Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: connemara, Galway, irish surfing, Oceans, Sailing, Surfing, visit galway, Walking, Waves, west of ireland
Eyes anxiously search for the next crevice in the cliff’s face while below, there’s a sheer – and impressive – drop to the ground. Although you might want to, don’t even think of looking down to where waves are lapping against the foot of the cliff. This is the place where Michael Crawley has chosen to take his beginners climbing group – one of the most spectacular training spots this part of western Ireland has to offer adventurous holidaymakers.
The region around Limerick city is perfect for open air activities. “But despite their suitability none of the individual locations are overcrowded,” says Joanna McInerney from the Burren Outdoor Education Centre in Bell Harbour, County Clare.
The centre is located on the edge of the region’s iconic karst landscape, the Burren, and close to the Cliffs of Moher, and offers an extensive array of different sporting activities.
For climbing, the centre takes clients to one of the steep chalkstone cliffs in the Burren region. Each climb is not just physically demanding, “they also build your self-awareness,” says McInerney.
Giving up is not part of the day’s activities and everything is focused on reaching the top. The most important thing is the next hand grasp and pulling yourself up a few more centimetres.
Abseiling is another form of climbing whereby the cliff face is conquered from the top and not the bottom. Wearing a helmet and a safety harness, you slowly lower yourself to the foot of the cliff.
Just leaning over the cliff edge requires courage and sends a shot of adrenaline through the body. From the bottom, Crawley calmly gives directions and a short time later this test of courage is completed – now it’s time to enjoy the view.
Water sports enthusiasts are attracted to the beach at Fanore on Galway Bay where body boarding is a popular activity.
Just like surf boarding, body boarding is about riding waves to their maximum. Neoprene suits allow you to stay in the cold Atlantic waters.
From salt water to sweet water. Near Killaloe, about 30 kilometres north of Limerick city, the river Shannon widens to form Ireland’s third-largest lake.
Lough Derg provides ideal conditions for water sports and for the last 12 years its shore has been home to the University of Limerick’s Activity Centre. Most of the centre’s activities are connected with water.
West of Ireland Adventure
Paddling a canoe is one of the best ways to see the landscape surrounding Lough Derg. Kayaking is slightly more strenuous and requires some sweat from participants asthey glide over the lake’s surface.
At the point where the Shannon flows out of Lough Derg the water becomes choppy and is perfect for beginners who want to know what it’s like to ride a kayak in wild water.
Kilfinane Outdoor Education Centre south of Limerick runs outdoor orientation courses in the surrounding mountains. Courses on offer include mountain biking and valley climbing – two of the activities on offer in what is Ireland’s biggest playground for outdoor enthusiasts.
Filed under: Ireland, Places, Surfing Ireland, conservation, tourism | Tags: beaches, Galway, Ireland, maps, Surfing, tourism
THERE are fears that Galway’s reputation as a premier tourist destination will be severely damaged following the publication of a damning report into the bathing water quality in the county.
The Environmental Protection Agency report, which was published yesterday, identifies county Galway as having two of the worst beaches for water quality in Ireland. The environmental watchdog deemed the water at two Galway beaches, Clifden and Na Forbacha, unsafe to swim or bathe in because they failed to meet the standards for ‘faecal coliforms’ — human or animal waste material in the water.
Just two other beaches in the country have failed to meet this basic European water quality standard.
It is the third year in a row Clifden failed to comply with the regulations while Na Forbacha also failed in 2005 but complied in 2006.
Longboards are the original, and very first variety of board used in standup surfing. Ever since the sixth-century the anciant hawaiians have used 8 to 24 foot solid wooden boards when practicing their ancient art of he’e nalu. Surfing was brought to the Hawaiian Islands by Polynesians and has since become popular worldwide. The ancient boards were carved and fashioned out of solid wood, reaching lengths of ten to fourteen feet long and weighing as much as 150 pounds. Replicas of these ancient boards have been made and surfed by Roy Stewert and Tom Wegener. Both men and women, royalty and commoners surfed. But the longest of boards (the Olo) was reserved for royalty. During the 19th century, some extreme western missionaries actively discouraged surfing, viewing it as sinful. Surfing almost died out completely.By the early 20th century, only a handful of people surfed, mostly at Waikiki. But there, it started to grow again. Beginning in 1912, Duke Kahanomouku, a Hawaiian Olympic swimmer in the early 1900s, brought surfing to mainland US and Austrailia. Because of this, Duke is considered the “Father of Modern Surfing.” From that point on, surfing became an integral part of the California beach lifestyle. In Malibu (in LA county), the beach was so popular amongst the early surfers that it lent its name to the type of longboard, Malibu Surfboad.
In the 1920s boards made of plywood or planking called Hollowboards came into use. These were typically 15 to 20 feet in length and very light. During the 1950s, the surf trend took off dramatically as it obtained a substantial amount of popularity as a sport. The design and material of longboards in the 1950s changed from using solid wood, to balsa wood. The length of the boards still remained the same at an average of 10.5 feet, and had then become widely produced.It was not until the late 50’s and early 60’s when the surfboard design had closely evolved into today’s modern longboard. The introduction of polyurathene foam and fiberglass became the technological leap in design. In the 1960s, the longboard continued to remain popular as its material changed from balsa wood to fiberglass and polyurethane foam. In the 1960’s, the introduction of the shortboard, averaging 6.5 feet, allowed surfers to make tighter turns, quicker maneuvers, and achieve faster speeds, thus radically changing the way people surfed. This “shortboard revolution” nearly made longboards obsolute for all practical purposes. But in the early 1990’s, the longboard returned, integrating a number of the design features invented during the shortboard revolution. Surfers rediscovered the grace and poise – the “glide” – of the longboard, and the fun of classic manouvers that are not possible on a shortboard. In some circles the battle between longboards and shortboards continues. But many surfers live by a philosophy of finding the joy of surfing a mix of boards and surfing styles to suit the waves of the day.
