Expeditions 2013

The special paddle in this area is Inishmurray. It’s about 4 miles off Streedagh beach and has an old monastic settlement with beehive huts and a village abandoned since the 40’s. Assuming the weather is favourable, we’ll spend a day on this trip. The other day will be spent touring around and possibly outside Sligo Bay. There are a couple of decent sized islands with some interesting tide and a rock lighthouse. There are also some surf beaches if we get bored!

The Sligo trip will be hostel based, probably near Mullaghmore. We'll firm up details closer to the date. There are a huge number of accommodation options within easy reach. Have a look at Sligo Tourism.

We’ll be starting at 10am on Saturday and it’s about 2.5hours from Dublin, an easy enough drive.

The cost is €190 using our kayak and paddling gear or €170 if you have your own.

We'll visit the magnificant islands of the Inishkeas, off the Mullet peninsula in Co.Mayo. We'll camp on the Saturday night and out and enjoying the freedom. Abandoned since the late 1930's, these islands used to be a major whaling centre in the early years of the 20th Century,

We'll visit the Copeland Islands and the Strangford Narrows, staying on the eastern shore in the Portaferry Hostel. The Copelands are at the mouth of Belfast Lough and have some of the best tidal races in the country. The other day, we'll be in Strangford Narrows where the 8 knot flows create interesting conditions!

The trip is aimed at two levels a) Introduction to Tide Races for those paddling around Improver level and who are new to tide races and b) Intermediate Tide Races for those who want to safely expand their experience. You'll need to be paddling at Level 3/Level 4 to take best advantage of this.

We'll show you how to read the water, control your boat and how to manage bigger water. Fun, adrenaline and learning!

We'll stay at a renovated old fisherman's cottage just east of the Giant's Causeway on the Saturday night and enjoy the wonderful Causeway coast including a paddle under the Carrickarede rope bridge.

The best, biggest and most dependable tide races in the UK and Ireland. We'll stay near Holyhead where we'll have the pick of the tide races around - North Stack, South Stack, Penrhyn Mawr, Rhoscolyn, Cemlyn, the Skerries.   You need to be paddling at least at Level 3 standard to make the best of this.

Sonja and Des in Penrhyn Mawr, Anglesey