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Brandon Bay

County Kerry · Brandon Bay (Kerry) · Castlegregory

also known as Castlegregory, The Maharees, Magherabeg, The Dumps

Part of Brandon Bay (Kerry) →

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

beginner-friendlymedium crowds

On this page

The spot
Wind
Forecast
Month by month
Water
Level
The scene
Launch
Schools
Tips
Getting there
Photos
FAQ

Riding essentials

Season

Oct–Apr

Months riders and schools name

How windy

11–15 kt

Modelled monthly average; no knot figure publishedCharacter: synoptic · cross-shore

See Month by month

Room to launch

huge

access rules on record, below

Water

mixed

15.2 °C in summer

Hazards

Reported by riders

Level

Beginner to advanced

With a caveat: see Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Crowds

medium crowds · busy Jun Jul Aug

Schools

named at this spot

From the airport

50 min

Kerry Airport (KIR)

When it fills in

No onset time is published for this spot.

Brandon Bay has no other spot on this map within 40 km of it, and none other in Brandon Bay (Kerry). straight-line distance

Backup spotsWhere riders go when the wind doesn't work here.

Scragganeno page yet
Magherabeg / The Dumpsno page yet
Kilcumminno page yet
Gowlaneno page yet
Stradballyno page yet
Stoney Gapno page yet

The spot

Brandon Bay is not one beach. The rideable spot is the whole Castlegregory and Maharees system, and picking the right corner of it on the day is the skill the place asks for.

Wave & Season

The bay faces west into the North Atlantic, so swell arrives with the wind and the riding is wave riding, mostly from autumn through spring. Southwest is the prevailing direction, but Gowlane, Stradbally, Kilcummin, Dumps/Magherabeg, Mossies, Candeehy and Scraggane each take a different angle, and the plan is to drive between them until one works.

Flat Water Schooling

Scraggane is the sheltered flat-water bay the schools teach in; the exposed Atlantic breaks are intermediate to expert, and in winter expert.

Water Temperature & Rescue

Water is cold all year, and a February session means a 5/4 with gloves, boots and, most days, a hood. Only Magherabeg has lifeguards, and only in summer daytime hours, so for most of the kiting season the rescue plan is a phone and someone who knows where you went.

Planning & Difficulty

Bring a car, read the swell as carefully as the wind, and give it a week: a weekend here is a coin toss.

The wind

locals call it Atlantic frontal systems

Direction

cross-shore

Dominant direction

Southwest is the prevailing direction, with useful options also listed for west, north, northwest, northeast, south and southeast depending on the specific Maharees/Brandon Bay launch.

Kite sizes

567891011121314151617

metres · typical quiver highlighted

The quiver, in words

Proper Atlantic wave days here are small-kite territory: the 2019 wave contest in the bay ran on 9 m and dropped to solid 7 m once the wind swung and filled. For a 75-85 kg rider that puts 7-9 m at the centre of an autumn-to-spring quiver, with a 10-12 m for the light shifty days and for flat water at Scraggane or Magherabeg.The 10-12 m end is inferred from lighter days and unconfirmed by a local rider or school.

Character

synoptic

Strength

No knot figure is published for this spot.

Modelled monthly average: 11–15 kt — see Month by month

Frontal and variable. Clean at one beach and gusty at the next: south wind is gusty at Dumps, and Gowlane goes too offshore.

January-April and October-December are the windy months. Atlantic systems through autumn, winter and spring bring the wind and the swell together; summer is hit or miss for both.

The shape of the Maharees is what makes it work: move between beaches and one wind direction gives cross, cross-on or cross-off. Brandon Bay works in all wind directions as a cluster of beaches, not as a single one.

Forecast

Live forecast

Windguru Windfinder Windy

Month by month

15 ktJan9°
14 ktFeb9°
13 ktMar9°
12 ktApr10°
11 ktMay12°
11 ktJun13°
11 ktJul15°
11 ktAug16°
12 ktSep15°
13 ktOct13°
14 ktNov12°
15 ktDec11°

avg knots per month · water °C below · season highlighted

Monthly averages. Highlighted: the months riders and schools name (Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Oct, Nov, Dec).

Measured at Tralee, ~18 km from the spot (~1980-2016 (MERRA-2 reanalysis)).

Every figure, month by monthKnots · Wind from · Air · Water

Month	Knots	Wind from	Air	Water
Jan	15 kt	W	7.2 °C	9.4 °C
Feb	14.2 kt	W	7.2 °C	8.9 °C
Mar	13.2 kt	W	7.8 °C	8.9 °C
Apr	11.6 kt	W	9.4 °C	10 °C
May	11.1 kt	W	11.7 °C	11.7 °C
Jun	10.6 kt	W	13.9 °C	13.3 °C
Jul	10.5 kt	W	15.6 °C	15 °C
Aug	10.8 kt	W	15.6 °C	15.6 °C
Sep	11.7 kt	W	14.4 °C	15 °C
Oct	12.8 kt	W	11.7 °C	13.3 °C
Nov	13.7 kt	W	8.9 °C	11.7 °C
Dec	14.7 kt	W	7.8 °C	10.6 °C

How this was measuredmeasured · ~1980-2016 (MERRA-2 reanalysis)

A ground station recorded this, at the distance the page names.

A station this far away — often inland or at an airport — can understate accelerated local wind. The typical daily max and the direction are columns of the table above, month by month. Highlighted months are the riding season from the spot record.

Tralee · WeatherSpark · ~1980-2016 (MERRA-2 reanalysis)

The water

Type

mixed

Standing depth

No standing-depth zone on the open Brandon Bay beaches. Scraggane and Magherabeg are the flatter, sheltered teaching alternatives, though their depth range is unconfirmed.

Tides

Open Brandon Bay surf works at all stages of tide, but individual wave spots vary: Kilcummin and Dumps are all-tide options, Gowlane is best mid-to-high on the push, Stradbally best mid-to-high, Stoney Gap best mid-to-high, Mossies about two hours either side of high tide, and Scraggane all tides.

Temperature

15.2 °C summer · 9.4 °C winter

Modelled monthly average: 9–16 °C

Wetsuit

Full wetsuit year-round. Water temperature peaks around 14–18 °C in early August, when a 4/3 mm or 3/2 mm plus boots can work, and bottoms out around 9–11 °C in February, when a 5/4 or 5/3 with gloves, boots and often a hood is appropriate;SplashSports also uses 5 mm winter wetsuits for Atlantic comfort.

Currents

Assume beach-break current and rip risk on the open bay. No mapped rip pattern is published for these beaches. The shorebreak can be powerful, and some spots add reef and rock to it.

Conditions

Brandon Bay is a system rather than a launch: long sand from the Maharees toward Cloghane and Fermoyle, plus reef and sheltered options at the northern end.

The beaches take long North Atlantic swell and break lefts and rights fairly consistently, at their best with a NW swell and a SE offshore.

Magherabeg sits behind the swell and is the flat-water escape. Hells Gate is a reef break. Garywilliam has very sharp rocks.

Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

There is teaching here and there are sheltered corners for it: kids, adult and advanced kite lessons run in the area, Scraggane is the named lesson bay, and Magherabeg is flat and protected from Atlantic swell.

The open wave beaches, Dumps/Magherabeg with swell running, the Hells Gate reef and any winter storm setup are intermediate to expert: surf, shorebreak, cold water, remote access and rock.

The scene

What riders come here for

wavesfreerideadvancedwave ridingflat-water escape dayswingingwindsurfingsurfingkite landboarding at low tide

Wild west-of-Ireland watersports community with local schools, surf shops, visiting wave kiters, windsurfers and surfers. The 12-mile bay spreads people out, but summer beach use, school operations, campers and strong forecasts can concentrate riders at the easy-access Maharees spots. Outside summer it is more storm-chasing and local/committed travelling riders than casual beach traffic.

Launch and rules

three ways on to the water, and what each one asks of you

With a school or a boat

4 schools name this spot

See who they are

On your own

Room to launch: huge

Read the access rules

Somewhere else

No neighbour on record

No other spot in the atlas sits within reach of this one.

Rescue

There is no kitesurf rescue service in Brandon Bay.

Lifeguards

Magherabeg is the only beach in the bay with lifeguards for 2026: weekends from later in June, then seven days a week through July and August, midday to 7pm on weekdays and 11am to 7pm at weekends and bank holidays. Stradbally, Fermoyle, Kilcummin, Gowlane, Candeehy and Scraggane have none, and neither does Magherabeg outside those dates and hours, which is most of the kiting season here.

At sea

At sea, dial 112 or 999 and ask for the Coast Guard. Valentia coordinates, the Fenit all-weather lifeboat is the station that launches for Brandon Bay and the Maharees Islands, and the Shannon-based helicopter attends larger searches.

Windsurfers have been picked up north of Scraggane and off the Maharees more than once, so tell someone ashore where you are going.

Launch

Multiple sandy beach launches around Brandon Bay and the Maharees; choose the exact beach by wind angle, swell and level.Magherabeg is an easy launch protected from Atlantic swell,Candeehy has road parking with a climb over rocks to sand,and several wave beaches have shorebreak.Kilcummin has easier beach parking,Stradbally has tight parking,Stoney Gap access is difficult without a 4x4 outside summer,and Scraggane is a flat-water option that works most of the time.

Hazards riders report 17 reported

Wind

cold water and wind chill, especially in the main autumn-winter-spring season
offshore or cross-off wind at the wrong sub-spot
gusty south wind reported at Dumps
Gusty wind at Fermoyle, where the mountains break up a westerly

Crowds and zones

tight parking at Stradbally
Narrow approach roads and very limited parking along the Stradbally-Fermoyle-Kilcummin stretch

Bottom

rocks/reef at Mossies, Hells Gate, Garywilliam and Candeehy access
very sharp rocks reported at Garywilliam

Waves and currents

Exposed Atlantic beach break with rip currents
large Atlantic waves and powerful shorebreak on exposed beaches
rip currents and beach-break currents on the open bay
Strong and dangerous currents reported off Stradbally

Other

Cold water and weather, especially in the prime winter season
Remote sections with limited nearby facilities/rescue cover
Stoney Gap access difficult without a 4x4 outside summer
remote sections with little rescue cover
lifeguards at Magherabeg only during the summer season, not for winter kiting

Rules & access

1 min read

Bye-laws and restrictions

2026: Kerry's Beach Bye-Laws 2022 apply to listed council beaches during the bathing season, 1 June-15 September, and the Beach (Amendments) Bye-Laws 2026 came into force on 17 June 2026 for sauna services and related commercial activity on specified beaches.

Under the 2022 bye-laws no one may kite-surf in close proximity to bathers on the listed beaches, among them Stradbally, Kilcummin, Gowlane, Fermoyle, Magherabeg and Ballyquin, whose bye-law area runs 300 m out beyond low-water mark; the council may designate areas where kite boards are restricted or prohibited, selling kite tuition from those beaches needs a council permit, and a breach carries a EUR 75 fixed payment notice or a fine of up to EUR 1,904.61 on conviction.

Lifeguard cover

Lifeguard cover for 2026 runs to 13 Kerry beaches with 43 guards; in Brandon Bay only Magherabeg is on that list, at weekends from later in June and seven days a week in July and August, midday-7pm on weekdays and 11am-7pm at weekends and bank holidays.

No Brandon Bay kitesurf permit for independent riders, kite zoning map or seasonal kite ban is published. Read the posted beach notices, and ask a local school how the swim zone at Magherabeg is arranged, because that is the one beach where a lifeguarded bathing area and a kite launch have to share sand.

Access rules drift faster than anything else we hold — check locally, and propose an edit if this has changed.

Schools that ride here

Rider tips

Pick the beach after you have seen the wind angle and the swell: Gowlane, Kilcummin, Stradbally, Dumps/Magherabeg, Mossies, Candeehy, Scraggane and the Tralee/Inch alternatives are all different spots.
In a strong southwest, check whether Gowlane has gone too offshore before launching; Stradbally is the usual alternative. At Dumps/Magherabeg low tide is the easier session and high tide packs a powerful shorebreak.
Pack small for the wave season: a real Atlantic front here is 7-9 m weather for an average-weight rider, not 12 m weather.
Bring boots, gloves and a hood for winter and shoulder-season trips, and expect a full suit even in August.
Magherabeg is the one beach with lifeguards and only in summer daytime hours, and its swim zone shares sand with the launch between 1 June and 15 September; ride with someone, leave a plan ashore, and dial 112 for the Coast Guard.
Roads on the Stradbally to Kilcummin stretch are narrow with very limited parking, so arrive early on a good forecast.

Getting there

Airport

Kerry Airport (KIR); Shannon (SNN) and Cork (ORK) are larger regional alternatives, with no published transfer time.

Route

Bring a car, because the usable beach changes with the wind and the swell.Kerry Airport to Castlegregory is 42 km and about 35 minutes; a 50-minute transfer figure also circulates and probably means the Maharees rather than the village.The Maharees are about 28 km and half an hour from Tralee, or 26 km and half an hour from Dingle over the Conor Pass.

Transfer

50 min

Cost level

medium

Staying

Beds are spread between the Maharees, Castlegregory, Conor Pass/Stradbally, Tralee and Dingle.The Maharees are quiet and rural with miles of beach and a few bars; Castlegregory is 5-10 minutes away, has the amenities and the closest shop; Conor Pass/Stradbally is around 15-20 minutes, Tralee around 30 and Dingle around 35.Maharees stays run to lodges, caravan parks and cottages.

No-wind days

Surfing, windsurfing, SUP, winging, foiling, walking and hiking on the Dingle Peninsula, Maharees Heritage Trail, beaches, diving, golf at Castlegregory, Tralee/Dingle day trips, pubs and restaurants around Maharees/Castlegregory.

Photos

FAQ

When is the best time to kite Brandon Bay?

January-April and October-December, when Atlantic frontal systems bring the most consistent wind and swell.

Is Brandon Bay suitable for beginners?

Sheltered corners like Scraggane and Magherabeg offer flatter teaching conditions, while the open Atlantic beaches suit intermediate to advanced riders.

What is the wind like at Brandon Bay?

Southwest is the prevailing direction, but the Maharees peninsula's many beaches let riders find cross-shore conditions in most wind directions.

Do you need a wetsuit at Brandon Bay?

Yes, a full wetsuit is needed year-round, from around 5/4mm with gloves and a hood in February to a lighter suit in August.

What are the main hazards?

Exposed Atlantic beach break with rip currents, cold water, and remote sections with limited rescue cover.

The bigger pictureEverything about Brandon Bay (Kerry)

Last updated: August 2026