the summer. Horseback riding tours, also available in the summer, allow you to experience the thrill of galloping along the seashore.
Several water-based excursions are possible from the beach’s harbor. Step aboard a boat bound for the Blasket Islands, a collection of offshore islands inhabited by a small community until the mid-1900s. Spot isolated beaches and wildlife that includes breeding seabirds, dolphins and whales, when in season. Visit Great Blasket Island to see the remains of the community’s old village.
Take a walking tour of parts of the Dingle Way, a scenic hiking route which passes through the beach and around Dingle Peninsula. Visit the medieval ruins of Rahinnane Castle and a ringed fort, about a 30-minute walk uphill from the beach. Follow natural trails in the foothills of Mount Eagle to Dunquin, on the peninsula’s west coast. Marvel at the views of rolling green hills and the Blasket Islands.
The beach is about a 15-minute drive from Dingle. Public buses travel between the two destinations and link the beach with Dunquin too. Use the small parking lot located at the northern edge of the beach. Here, you’ll find maps that detail some of the nearby walking routes.
Overlooking Ventry Beach is the small village of Ventry, with cafés and traditional Irish pubs.
