Magilligan (Benone Strand)

The Northern Ireland end of the huge Benone/Magilligan sand strand, a wide flat beach backed by dunes with strong amenities and a supervised swim zone, plus long open-beach fishing potential.

Beach & safety

Water quality: Excellent (recorded under 'Magilligan Benone' and 'Magilligan Downhill' in DAERA's 2025 results)

Lifeguard: RNLI lifeguards, seasonal service reported July-August 10am-6pm daily, with Easter/weekend cover in spring per RNLI North Coast schedule

Hazards: Long open Atlantic-facing strand; RNLI lifeguard presence reflects genuine rip/current risk on this stretch of coast, stay within patrolled zones.

Amenities: toilets · cafe · car-park · showers · blue-flag

Dogs

No verified source. Check current signage and the relevant authority.

Family

excellent inclusive lifeguarded family beach with open atlantic rip vehicle and range boundary caution

Fishing

Benone is officially listed for fishing. An exact May 2022 shore session fished the flooding tide to high water with razor, mackerel, sandeel and mainly ragworm but blanked after about five hours; an experienced local contributor described the beach as low-consistency but capable of occasional bass, flounder, turbot, smoothhound and tope. Treat the species list as community-reported opportunity, not a guaranteed catch profile.

Species reported: Bass, Flounder, Turbot, Smoothhound, Tope

Access & parking

Free car parking at the beach entrance and Benone Tourist Complex car park. Sat-nav: BT49 0LQ. Get directions →