Day rhythm
04:51
22:13
17.4h of daylight — 04:51 → 22:13
Magheroarty — Comté de Donegal
Partial dataIreland
Magheroarty — Comté de Donegal is a kitesurf spot with waves, medium depth, with no significant tide, in Ireland. Ideal between 15 and 32 knots, May to September.
Level
Intermediate
Optimal wind
15-32 kts
Season
May to September
Today's tide
↘ Falling tide· coef 90
00h06h12h18h24h
Tide shown for reference — its impact on your session is not yet confirmed at this spot.
Comfort & gear
Air
15°C
mild
Water
14°C
cold
Wetsuit
5/4 mm
thick fullsuit
Sky
100%
overcast
7-day forecast
Tap a slot for a detailed forecast.
What riders experienced here
No validations for this spot yet.
Weather risk
No risk
13% chance of rain
The spot
Discover Magheroarty — Comté de Donegal
A wide golden crescent staring out at Tory Island — the far edge of Ireland. Here you ride a bare Atlantic, swell that wraps into the bay, and a stillness almost no spot still gives you.
Magheroarty is wild Ireland taken at its word. You're at the edge of an Irish-speaking Gaeltacht, facing Tory and Inishbofin, in a bay flung wide open to the Atlantic. The sand runs in a golden crescent, the wind carries salt and the sound of the Tory ferry, and when the west swell wraps into the bay you ride a clean, long wave with no one around. It's beautiful and harsh at once: the water is genuinely cold, the swell lands unfiltered, and you feel the ocean gives nothing away. This isn't a spot you stumble into; you come for the wave, the open horizon and the quiet. You leave with frozen hands and a cleared head.
Who & when
Level and best time
Who it's for
A spot for the experienced, plainly. This is exposed Atlantic wave riding, not a teaching lagoon: local guides rate it intermediate-to-advanced and steer it mainly toward seasoned west-coast riders. You need to be at ease in swell, able to relaunch in gusty air and to read your own positioning. No instruction on site — Donegal Kitesurf School teaches further south, at Rossnowlagh.
source : bigsalty.com ↗Best time
It works year-round, but the water dictates your wetsuit more than the season dictates your fun. Warmest is early August (13–17°C), coldest late Feb to early March (8–10°C) — winter means a 5/4 or 6/5/4 with hood, gloves and boots. The best swells come from the west or northwest; aim for mid-tide on the push, the beach is cleaner then.
source : surf-forecast.com ↗On site
Arrival guide
Access & parking
You come in by Magheroarty pier (the Tory Island ferry port), a short hop from the main road near Gortahork. The big crescent bay is right there; the beach breaks are reached along the tracks behind the dunes. Park near the pier but leave room for the ferry boats — it's a working harbour.
source : discoverireland.ie ↗Club & schools
No kite outfit on site: Magheroarty is ridden self-reliant, among experienced hands. The county's go-to school, Donegal Kitesurf School, sits further south at Rossnowlagh — that's where you learn, not here. Bring your own gear and, ideally, someone who knows the bay.
source : govisitdonegal.com ↗Before you go
Safety
Danger #1 — SW-to-W wind (cross-off, blowing off the land)
The steady working winds from SW to W blow here as cross-off — carrying an offshore component out to sea: that's the sector that gives the cleanest wave on the reef, and it's also the one that can drag you out toward the ocean if anything goes wrong. A fall, a kite down, a building swell, and you drift far, in freezing water, with no one to pick you up. Only ride this sector with a comfortable margin, never on the edge of a relaunch, and always keep a drift reference back into the bay. Watch too for the rocky reef by the pier and the currents that rise on bigger swells.
source : bigsalty.com ↗Cold Atlantic water
Donegal water drops to 8–10°C from late February into early March and only reaches 13–17°C around early August. Hypothermia is a real risk on a long session or after a prolonged swim: a 5/4 or 6/5/4 by season, plus hood, gloves and boots in winter, no negotiating.
source : surf-forecast.com ↗Community
Soon, by the riders
These spaces will fill up with the community’s feedback.
Do you know Magheroarty in heavy weather? Tell us which wind angle stays manageable inside the bay and at what swell size the reef by the pier turns into a no-go — it'll help passing riders read the spot before they rig.