Keem Bay’s Awesome Sea Life

Jul 28 2013 Posted by Office Administraton


County Mayo, famous for it’s rugged mountains, beautiful sandy beaches and breath taking underwater world. Ok I know what you are thinking, ‘underwater world?’, yes, that’s what I said. Despite what people think, you really don’t have to be in the Mediterranean or off in the tropics to explore the hidden beauty of what’s beneath the surface.

dsfdfdfSnorkeling has become the next big thing on the West coast of Ireland and it’s something you absolutely have to experience. My day at Keem Bay has to be one of the best snorkeling experiences I have ever had. Keem is an ideal horseshoe bay, surrounded by dramatic cliffs & picturesque hills that protect it from winds. As you drive down the cliff road towards the isolated white sandy beach, the crystal clear shades of turquoise and blue water are just calling you to get in & explore what beauty lies beneath! On this particular day, the sun was shining, there were a few threatening rain clouds in the distance but nothing that was going to send us home. We got changed into our gear at the cars, & then made our way down the path to the beach. The waves were lapping the shore gently as we entered the water on the right hand side of the bay. The first thing I noticed was how crystal-clear the water was, I was floating over the white sand when a huge grey boulder came into view. It was covered in barnacles, limpets, dog whelk’s, anemone’s and little bunches of red & green weed that flowed gracefully as the water rushed past it. The amount of colour splashed onto one rock was absolutely stunning. As we went a little further, I saw so many different seaweeds, there were big brown kelps, smaller green serrated wrack and then wispy weeds that had attached themselves a little higher up on the rocks.

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A school of tiny fish darted past me, flickering & showing off their sparkly silver flesh in the sunlight that broke through the surface of the water. As I looked down over a ledge of rock, camouflaged by seaweed, I could see a spider crab holding on to a piece of kelp & a Wrasse swimming by. Starfish were dotted all over the place, in a rainbow of different colours; pink, blue, yellow, orange, some were really big & some were tiny.

Before I knew it, we had been in the water for forty minutes and it felt like only 5 minutes had past. I wanted to keep on exploring to see what other awesome sea life I could find, but it was time to get out.

And so until next time Keem Bay, thank you.