Kilkee: Beach, Cliff Walks and Water Sports

Kilkee lets you experience the coast in different ways: with a 1.5 km international Blue Flag beach, natural swimming pools and cliffside paths. There are also opportunities for water sports and diving. If you are considering the town as a holiday destination, you can weigh up days by the water, activities on land and discoveries with a historic character.

Beach and natural swimming pools

Kilkee beach is protected from the full force of the Atlantic by a reef. The Pollock Holes offer another coastal experience: natural swimming pools surrounded by a reef where the waves are constantly changing. The beach and the pools therefore differ in their surroundings. If you are planning the trip with others, you can consider whether the long beach or the distinctive natural pools better suits your shared interests. These different coastal settings give you more than one reason to spend time by the water in Kilkee.

Cliff walks with a choice of distances

At the Kilkee Cliffs, you can choose from four walks with specific distances and walking times. The “Short Cliff Walk” is 1.8 km long and takes 30 minutes. The “Short Circular Walk” covers 4 km and takes 50 minutes. For longer routes, there is the “Long Circular Walk” at 7.3 km and 1.5 hours, and the “Long Cliff Walk” at 11.7 km and 2.5 hours. When planning your day, you can compare the stated distances and times and choose a suitable length without treating the different routes as equivalent. The Kilkee Cliffs are on the Cliff Coast section of the Wild Atlantic Way; Kilkee itself is on the Loop Head Peninsula on the Wild Atlantic Way.

Water sports and diving

In Kilkee, Nevsail Watersports has been offering lessons and tours in kayaking, canoeing, surfing, stand-up paddleboarding, sailing, windsurfing, coasteering, climbing and archery for over 16 years. The wide range extends from activities on the water to options on land. Oceanlife is an SSI dive centre at the East Pier. The Kilkee Subaqua Club also offers dives for members and visiting divers during the season. If you are particularly interested in water sports, you can take these options into account when deciding whether to choose Kilkee for your holiday. For a day with views of the coast, there is also an 18-hole golf course overlooking the Atlantic from the cliffs.

A town with Victorian character

Not all of Kilkee’s distinctive features revolve around activity or water. The town has retained its charming 19th-century Victorian character. At the West End, racquets has been played on the white walls for over a century. This long-playing tradition and Victorian character also add a cultural dimension to your stay. If you are looking for more than one focus for your holiday, you can include both coastal experiences and the character of the town in your travel plans.

Which holiday apartment suits your stay?

When looking for a holiday apartment in Kilkee, it is helpful to first decide how you would like to spend your holiday: would you prefer to focus on the beach and natural swimming pools, one of the cliff walks of varying lengths, or water sports and diving? These experiences offer different reasons to choose Kilkee as a holiday destination.

If you would like to include other places in your travel plans alongside Kilkee, you can find the town pages here for Kilrush, Tulla, Scarriff, Whitegate, Clarecastle, Lisdoonvarna, Purt and Bunratty.

For the broader travel overview: County Clare.