NI Beaches

All beaches

Knockinelder Bay

North Down

Knockinelder 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 Partly cloudy
Swell 0.3m 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

No NI Water storm overflow mapped within 1.2 mi. Most of NI's overflows have no spill monitor, so this isn't the same as “no spills”.

Nearest wastewater treatment works: Craigaroddan Road 6-8 ST (0.8 mi → Strangford) · Kearney WwTW (0.9 mi → Ards Penninsula).

Amenities & features

Parking e.g. Knockinelder Car Park 2
Picnic tables 2
Benches 1
Information e.g. Out and Around Strangford Lough: Knockinelder 2
Bins 3

Boating — nearest harbours & marinas

  • Portaferry Harbour · Unknown · Ards and North Down 2.7 mi
  • Strangford Harbour · Unknown · Newry Mourne and Down 3.1 mi
  • Portavogie Harbour · Unknown · Ards and North Down 5.4 mi
2 more further away
  • Ballyhalbert Harbour · Unknown · Ards and North Down 7.6 mi
  • Kircubbin Harbour · Unknown · Ards and North Down 7.8 mi

Wildlife & designations

This beach lies in or within 0.6 mi of:

  • ASSI Outer Ards
    2 protected features
    • Intertidal rock Favourable, 2020
    • Intertidal mudflats and sandflats Favourable, 2021
  • SPA Outer Ards
    5 protected features · 3 Unfavourable
    • Arctic tern Favourable, 2017
    • Golden plover Unfavourable, 2018
    • Light-bellied Brent goose Favourable, 2018
    • Turnstone Unfavourable, 2018
    • Ringed plover Unfavourable, 2018
  • 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 Outer Ards
    6 protected features · 2 Unfavourable
    • Arctic tern Favourable, 2017
    • Golden plover Unfavourable, 2018
    • Light-bellied Brent goose Favourable, 2018
    • Turnstone not yet assessed
    • Ringed plover Unfavourable, 2018
    • Manx Shearwater not yet assessed
  • MCZ Strangford Lough

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.