MapIrelandMagheraroartyIreland

Magheraroarty

County Donegal · Cloughaneely / Gortahork · Meenlaragh

also known as Machaire Rabhartaigh, Magheroarty, Mayotte

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

wavesnot for beginnerslow 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

Mar, Apr, May, Sep, Oct

Months riders and schools name

How windy

15-30 knots

Character: synoptic

Room to launch

medium

access rules on record, below

Water

medium wave ocean bay with reef and shorebreak sections

15.9 °C in summerClean medium waves break over the reef or as shorebreak

Hazards

Reported by riders

Level

Intermediate to advanced

With a caveat: see Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Crowds

low crowds · busy Jul Aug

Schools

named at this spot

From the airport

24 min

Donegal Airport (CFN)

When it fills in

Frontal wind, so there is no daily cycle to wait out. It runs through the night and its strength tracks the weather system rather than the hour. Sessions are planned off the synoptic forecast and the tide, not off an afternoon fill-in.

Magheraroarty has no other spot on this map within 40 km of it. straight-line distance

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

Falcarragh Beachno page yet
Curransport Beachno page yet
Dunfanaghy Tramoreno page yet
Rossnowlaghno page yet
Tullan Strand

The spot

Magheraroarty sits on Ireland's exposed northwest coast, in Donegal, and it also turns up under the odd alternate name Mayotte. The riding is waves: clean medium sets over the reef beside the pier or as shorebreak, with currents reported and cold Atlantic water most of the year.

Wind and beach shape

The bay curves, so the angle changes as you walk along it, and the kite directions are SW through NW; a southerly is the offshore wind the surfers want and the wrong wind for a kite.

Skill level and safety

This is intermediate and expert water, not a teaching beach, and no kite rescue setup or local kite rule is on record. Fishing boats and the Tory Island ferry work out of the pier, so keep your riding well away from that line.

Best months and access

March, April, May, September and October are the best months, and the rest of the year goes with proper cold-water kit. Access is by car on the N56 through Gortahork and Meenlaragh, Donegal Airport is close with a Local Link bus 4 times daily, and the beds and food are in Gortahork, Falcarragh and Dunfanaghy.

The wind

locals call it Atlantic frontal wind

Direction

onshorecross-offwind blows away from land — rescue cover matters here

Direction to shore

SW to W is port tack and cross-offshore, and it is the angle that cleans the reef up. SW through S works the beach breaks. NW comes in more onshore and gives the jumping.E and SE are the ones to leave alone unless an old groundswell is still running.The bay curves through a horseshoe, so the angle changes as you walk it: N is onshore at the south end, W is onshore at the north end.

Kite sizes

567891011121314151617

metres · typical quiver highlighted

The quiver, in words

No local size table is published. Indicative for a 75-85 kg rider on the wave board: 9 m through the ordinary 18-22 knot frontal days, 7 m once the front is on and it is 25 knots or more, 11-12 m for the softer spells between systems.

Character

synoptic

When it fills in: see above ↑

Typical strength

No wind series is measured at the bay. Malin Head, the reference synoptic station on this north coast, runs a 30-year mean hourly wind of about 15 knots, the highest in Ireland, so an indicative working band of 15-30 knots with the front deciding where in it you land. Winter systems push well past that.

Exposed Atlantic frontal wind. It is usable for wave riding, though the surf blows out fast once the wind goes onshore.

March, April, May, September and October are the best months, and the whole year works with cold-water kit. The coast takes powerful northwesterly and westerly Atlantic wind and is often challenging.

Forecast

Live forecast

Windguru Windfinder Windy

Month by month

Jan84
Feb88
Mar, riders' month74
Apr, riders' month77
May, riders' month59
Jun70
Jul66
Aug75
Sep, riders' month59
Oct, riders' month91
Nov76
Dec81

per cent of the month at force 4 or more

Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: Mar, Apr, May, Sep, Oct.

19 ktJan9°
20 ktFeb9°
15 ktMar8°
15 ktApr10°
13 ktMay13°
13 ktJun15°
13 ktJul16°
15 ktAug16°
14 ktSep16°
17 ktOct13°
16 ktNov12°
18 ktDec10°

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

Modelled from weather reanalysis on a 10–25 km grid (2022-2024), not a ground station: reliable for trade and synoptic winds, understates thermal sea breezes and valley winds.

Every figure, month by monthForce 4+ · Knots · Wind from · Air · Water

Month	Force 4+	Knots	Wind from	Air	Water
Jan	84%	18.5 kt	SW	6.3 °C	8.7 °C
Feb	88%	19.7 kt	SW	6.9 °C	8.6 °C
Mar	74%	14.9 kt	SSE	6.8 °C	8.3 °C
Apr	77%	14.6 kt	SSE	8.5 °C	9.7 °C
May	59%	12.6 kt	SW	11.5 °C	12.7 °C
Jun	70%	13.3 kt	WSW	13.4 °C	15.1 °C
Jul	66%	12.7 kt	W	13.8 °C	15.9 °C
Aug	75%	14.9 kt	SW	14.4 °C	16 °C
Sep	59%	13.6 kt	NNW	13.5 °C	15.5 °C
Oct	91%	16.7 kt	SW	11.3 °C	13.4 °C
Nov	76%	16.2 kt	SSE	8.5 °C	11.8 °C
Dec	81%	18.2 kt	SW	6.6 °C	10.1 °C

How this is modelledmodelled · 2022-2024

A weather model's cell over this place, not a station on it. Good for comparing places, weaker for one beach.

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.

ERA5 reanalysis grid point (modelled) · Open-Meteo historical weather API — ECMWF ERA5/ERA5-Land reanalysis, not a ground station · 2022-2024

The water

Type

medium wave ocean bay with reef and shorebreak sections

Standing depth

A salt-water lagoon sits behind the beach and floods towards high water. It runs about thigh deep and you can stand almost anywhere in it, roughly 100 m in from the wave line, and that is where the flat-water riding happens. No depth is published for the open bay.

Tides

Mid tide on the push is the pick for the reef and the beach breaks.Towards high water the ground behind the beach floods and the lagoon opens, thigh deep, within about 100 m of the waves.Tides are read off Falcarragh Beach, 6 km away, and the range is big: springs run roughly 3.5-3.9 m against neaps near a metre, so the beach and the lagoon change shape through the day.

Temperature

15.9 °C summer · 8.5 °C winter

Modelled monthly average: 8–16 °C

Wetsuit

Riding is possible year-round, but winter is properly cold and needs a thick suit. Malin Head figures for this north coast put recent August around 15–16 °C and February around 7–9 °C.

Currents

Currents run through the bay. The reef beside the pier has its own rip that pulls out into flat water, which is a way off the beach as much as a hazard.

Conditions

Clean medium waves break over the reef or as shorebreak. West wind gives the best ramps; northwest is the direction for downwind runs.

A natural reef sits to the left of the pier, and the bay is shared with windsurfers, surfers and kayakers. The strand is also an exposed point break with lefts and rights, best on a north-northwest swell.

Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

not for beginners here

Intermediate and expert. Conditions are often challenging, and nothing verifies this as a beginner teaching beach.

The scene

What riders come here for

wave ridingjumpingfreeridedownwinders

Remote Donegal wave bay that rarely gets crowded, though summer brings tourists to the strand.

Launch and rules

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

With a school or a boat

2 schools name this spot

See who they are

On your own

Room to launch: medium

Read the access rules

Somewhere else

No neighbour on record

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

Rescue

No lifeguard.

Magheroarty holds a Green Coast award rather than a Blue Flag, and Donegal's lifeguards go only to the county's Blue Flag beaches plus Rathmullan and Portsalon, 1 June to 15 September 2026.

In an emergency dial 112 or 999 and ask for the Coast Guard.

The tasking on this stretch is the Bunbeg Coast Guard unit and its boat crew, the Arranmore RNLI all-weather lifeboat, and the Sligo-based helicopter Rescue 118.

Lifeboats and helicopters have been called to this bay before after gear broke.

Launch

Long horseshoe bay at Magheroarty pier, reached by car from the R257 through Gortahork and Meenlaragh, with parking at the pier.Sand to the right of the pier. The reef sits at the top end just upwind of it, boulders, with big rocks at its upwind limit.The tallest sand dune in Ireland stands at the far end of the strand, and behind the beach a salt-water lagoon floods on the tide.

Hazards riders report 14 reported

Crowds and zones

Ferry/fishing boat traffic near the pier (Tory Island ferry port)
Fishing vessels and Tory Island ferry traffic near the pier
Tory Island ferry and fishing boats working off the pier

Bottom

Boulder reef at the top end of the beach, with big rocks at its upwind limit

Waves and currents

Currents reported
Reef and shorebreak wave sections
Exposed Atlantic swell and changing wave quality
Rip off the reef that runs out into flat water
Currents through the bay
Shorebreak on the sand

Other

Cold water outside summer
Sets that can close out right across the bay on big days
Cold water outside summer, around 7-9 C in February
No lifeguard cover on this beach

Rules & access

1 min read

2026: no beach bye-law covers this strand. Donegal County Council's beach bye-laws are written for the county's Blue Flag beaches and Magheroarty, a Green Coast beach, falls outside them; no kite-specific zoning, permit or seasonal ban was traced.

The line that does matter is the working pier, where the Tory Island ferry and the fishing boats come and go, so stay off that approach.

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 your end of the bay by direction: N is onshore at the south end, W is onshore at the north end.
Stay off the pier line; the Tory Island ferry and the fishing boats come through there.
Treat the reef to the left of the pier and the shorebreak as advanced water once the swell is up.
Bring hood, gloves and boots outside high summer: February water on this coast runs around 7-9 C.
Mid tide on the push is the pick. Near high water the lagoon behind the beach opens up thigh deep for flat-water riding.
Rig and launch off the sand to the right of the pier. The reef side is boulders.
Save the Coast Guard route before you go on: 112 or 999, ask for the Coast Guard, and expect Bunbeg or the Arranmore lifeboat.

Getting there

Airport

Donegal Airport (CFN); City of Derry / Londonderry (LDY) is another practical regional airport for international connections.

Route

N56 from Letterkenny to Dunfanaghy, then on through Gortahork to Meenlaragh and east to the bay. A Local Link bus runs from Donegal Airport to Machaire Rabhartaigh 4 times daily, and taxis or on-demand rides also work from the airport.

Transfer

24 min

Cost level

medium

Staying

Small places to stay around Magheraroarty, Gortahork, Falcarragh and Dunfanaghy, with the biggest cluster of rooms in Dunfanaghy.

No-wind days

Surfing with the local schools, kayaking in the bay, the Tory Island ferry from the pier, and walks around Bloody Foreland and the beaches at Dunfanaghy and Falcarragh.

Photos

FAQ

When is the best time to kite Magheraroarty?

March, April, May, September and October, with year-round riding possible using cold-water gear.

Is Magheraroarty suitable for beginners?

No, the spot is rated for intermediate and expert riders because of its reef and shorebreak wave sections.

What is the wind like at Magheraroarty?

Southwest through northwest winds work best, and the curved bay changes the onshore angle depending which end you ride.

What are the main hazards?

Currents, reef and shorebreak sections, and fishing boat or Tory Island ferry traffic near the pier.

How do you get to Magheraroarty?

A Local Link bus runs four times daily from Donegal Airport to nearby Machaire Rabhartaigh, with taxis also available.

Last updated: August 2026