Keem Bay in Achill is getting a lot of attention of late, and with good reason too.
For the second time in a matter of weeks, the idyllic Keem Bay in Achill Island in Mayo has been ranked among the best beaches in the world by an influential travel publication.
Having been ranked by Global travel site Big 7 Travel at number 11 in a list of the world’s 50 best beaches last month, Keem Bay has been afforded an even loftier status by Condé Nast Traveller, occupying third place in its list of the 20 best beaches around the globe.
Like Big 7 Travel, Condé Nast carries plenty of weight in global travel circles. Based in Manhattan, it is published by Condé Nast, a mass media company responsible for publications such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, GQ, Glamour and The New Yorker.
It has previously named Cobh in Cork as one of the 25 most beautiful small towns in Europe and Adare Manor as one of the best hotels in the world.
Writing for Condé Nast, Lizzie Pook said of Keem Bay: “It’s a windy road to Keem Bay, but the staggering cliff-top views are worth it. This sheltered inlet, on Achill Island in County Mayo, is almost unknown to visitors, but its clear malachite waters and soft biscuit sand make it a family-friendly spot – that’s also wonderfully crowd-free.
“Bring binoculars for spotting basking sharks; in warmer months you’ll find herds of ice-cream vans in the car park.”
Only Grand Anse beach in Grenada and Honopu beach in Kauai, Hawaii ranked higher on Condé Nast’s list than Keem Bay, while Marathonisi in Zakynthos in Greece was the only other European beach to make the top 10.
An excuse shouldn’t really be needed to visit Achill Island, but seeing the third best beach in the flesh is a pretty good one.
You can see the Condé Nast list of the world’s best beaches in full here.
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