- Sea temp 13.2 °C surface, modelled
- Waves 0.5 m period 3 s · N
- Wind 7 mph from NE · gust 15
- Next tide High 04:32 today · 3.0 m
Cooper's Bay is a coastal beach on the North Down coast. It is not a designated bathing water, so there is no routine water-quality monitoring here.
Conditions now
Air
9°C
Clear
Swell
0.4m
period 3 s · N
Rain
0mm
last 48 hours
Water quality
Not a designated bathing water — not routinely sampled.
No published samples for this site yet.
Weekly lab samples, not real-time. Avoid bathing for 48 h after heavy rain.
Sewage & storm overflows
25 NI Water storm overflows within 1.2 mi — 24 rated Unsatisfactory.
Modelled~544 spills/yrNI Water's prediction, all 25 combined
Measured in 2025592 spills1737 h · 164 in the bathing season · 11 of 25 monitored
Nearest 12 overflows
| Overflow | Distance | Classification | Modelled spills/yr | Measured 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seapark Holywood CSO → Belfast Lough |
40 yd | Unsatisfactory | ~1 | — |
| Bangor Road Seapark CSO → Belfast Lough |
220 yd | Unsatisfactory | ~8 | — |
| Stewart Place CSO → Belfast Lough |
430 yd | Unsatisfactory | ~32 | 99 spills 23 in season · 313 h |
| Old Quay Court WwPS → Belfast Lough |
590 yd | Unsatisfactory | — | 1 spill 0 in season · <1 h |
| Clanbrassil WwPS → Belfast Lough Inner |
600 yd | Unsatisfactory | ~28 | 45 spills 10 in season · 128 h |
| Brook Street Holywood CSO → Belfast Lough |
610 yd | Unsatisfactory | ~4 | — |
| Marine Parade Holywood CSO → Belfast Lough Inner |
700 yd | Unsatisfactory | ~12 | 9 spills 4 in season · 1 h |
| Shore Road Holywood CSO → Belfast Lough Inner |
700 yd | Unsatisfactory | ~35 | 54 spills 14 in season · 49 h |
| Croft Burn CSO | 810 yd | Satisfactory | — | — |
| Bangor Road Old Quay CSO → Belfast Lough |
840 yd | Unsatisfactory | ~43 | — |
| Hibernia Street CSO → Belfast Lough Inner |
850 yd | Unsatisfactory | ~94 | 117 spills 30 in season · 600 h |
| Victoria Road CSO → Belfast Lough |
880 yd | Unsatisfactory | ~153 | 136 spills 46 in season · 440 h |
How these are counted
“Modelled” is NI Water's hydraulic-model prediction of spills per year. “Measured” is from NI Water's event duration monitors, counted with the industry 12/24 method (discharges within the same 12- or 24-hour block count as one spill); the bathing-season figure (1 Jun–15 Sep) is our count from NI Water's published discharge log. An overflow with no monitor isn't known to be dry. Classification is NI Water's own.
Nearest wastewater treatment works: Kinnegar WwTW (1.0 mi → Belfast Lough Inner) · Glen Cottages 1-6 ST (1.5 mi → Belfast Lough).
Amenities & features
Parking
31
Toilets
2
Cafes & food
e.g. Suitor&Co
3
Pubs & bars
2
Shops
e.g. Tesco Express
4
Picnic tables
2
Benches
30
Bike parking
2
Viewpoints
e.g. Holywood Old Pier
1
Information
e.g. Praeger's Field
3
Bins
5
Boating — nearest harbours & marinas
- Belfast 2.0 mi
- Belfast 4.4 mi
- Carrickfergus 4.5 mi
2 more further away
- Carrickfergus 4.5 mi
- Bangor 6.4 mi
Wildlife & designations
This beach lies in or within 0.6 mi of:
- ASSI Outer Belfast Lough
- SPA Belfast Lough
5 protected features · 1 Unfavourable
- Common redshank Unfavourable, 2019
- Common tern Favourable, 2019
- Arctic tern Favourable, 2019
- Bar-tailed Godwit Favourable, 2019
- Black-tailed Godwit Favourable, 2019
- SPA Belfast Lough Open Water
1 protected feature · 1 Unfavourable
- Great-crested grebe Unfavourable, 2019
- pSPA East Coast Marine proposed Special Protection Area, not yet classified
7 proposed features
- Great crested grebe
- Red throated diver
- Sandwich tern
- Common tern
- Arctic tern
- Manx shearwater
- Eider duck
- Ramsar Belfast Lough
1 protected feature · 1 Unfavourable
- Common redshank Unfavourable, 2019
Protected features and their latest condition assessment, from DAERA's 2023 marine protected area review. Only sites with a marine part are assessed there.
Alerts & advisories
No advisories active for this beach today.