Horse Racing

The Lacken Strand Races, which take place in May, were revived in 1997 and have become one of Ireland's leading horse racing events.

Swimming

Lacken beach is safe for swimming as is Ross beach (a blue flag beach) and Ballycastle beach a few miles away. Water Safety classes for children take place at Lacken Pier in late July and again in early August.

Surfing

There are several good surfing locations around Lacken for people of all skills, the best spots being at Kilcummin Head and Lacken Bay. The best surfing conditions are usually at low tide with a south westerly wind.

Scuba Diving

The entire coastline from Lacken to Ballycastle provides a range of spectacular dives. Unpolluted waters, excellent visibility and abundant sea life all contribute to make this area of North Mayo an attractive location for diving enthusiasts.

Fishing

The main types of fishing are salmon, lobster, deep-sea angling and beach fishing. The salmon fishing season runs from the beginning of June until the end of July. There are seven boats fishing from Lacken pier and there are nine fishing from Kilcummin pier.

The numbers fishing salmon have dropped over the years due to dwindling stocks. Lobster fishing has also suffered from dwindling stocks and now only a few boats fish for lobsters.

Deep-sea angling has become very popular in the last few years due to an increase in the tourist trade. Beach angling is also very popular and is well catered for by miles of lovely beaches.

Blue Shark can sometimes be caught at Lacken Pier. At Kilcummin beach, noted for Humberts landing in 1798, Bream and Pollock are the fish to be caught.

Palmerstown River provides fishing for Salmon and Sea Trout. Pollock, Glassen and Bream can be fished for all year, but the best time is from Spring until Christmas. Mackerel is usually caught in August/September.

Boats can be hired in Killala for deep-sea fishing. Usual fish caught are Mackerel, Pollock and flat fish.

At Downpatrick Head, one can fish from the rocks for Pollock, Bream, Ling and in hot weather for mackerel.

Other fishing close at hand: Salmon and Sea trout on the River Moy Ridge Pool - Salmon Salmon and brown trout on Lough Conn.

Maps, guides and further information can be obtained by contacting The North Western Regional Fisheries Board, Abbey Street, Ballina. email nwrfb@iol.ie

Walking

There are many cliff walks and walking routes one can take, also the Sculpture Trail which starts in Ballina, and The Western Way.

Rathlacken Court Tomb Trail is one of the most outstanding walks in Lacken.

Golf

For golf enthusiasts, there is an 18 hole parkland course, a Par 3 Pitch & Putt course and two driving ranges in Ballina, a Championship Links Course at Enniscrone, an 18 hole Championship links course at Carne, Belmullet and an 18 hole parkland course at Castlebar.