Have the week off,bodyboarding spots?

wideangle

I have a week off,would like to hit some new spots to learn some new moves.The swell is not getting good till Thursday next,but would like to head on Monday till Friday,staying at hostels along the way.
Hope to take in Kerry,Inch,Castlegregory,Banna,Ballyheighue.
Clare,lahinch and whatever else gets reccomended.Achill Island,and possibly,Strandhill and Bundoran.
Where would you head if you had a week off?:rolleyes:

wideangle

Thank you for the replies,or lack of...anyhow was in water at Stradbally,Brandon Bay this morning,while the wind was off shore,then it changed to cross off shore.Sand banks all over the gaff.

Checked the usual Castlegregory spot's around lunchtime,was o.k.surf but wind was on shore,and noone else out,so no go.

Then went on to Banna,waves looked ridable,wind was from the south blowing towards Ballyheigue.Noone out so no go.

Then went on to Ballybunion,swell was building nicely and coast gaurd was around??noone out so no go.

Then on to Tarbert and the ferry accross to Clare,Spanish point was breaking huge and so was Lahinch,there were surfers out till dark!!Paddling out from the beach was not worth it,so most walked down the cliff from the carpark.

Hope to get out at Lahinch tomorrow at low tide:D

Enygma

If you're looking for somewhere where there will definitely be other people out then stick to the main well known spots, Lahinch, Strandhill, Tullan etc.

If I had the week off I'd probably just head to Mayo/Sligo/Donegal and drive around looking for surf. Pick a random road that heads towards the coast and see whats there.
Get a map and work out where the best conditions should be and just head there and see what you find.

It sounds like you're not looking to find empty waves though, so stick to the main spots.

Personally I'd rather discover spots for myself than ask online though, there's more of a sense of adventure that way. Anyways, talk to the local lads out in the water and they'll usually know the best spots around. Whether they tell you about them or not is another matter entirely!

wideangle

Have sat nav...no more maps...I intend to go too the beach breaks,Like I have been doing,not everyone has the week off,to head too the beach.I do not want to ask locals for their best spots..as I'm not up to big wave standards just yet..lol
Had a look at Cliffs of Mohar to see if the big wavers were out,but they were gone,passed a transit pulling a trailor with a jet ski on it and two guys in the front with wet suits on!!!Dead give away.They were probably out all day!!

kodute

That sounds like great fun, id love to have a week off to hit all the surf spots!
If you pass by Fanore on low tide, check it out, and keep between the rocks! It should be good on a big swell.

Gone West

For bodyboarding you should be looking at the reefs, as far as I know beach breaks dont break steeply enough most of the time for proper bodyboarding "moves".

The well known waves I'd be looking at would be like Easkey (far) right on front of the boulder, 3ds in Bundoran, spanish point reefs, etc.
Dumps and mossies in Brandon bay would be good as well.

Most of the hardcore bb lads will have a bunch of nameless empty slab breaks that they practice on. Get out a map and drive around and you're bound to find something.

Best of luck

Enygma

I really have to strongly disagree here. Sending someone ,who didn't surf Ballybunion because there was nobody out, to spots like Easkey right, Spanish Point reefs and 3Ds is pretty irresponsible to be honest. I don't mean any disrespect here wideangle but I'm pretty sure that you're not looking for anything like those waves.

Guys ride bodyboards on slabs because a lot of the time that's the only thing you can ride those waves on. It doesn't mean you need a wave like that to ride a bodyboard.

And to suggest that waves on beaches aren't steep enough? Where did you get that idea?

wideangle

Ease up there Enygma,Fuzzy is only trying to help.

Back home now anyway,so it does'nt really matter what waves Fuzzy was suggesting.

Was out at Lahinch yesterday,good fun at low tide and the waves were fairly big allright,messy at times but big!!

Enygma

I didn't mean to come across too heavy there but I did feel it was pretty irresponsible to suggest those waves. None of those waves are suitable for beginners and that kind of advice can get people seriously hurt.

If other beginners see this thread they might get the wrong idea about those spots and get themselves into big trouble.

Trying to help is one thing but it was pretty obvious from your posts that you weren't looking for any fast reef breaks.

wideangle

Definately not looking for reef breaks just yet.I see where you are comming from.I never even heard of the spots mentsioned,maybe next time,I'll go and take a look.