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My top 3 fun places to photograph in West Cork.

Ger Kelliher
Aug 16, 2016
2 min read

3) High tide at Garretstown strand, West Cork

At high tide during a small/medium sized swell, Garretstown strand is a great place to sit and wave watch. Watching waves anywhere is fun but Garretstown has a feature that makes it unique among other beaches in Cork.

This is the high tide break wall at the East end of the strand seen in the red circle below.

During high tide incoming swell will 'bounce' off the high tide wall and begin to travel back out to sea. If the timing is right the outgoing wave will meet an incoming wave at just the right point and you will get a beautiful flared wave as seen below.

For photography, you'll need a zoom lens, good light, no wind, high tide and quite a bit of patience. Enjoy!

2) Inchydoney Strand, West Cork

Inchydoney has been voted by several sources as one of the top beaches in Ireland to visit. It's also an incredibly varied area to photograph as the beach is approachable from three sides. It's quite a consistent spot for surfable waves (during surf season) and due to its South Easterly orientation it will produce clean, offshore waves when every other beach in Cork is onshore and blown out. During a run of swell, the wind usually blows South Westerly or Westerly (Indicated by blue arrow on the map below).

On visiting Inchydoney many people go straight to the 'Inchydoney Island lodge and spa'. There is an accessible headland here that divides the beach in two. The more unknown spots include the spots to the left and right of the hotel highlighted on the map. These spots provide great alternative perspectives at sunrise/sunset or can provide dramatic views of big Winter swells.

1) Longstrand, Castlefreke, West Cork

Longstrand is one of the more remote beaches in West Cork. Due to its orientation and shape, Longstrand picks up more swell than most other beaches in Cork. When the tide and swell size are just right this beach produces fantastic shore break that is always fun to photograph.

If you want to keep dry, either end of the strand provide stunning vantage points to shoot from. Keep an eye on the surf forecast this winter because this is one of the best places in Cork to wave watch during a big swell. Even if there is no surf, it's always worth bringing your camera...just in case :)