Portrush West Strand

After a particularly stormy month which saw the harbour bashed by severe gales much of the sand inside the harbour has been washed away, and an old fishing boat has emerged. It has been provisionally aged at 200 years.
The outline of the boat can now be seen at a part of the harbour known as the "wee beach".

Not a huge beach but situated perfectly with beautiful views. Great to see this and other beaches being patrolled by Lifeguards too. We had a great time too watching all the wee dogs larking about having the time of their wee furry lives. Allegedly dogs are prohibited in the summer months (Why?) but no sign this was being enforced, which was fine by me. Most were better behaved than a lot of the humans.

Just a lovely beach with promenade along side.
One of my favourite parts of Portrush. Walking along the coastal path from Ballyreagh and seeing the sea for miles down to Portrush harbour.
Its a special place.

Spent a lovely day on the strand today. But the signs indicating heavy fines for bringing dogs on the beach were ignored by many. Some were content to let dogs off leash and soil on the sand. Enforcement is required in order to restore full enjoyment of this lively beach, especially for those with young children

Having got myself to Belfast City (George Best) Airport and having sorted out the Hire Car arrangements which included getting a free map and some very good advice from the Rental desk guy, I decided to take the costal route up to Portrush , which I must say once out of the vicinity of Belfast was very easy to follow as it’s well signposted (by Brown Costal Route Signs) .The route takes about an hour longer than just going up the motorway, however it’s well worth the extra time spent in the car as the scenery is more than a pleasant and I was surprised to find that everywhere I stopped to take a better look at the view the car parks were free ( wish it were the same on the mainland ).
Having got to Portrush itself and checked in to the B&B, I grabbed my swimming stuff (Of course) out the case and headed straight to the West Beach, which I could see from my window.
The Beach
Wow what can I say, my command of the English Language isn’t great enough to express how impressed I was with the Beach but I’ll give it a go.
Access
The West Beach is every easy to access especially by the side of the harbour wall which juts out into the sea for a couple of hundred meters or thereabouts, the access to the promenade itself is slopped and the promenade is very flat once on it, there is a café and plenty of seating built into a raised wall that runs along the promenade for about 200 meters. You can access the beach itself via another slope however I think you might struggle with a wheelchair or buggy to get very far from the access point as the sand on the beach is very fine.
Beach
Simply superb ,First of all its Blue Flag , The sand as mentioned is very fine and soft (so building sandcastles might be a bit difficult ) there are hardly any pebbles let alone stones on the beach at all and as I found out on my second morning at around 06:00 the sand is raked on a daily basis its stretches the whole length of the promenade which is just over a 1000 meters long , how do I know this well they have the promenade divided up into 100 meter stretches with markers built into the walk way (fantastic for interval training) . It’s an ideal beach for parents as it’s perfect for the kids as there are no obstructions or obstacles to prevent you seeing what they are up to all the time, although you might struggle with making sandcastles
Sea
For anyone that reads my reviews (Thank you) you will by now have guessed that I I’ve all types of swimming as well as many water sports, so when I decided to go to Portrush I didn’t have any expectation as to what the sea would be like as it wasn’t my main reason for going, for if I had known what the sea was like id have gone years ago.
The water is crystal clear, visibility is fantastic, I kid you not, when I tell you that if you look down while swimming you can see the sand being moved by the waves as they come into shore, there was no seaweed or pebbles, either on entry into or in the sea itself it is simply stunning for swimming in. The swim itself, I started at the harbour wall end went out about 15 meters or so which with the tide coming in was enough to come up to my chest (I’m 6ft 1) the temperature a balmy 15 degrees. With the promenade a 1000 meters long is pretty easy to make a guestimate as to how far you have swum either during or after. Heading from the harbour wall across the bay the first part of the swim is fairly easy , partly due to the protection of the harbour walls , so for those of you wanting to enjoy a splash with the kids take a line from the far end of the harbour wall and draw an imaginary triangle back to the beach this I would say is perfect , as you come out of this imaginary triangle the swim starts to get a little more strenuous , depending on the tides on how far out you are you may start to get slightly buffeted by the waves still not bad as they are rolling with you , as you get to the middle section of the bay (you will see a funfair from the sea) the wave size does start to increase, so you will be pushed towards the beach more(if tide coming in) so you will have to swim out to your right across the incoming waves to keep the depth , this will get you to about 500 meters without too much real effort , so you can carry on , note the waves will start to decrease after about 800 meters if you swim along the bay and its easy just to let them take you to shore and walk back to your starting point .I decided to swim back across the bay to my starting point , word of caution if the tides coming in and you’re out to the depth I have described it will be a much more difficult swim as you will be swimming against the waves pretty much for 900 meters of the 1000 , you will be bobbling up and down with the waves and you can expect to be caught out by the odd wave crashing on your head (This I love, but it can be scary) however the water is that clear and the sea bed so sandy that you shouldn’t be put off from trying is brilliant, Oh and don’t forget the waves in the middle will suit any body surfing or body boarding at a beginners level no problem . One of the best places I have ever swam, can’t wait to get back.
Caution
As with all swimming, no your limits and let someone know where you are before going into the Sea, she can be a cruel mistress, treat her with respect. There’s no lifeguards on the beach out of season and if Swimming back across the bay you may need to use more strokes per minute and a straight arm recovery than you would in the pool.

Brought friends from Canada here to enjoy this iconic beach. The weather was very kind-cold, windy.but sunny and dry. Kids loved running on the beach.

Really clean beach with large carparking area, toilets and shower area.. Beach is spotlessly clean and has lifeguards on duty.. Plenty of space even on a busy sunny day

We drove down to West Strand to have a look. It was full of people and four wheel drives. You have to pay to go on to this stretch of beach. The weather was perfect while we were there. And the views from the point were amazing!

Although shorter than the East Strand, we loved the walk along the promenade. The beach was very clean so equally enjoyed walking on the sand as well. There are seating arrangements available so you can sit and enjoy nature at its best. As always, the weather in Ireland plays a big part in strolling around the town and beach. Best enjoyed on a nice and sunny day!!

The shorter of our two gorgeous beaches, I prefer this one for walking when on my own. The promenade runs the whole length of the beach, which is ideal for cyclists, families with prams or anyone not wanting to walk on sand.
Again, it is dog friendly all year round, with restrictions on one half June-September, and if visiting, please do not leave any rubbish!