Kerry

lightening

I will be in Sneem in Kerry for the August bank holiday weekend. Can any locals or regulars tell me of any good spots nearby, do's and dont's... the usual local knowledge.

Thanks in advance.

Gone West

Its not the best surfing spot in the world...
Would only work well under rare conditions, I wouldn't be too optimistic tbh.

lightening

Right... probably not the best time of the year anyway. I will bring my board anyway.

SideshowBob

I stayed in Kenmare for New Years and had my surfboard with me. A few of us went looking for waves out along the peninsula and we found a few places that could have a wave in decent conditions, especially right out on the end of the peninsula. New Years was quite stormy though and the tide was huge over those few days so between the tide and storm-force onshore winds, I didn't fancy getting in!

On the north of the peninsula is Glenbeigh which I think works in roughly the same conditions as Inch (on the south side of the Dingle Peninsula) although I haven't personally surfed in Glenbeigh so I don't much about it. If you have the time, Brandon Bay on the north of the Dingle Peninsula is usually fairly reliable but it takes forever to get there from Sneem.

There were a few places around Waterville and Caherdaniel that looked like they could have been good. At the very least, you'd have a lot of fun trying to find the best places. And we had some chowder in a place in Waterville near the beach, best chowder I had in years!

lightening

All sounds good Sideshow. I will try the chowder and the beaches. Thanks.

newman10

wrong side of the county. the best for surfing are on the dingle peninsula, Inch Strand and Castlegregory which also has a surf school and equipment hire. It will be fairly busy.

Gone West

saw 50 people in the water out in Castlegregory (back beach, brandon) all waiting on 1-2 foot waves. Super clean, all longboarders. Was funny.

Enygma

Castle was pretty mental at the weekend alright, the funny thing is you can just walk a few hundred yards and get a nice peak to yourself and not have to put up with all the crap. We didn't surf with more than 6 people all weekend.
Drainpipes looked alright but way too crowded, I heard about at least three fights out there too (over 1ft waves!)
Some guy broke his leg in three places too out in Gowlane, snapped his board and all. Lovely!

Jak

Gowlane was grand surfing over the bank holiday 2-3ft at the right times on Fri, Sat, Sun and Mon. Had a lovely surf on the first three days, last day was a bit so-so. Never really more than 10 people in the water - cracking weather and a good run in all the waves.

Didn't see anybody break their leg - must have been awkward.

Heard Pipes was great on the Sunday evening also.

JAK

Gone West

Inch had 2.5-6ft over the bank holiday.
Swell was only forecast at 8ft or so, but there were still some big sets in the 5 or 6 foot range early in the day.

lightening

How did someone break their leg in three places?

Enygma

I heard he was just doing a backside top turn and came unstuck, the lads said he's got pretty weak bones or something though.

lightening

Enygma wrote:

I heard he was just doing a backside top turn.

Right, not much chance of it happening to me then. Poor fella, hope he heals up ok.

buildabong

I surfed Brandon Bay on Sat/Sun, man the best size I have seen so far.
A lot of longboarders were battling to get out, took me about 30 min and two bruised ribs but soooo worth it. Strange thing was on Sunday I drove further up to Dumps (I believe its called) the amount of people in the water was unbelievable!!!

Nice GTI Lightening

lightening

buildabong wrote:

Nice GTI Lightening

Thanks buildabong... real flash untill you have to put petrol in it with a roof rack and boards...:(

Griff77

Was surfing in Inch all weekend. Waves were unreal on sunday morning. So clean and no hastle or crowding. Great weekend!

wideangle

I headed to Banna on Sunday morning and the waves were fairly good,I bodyboard by the way.Then on Monday morning headed to Castlegregory the waves were really good with really good sets comming in at times.It seemed fairly crowded,but it was my first time there and by god it will not be the last!!Picked up a new oneill wetsuit for 80 quid at Jamie Knoxes gaff,a summer one but just could'nt pass it up.:D

wideangle

Mushy

Lightning, you were down in Inney beach last week? Me too, except I wasnt surfing there. That is one hell of a beach, but it really does take certain conditions for surfing to actually be good. Did bodyboarding there on the second day and was good.

Must say though, I went surfing in Finnians bay last Friday. Crap weather, waves were bigger than me, so they were about 6.5 feet high. Bloody mental, and was great. Quite dangerous, but worth it, a memorable experience.

lightening

Good for you! Getting battered in St. Finians, sounds great. Inney beach is really nice. The conditions on the Saturday were perfect longboarding conditions, there was a fella there on a 10 foot single fin board having a ball.

chezz

lightening wrote: »

Good for you! Getting battered in St. Finians, sounds great. Inney beach is really nice. The conditions on the Saturday were perfect longboarding conditions, there was a fella there on a 10 foot single fin board having a ball.

where is St Finians..only surfing a year and im totaly addicted get out whenever i can im from kerry and havent heard of this place

Spoony2

Castle gregory in may and april, is so sweet my unkle hasa house beside the groto and its a 2 min it walk but man surf there can be so amazeing if your lucky ....

lightening

chezz wrote: »

where is St Finians..only surfing a year and im totaly addicted get out whenever i can im from kerry and havent heard of this place

Should be on the map, Chezz. There was murder about me mentioning this place, a local asked me to take the amend the post, I don't want to get involved with that again! Be warned, I have never surfed it before, its supposed to be pretty dangerous. This is a quote from an experienced surfer who contacted me about it.

"The biggest threat out there is the wave itself, it's deceptively bigger than it looks. It might look like 2ft from the road but can be well overhead once you paddle out. It's also a little on the heavier side, it can and will hold you down for a lot longer than you may be comfortable with, if you get it wrong. Lots of people have drowned in this bay over the years.
At high tide there are loads of submerged, very sharp rocks.
There are two rips on either side of the beach, and waves can break at strange angles due to the shape of the sides of the beach, depending on the swell angle.
Another hazard is weeverfis...."

So... take care!

Z

Lol (with respect) but thats bull.
I've surfed it a few times on various swell heights and directions/winds.
Its fine.
Massive exageration by a few locals.

Its a great beach, picks up lots of swell, fantastic shape to the waves.
I'd rate it 5/5, one of the best spots in the south to surf.

heres a google map thing for st. Finians bay:

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=51.81859,-10.233765&spn=0.152803,0.32135&t=h&z=12&om=1

enjoy!

lightening

Z wrote: »

Lol (with respect) but thats bull.

No probs z... Just what I was told, I don't think he was a local. Anyway thanks for the info! Chez... take care, Inney is there too, great beach, miles and miles of room.

chezz

lightening wrote: »

No probs z... Just what I was told, I don't think he was a local. Anyway thanks for the info! Chez... take care, Inney is there too, great beach, miles and miles of room.

sound locals advice is usualy the best..might hold off from the place for another bit;)

Z

Whoops, sorry that was Ballinskelligs I linked to there.
Nice spot on its day, but it doesnt pick up as much as Finians which is here:

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=51.828034,-10.346375&spn=0.059835,0.160675&z=13&om=1

carav

No exaggeration by locals there at all. One of the most dangerous beaches in Kerry. 2 rips in bigger swell, one across in front of the rocks to the rhs of the beach that goes out the right side of the bay, the other that goes out the left side. For a small beach, in bigger swell it's not safe for beginners. I had to help pull 7 kids out of the water on the August bank holiday. At the same time, two surfers went in after two kids on bodyboarders who also got caught in the rip. Whoever was in charge of them allowed them into the water despite the fact there are 'no swimming' and 'danger' signs up all over the place.