Located 12 miles west of Bantry, and 18 miles east of Castletownbere, it is a popular stop along the routes around the area. In recent years, its importance as a waypoint along the Castletownbere to Cork fish-delivery route has declined as local infrastructure improves and vehicular traffic can now navigate its once-quaint thoroughfare at significant speed.
Primarily, the economy revolves around a combination of tourism, subsistence farming and local services.
Notably among local attractions, Garinish Island is well worth a visit. A botanical and horticultural paradise in Glenagarriff Bay, it is located about 25 minutes off-shore and accessible via small passenger ferries which depart from three different locations around the bay - Glengarriff Blue Pool, Glengarriff Pier and Shrone Slip. Also worth visiting is the national forest, with some of the oldest and most extensive oak and birch groves in Ireland.