This Valentine’s Day, Clean Coasts is inviting photography enthusiasts to fall in love with the coast and enter the Love Your Coast Photography Competition 2025. Whether it’s serene waves, the rugged cliffs, or golden sands, our coasts offer a beauty and solace that never fades, it’s always there, dependable, and constant.
With a prize fund this year of €5000, Love Your Coast offers photographers the opportunity to showcase their talent across five categories. Fall in Love with Your Coast this year and capture those special moments with Ireland’s coastal communities and wildlife, showcase our unique landscapes and built heritage, and wonder at the breathtaking beauty of our coastal environment.
The coast is a place to connect, relax, and reflect, and is one that we must nurture and protect. By entering the competition, you’re not simply showcasing your creativity; you’re helping raise awareness of the need to safeguard Ireland’s waterways for future generations. Join us in celebrating the love we share with our coasts and become part of the movement to care for and protect them.
Now in its 16th Year the Love Your Coast Awards have been attracting hundreds of photographers from across the country each year to highlight the natural beauty of Ireland, its marine life and coastal heritage.
Love Your Coast’s mission extends beyond a photography competition. Our coastal and marine environment form an integral part of Ireland’s identity. Through this competition, we invite people in Ireland to appreciate, celebrate, and safeguard our coast, echoing the dedication of our over 2,000 volunteer groups who work tirelessly to protect our marine environment.
Join us in celebrating the beauty of the Irish coast through the Love Your Coast Photography Competition!
Love Your Coast Competition Categories
This year we have 5 different categories for photographers to enter, please read the descriptions below to make sure you are entering the correct one.
These categories invite photographers to capture the diverse and breathtaking elements of Ireland’s coastline, celebrating its natural wonders and the vital connection between people and the sea, taken within the last 36 months.
Do you have a question about any of these categories? Get in touch with us at loveyourcoast@eeu.antaisce.org.
1. Coastal Landscape
Ireland’s coastline is a place of breathtaking beauty and constant transformation. From towering cliffs and wild Atlantic waves to tranquil sandy coves and ever-shifting dunes, our shores tell a story of both resilience and change.
Spanning 486 kilometres, our coastline is shaped by the powerful forces of nature—the roaring Atlantic on the West and the dynamic Irish Sea on the East. But alongside this natural splendour, our shores are also on the frontline of climate change. Rising sea levels, erosion, and extreme weather events are reshaping the landscapes we cherish, while coastal communities and ecosystems adapt in remarkable ways.
This category invites you to capture the Irish coast in all its moods—its raw beauty, its fragile moments, and its ongoing evolution. Whether it’s the dramatic cliffs of Malin Head, the windswept beaches of Wexford, or the resilience of salt marshes and dunes rebuilding after storms, every image should reflect the story of a coastline shaped by both nature and time.
2. Connecting with the Coast
The coast is more than just a landscape—it’s a place of connection. Whether for work, leisure, or tradition, people have long been drawn to the shore, shaping their lives around the rhythm of the sea.
This category celebrates the many ways we interact with the coast. From surfers catching waves at sunrise to fishers casting their nets, from swimmers braving icy waters to families walking along wind-swept beaches, we want to see how people experience and share the shore.
Whether it’s a moment of solitude or a lively gathering, a long-standing tradition or a spontaneous adventure, capture the deep connection between people and the sea.
3. Source to Sea
Every drop of water has a journey. From mountain streams to winding rivers, from urban canals to vast estuaries, all waterways are connected—and they all eventually lead to the coast.
This category explores the intricate network of catchments, rivers, lakes, and wetlands that shape our landscapes and flow into the sea. Show us the movement of water in all its forms—rushing rivers, tranquil lakes, tidal estuaries, or even raindrops beginning their path to the ocean. Capture the way these blue spaces support life, shape communities, and influence our coastlines.
Whether highlighting the beauty of these waterways, the wildlife they sustain, or the human connection to them, this category reminds us that every waterway is part of a greater journey—one that always leads to the sea.
4. Wildlife and the Coast
This is your opportunity to unveil the remarkable wildlife that thrives on our island. With an impressive array of more than 4,000 plant species, 400 diverse bird types, and over 50 distinct mammal species, our small country is teeming with biodiversity.
Along our picturesque coastlines, we are privileged to coexist with a myriad of marine creatures. From majestic whales to playful dolphins, from graceful seabirds to mysterious sharks, our marine wildlife offers a spectacle that not everyone has the fortune to witness firsthand. Delve into the depths of our estuaries, rivers, and lakes, where a rich and intricate ecosystem unfolds. Amidst the waters, hedgerows, and towpaths, a bustling community of plants, insects, birds, and fish coexists harmoniously, each playing a vital role in our country’s ecosystems.
Show us the variety of life on our island by capturing the best of Ireland’s Wildlife.
5. Underwater
Similar to the above, this category is dedicated to exploring the wonders of wildlife and biodiversity, but with a twist — it’s all about the underwater world. Ireland boasts a rich marine ecosystem, with over 24 different types of Whales and Dolphins, an array of a 460 Fish species, 35 unique Sharks, and a diverse spectrum of over 250 marine plants. Our underwater realm is a vibrant and thriving ecosystem, mirroring the biodiversity found on land. Yet not everyone has the privilege to witness and experience this hidden world beneath the waves. This category aims to shed light on the unseen treasures of our oceans. We invite you to unveil the splendours of the underwater world.
Capture the grace of the Atlantic’s largest shark, the basking shark, the adorable sight of white, fluffy seal pups or maybe if you are lucky the majestic ‘blow’ from a Fin Whale off the South Coast.
We want to immerse ourselves in the full spectrum of underwater marvels. Through your lens, reveal the mesmerising beauty and diversity that the underwater realm has to offer.
Love Your Coast Photography Guide 2025
The 2025 Love Your Coast Photography guide was created in conjunction with BirdWatch Ireland, Seal Rescue Ireland (SRI) and the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) and aims to equip photographers with the correct information on how to capture the beauty of wildlife without causing any harm.
Downloading the guide is essential for entering the competition, informing you all about Clean Coasts, Love Your Coasts, terms and conditions, guidelines for photographing birds, marine mammals pinnipeds and other essential wildlife, and the five categories for 2025!
Whether you’re a beginner looking to learn the basics or a seasoned photographer aiming to refine your techniques, this guide equips you with the knowledge to capture compelling and ethically-responsible images.
Download the guide today, not only improve your chances of creating striking photographs but also contribute to the conservation efforts by highlighting the importance of coastal wildlife preservation through your lens.
* Please note: If you make a submission to the Love Your Coast Photography competition the guidelines outlined within this guide must be followed. If the judging panel feels that entries have failed to comply with the following guidelines they will automatically be disqualified from the competition.
Love Your Coast Judging Panel
Mark Carmondy
Mark Carmondy has been interested in wildlife since he could crawl and started birdwatching with his uncle, Jim Wilson, when he was about 9 or 10 years old.
Aoife McElroy
Aoife McElroy is a Product Development Activities Officer at Fáilte Ireland with over 25 years of experience in tourism. She works closely with Local Authorities, State Agencies, and Government bodies on large capital investment projects, ensuring they balance visitor experience with environmental sustainability.
Jim Coughlan
Jim Coughlan is the Visual Media Manager for the Irish Examiner/The Echo, in roles that include sourcing, creating and managing graphics and video as well as pictures.
Naoise Culhane
Naoise Culhane is a commercial photographer based in Dublin, Ireland, with vast experience working in Press, Public Relations, Corporate and Commercial photography.
Sinead McCoy
Sinead McCoy joined the Environmental Education Unit in 2010, initial working with Green Schools team before moving to Clean Coasts in 2014 as Clean Coasts Officer before becoming the Coastal Communities Manager in 2016.
Conall O’Connor
Conall O’Connor is an Assistant Principal in the Department of Housing Local Government and Heritage working in the area of Marine Environmental Policy.
Jim Wilson
Jim Wilson is a wildlife writer, photographer, international wildlife tour leader and broadcaster.
Things to know before entering
Before entering this year’s competition, remember to read our Checklist and the Love Your Coast Terms and Conditions 2025 before submitting your entry.
It is critical photographers adhere to all the points within the Term & Condition, especially around nesting birds and edits to their submission, failure to do so will result in disqualification.