Mayo beach named the best place to swim in Ireland

Beaches in Donegal, Galway, Sligo, and Cork also made the list.

The stunning Keem Bay in Achill was named as the top place to go swimming in the sea by Ocean Bottle, a company that manufactures reusable water bottles with a commitment to collecting the equivalent of 1,000 plastic bottles from the ocean for every bottle sold. The list of beaches was compiled following a study of average water quality across the past year, including the E.coli and intestinal Enterococci count, to first determine how safe the beach was for swimming. This was then cross-referenced with the location's Google Ratings and reviews, with any location with less than 100 reviews being removed. Here's the top 20 places to swim across Ireland and the UK:

1. Keem Bay, Achill Island, Mayo
2. Barafundle Bay, Pembrokeshire, Wales
3. Mwnt Beach, Ceredigion, Wales
4. Marloes Sands, Pembrokeshire, Wales
5. Upton Towans, Cornwall, England
6. Trá na Dóilín, Galway
7. Porthcurno Beach, Cornwall, England
8. Rhossili Beach, Swansea, Wales
9. Dooey Beach, Donegal
10. Durdle Door, Dorset, England
11. Woolacombe Beach, Devon, England
12. Curracloe Beach, Wexford
13. Dog's Bay, Galway
14. Enniscrone Beach, Sligo
15. Holywell Bay, Cornwall, England
16. Long Sands Beach, Tyne and Wear, England
17. Porth Dafarch, Anglesey, Wales
18. Church Cove Beach, Cornwall, England
19. Freshwater West, Pembrokeshire, Wales
20. Seacliff, Berwick, Scotland

A Blue Flag beach in Galway was also named as the top hidden gem in Ireland and the UK. Aillebrack (Silverhill Beach) in Galway topped the list due to its high water quality, but had very few reviews. Ireland's beaches dominated the list of hidden gems, with 12 of the 20 beaches named along the coasts. Here's the full list of hidden gem beaches across Ireland and the UK:

1. Aillebrack, Galway
2. Polstreath, Cornwall, England
3. Pembrey Beach, Carmarthenshire, Wales
4. Harbour Beach, Dyfed, Wales
5. East Cowes Beach, Isle of Wight, England
6. Tránaun Beach, Mayo
7. Limeslade Bay, Swansea, Wales
8. Oysterhaven Bay Beach, Cork
9. Gurteen Beach, Galway
10. Boat Strand, Waterford
11. Golden Strand, Achill Island, Mayo
12. Stroove Beach, Donegal
13. Jacobs Ladder Beach, Devon, England
14. Garnish Beach, Cork
15. Druidston Haven Beach, Pembrokeshire, Wales
16. Carrigaholt Beach, Clare
17. Shelling Hill Beach, Louth
18. Trá na Reilige, Galway
19. Elly Bay, Mayo
20. Broad Haven South Beach, Pembrokeshire, Wales