Keem Bay #1, Keel Strand #4, in Lonely Planet Best Beaches in Ireland

Achill has two beaches in the top ten of the latest Lonely Planet Best Beaches in Ireland list. Keem Bay, also voted Ireland’s top beach in the Irish Independent’s Reader’s Awards this weekend, was rated at number one in the Lonely Planet list. And Keel’s Trawmore Strand came in at number four.

Describing Keem Bay as ‘one of Europe’s most beautiful spots’, travel writer and broadcaster Fionn Davenport went on to say that Keem’s Blue Flag status ‘barely does justice’ to the stunning beauty of ‘perhaps the most garlanded of Irish beaches’.

The number one rating by Lonely Planet is just the latest in a series of accolades for Achill’s Keem Bay. In addition to the Irish Independent Reader’s Awards honour just this weekend, Keem has enjoyed the following honours in recent years:

As well as Keem winning the #1 spot in the Lonely Planet list, Keel’s Trawmore Strand was also ranked at #4. Set at the heart of Achill’s outdoor activities sector, Keel beach is home to several surf schools that offer suit and board hire, scheduled lessons, and group lessons by arrangement. Also available at Keel beach, and the nearby freshwater Keel Lake, are kayaking, canoes, standup paddleboarding (SUP) and kitesurfing. This 4km beach is hugely popular with swimmers and families, with easy access from a road just behind the beach. Trawmore Strand, and Keem Beach, are two of Achill’s five Blue Flag beaches, a status earned through water quality, safety, and other environmental standards. In addition to a lifeguard service, Keel beach also has beach wheelchairs available, which, along with a set of special mats, allow access for disabled people to both the beach sands and into the water. For booking of a beach wheelchair at Keel, and also at Achill’s Silver Strand beach at Dugort, please contact Achill Tourism.