Swimming the Forty Foot: a practical guide

The Forty Foot is a bathing place cut into the rocks at Sandycove Point, three kilometres south of Dún Laoghaire town and four hundred metres beyond the James Joyce Tower. Steps lead down to deep water. There is no beach, no lifeguard, and no formal changing facility. People swim here every day of the year.

Water temperature

Water sits around 13-15°C through July and August, drops to about 10°C through autumn, and settles between 6 and 8°C from January through March. The Christmas Day swim is the busiest day in the calendar and the water is usually around 7-8°C; the air temperature, more than the water, is what makes it hard.

What to bring

A robe or large towel to change under is the local standard; the changing wall is exposed and shared between swimmers. Neoprene booties make the descent over the rocks much easier and a swim cap helps with cold-water headache. Bring a thermos of something warm for after; the steps back up are uphill and the wind from the Forty Foot kicks straight off the Irish Sea.

When to go

Sunrise is the regulars' time year-round. By eight in the morning the resident crowd has thinned and the casual swimmers start arriving. In summer the place is constantly busy; in winter you can have it to yourself between mid-morning and noon. Avoid spring tides and easterly storms; the swell can break across the steps.

The Christmas Day swim

25 December at the Forty Foot is the longest-running informal sea-swim tradition in Dublin. Hundreds of swimmers go in over the course of the morning; thousands more watch from the cliffs above. There is no organiser, no entry, no booking. Arrive before nine if you plan to swim; the access path is congested by ten.

Getting there

DART to Sandycove & Glasthule (station code SCOVE), then ten minutes on foot down Sandycove Avenue East and across the seafront. Drivers can park at Sandycove Beach but spaces fill quickly in summer and on Christmas Day. The Joyce Tower car park is small and signposted for tower visitors.

Safety notes

The Forty Foot has deep water immediately at the foot of the steps; no shallows. Swim with someone the first few times. Watch the conditions before you enter; if waves are breaking onto the platform, do not get in. Coast Guard 112 is the emergency number; the nearest manned RNLI station is at Dún Laoghaire East Pier.