TRAVEL - Why Surfing in Donegal is the thing you never knew you always wanted to do
Why Surfing in Donegal is the Thing You Never Knew You Always Wanted to Do
The car journey from east coast to west coast of Ireland takes almost three hours, depending of course, on exactly where you start and finish. The two children and I were wedged in amidst a sea of picnic baskets, pillows and wetsuits. Happily, I had the steering wheel and a sleeve of (now vintage) CDs from the noughties to keep me company, and they pressed buttons on their Nintendo Switches and dutifully looked out the window when I recommended a noteworthy tree or hill.
When I was growing up, car holidays in Ireland were rare. There was the River Shannon cruise, or the food poisoning incident in Cork, and the memorable trip when we couldn’t find the B and B and just drove back home instead. Happily, for me, I am a parent in the 21st century and navigation is no longer a fear. The only prevailing fear is choosing which place we will stop of the myriad sights on the way.
Leg-Stretching Locations
We chose Glencar Waterfall followed by a hike at Benbulben as our picnic and leg-stretching locations. I had secret hopes of educating the children on odd-shaped mountain formations with a dash of Yeats thrown in, but we shared Beano jokes, ideas for video games and intimate discussions around playground rivalries instead. My video game idea is a car simulator that involves pothole dodging on an unnamed Irish country road. The children thought it was rubbish.
Glencar Waterfall had a busy car park in early June, with space for tour buses, so I imagine that in peak season it can be quite touristy. There is a short walk past the food truck and loos to an extremely pretty waterfall. The stairway and looped trail guide you to a smart viewing area for quick snaps and back to the car for an iced homemade cupcake and a gulp of water.
From there to Benbulben is not far, and the scenery becomes very dramatic as you climb towards the car park. As there was some online debate as to the best walking routes around the dominating tabletop mountain, we explored both the looped forest walk from Gortarowey car park and the trail from Luke’s Bridge. It is not summiting that counts here, rather absorbing the majesty of the place. We started with a cheese and charcuterie board with crusty bread in the car park, making our own fancy sandwiches and dipping them in mugs of tomato soup from the flask, truly feeling like this was a proper holiday and not a staycation.
Both walks had their own charm and although we didn’t completely conquer either, we did eat squares of chocolate along the way whilst covering several hours of pleasant leg stretching. The trails were easy to follow and there were the odd fellow walkers to discuss routes and views with. Had I been even better prepared, we wouldn’t have missed Classiebawn Castle, but that is for next year now.
Rossnowlagh Beach
Finally, at tea time, we pulled into the windswept car park overlooking Rossnowlagh Beach. Our Airbnb surf apartment was ideally situated just off the beach, with bunk beds for the excited children and a comfy room for me.
“The Wi-Fi isn’t working” proclaimed my son within minutes of arrival. The car doors were still wide open outside, the back seats covered in the debris of several hours of travel for two medium sized children, yet inside the apartment there were already chargers and devices asunder. So much for the screen detox.
We each stayed focused on our important tasks: he to the tech, her to what would be most appropriate for the dolls to wear and where they would sleep that night, and me tending to the dinner.
How to operate the oven in someone else’s house? Finally, I burnt the garlic bread but re-heated the vegetable soup nicely. We had apples and biscuits for dessert while watching a movie, snuggled under blankets together. We are truly on holiday now, new daily to-do list reads “Surf”.
This is our third year to surf in Donegal. We had our first lessons here, caught the bug and have made the annual pilgrimage since. This year the children are 12 and 10 years old, and well capable to enjoy the waves.
Surfing in Donegal
Donegal will fill your lungs with wild Atlantic air and your camera with endless snaps of rugged coastline and golden sandy beaches. It meanders along the north-west coast of Ireland from the slot machines of Bundoran to the lighthouse at Fanad Head and finally past the windswept majestic Malin Head marking the most northern tip of Ireland with nothing beyond but the Arctic Circle. A coastal drive will take in the Sliabh Leag cliffs, the Knockamany Bens, Muckross Head, Portnoo and plenty of 99s licked along the way, in any weather. Along the 1235 km coastline there are a whopping thirteen Blue Flag beaches, noted for clean clear and safe water.
We were however there to surf, with just a few sights on the way. Rossnowlagh Beach is at the southern end of Donegal county, close to the border with Sligo. Both areas are renowned for good breaks in sheltered bays for beginners like us and perfect storm waves, such as the mighty Mullaghmore, for the pros that travel from around the world when “it’s on!”.
Surf schools abound, some with concrete buildings, some just a van on a beach, but all with wetsuits and boards to rent. We went with Fin McCools Surf School, their bottle green and white shop one of the few landmarks in Rossnowlagh. Neil and his gang are laid back cool as you would expect surfers to be, the all-weather Irish warriors that charge into the waves and body surf along with their multitude of students, all the days of the Summer. The surf school is open all year; however, the weather needs a closer eye in the winter months. Lessons can be booked online via their website or through the surf shop.
The water temperature lies roughly between 7 and 16 degrees centigrade over the year. During the Summer months of July and August, the air and sea temperatures both average around 15-16 degrees depending on the wind chill. Should you prefer to buy your own wetsuit and gear (we got ours from wetsuitoutlet.ie), a 5mm will do you year-round. Add a hood, gloves and boots then as required. Being petite and generally lizard-like about the cold, I needed boots and gloves to preserve my fingers and toes in June. Plus, body warmth increases the amount of time you can spend in the water. We managed 2-3 hours easily. The children were fully clad from eyebrows to toes in neoprene, although they were the only less-hardy-looking ones amongst the regular school tours that arrived (surfing being one of those Covid-friendly outdoor activities), those children were wearing rented wetsuits only.
Instructors begin the lesson with a briefing on the beach about safety and how to “pop”. Once in the water, however, it is up to you – so be brave. They will hold the board occasionally and push you towards the shore with an appropriately sized wave, and whistle appreciation when you stand up. When you do achieve that nirvanic moment of grace, balanced precariously in a knee-bent stance, eyes on the beach, dancing past fellow travellers in a rush of adrenaline, there is a sense of harmony and zen. Athena-like, riding your chariot of waves on a foam board in the wildness of the Atlantic, you feel like anything is possible.
A surf lesson is typically two hours, including your briefing. More advanced surfers can rent boards, which come in different sizes – you start big and get smaller and pointier as you progress. For children, the minimum age is 8 and they should be confident in the water, as waves will go over their heads.
Surf and Explore
Our simple itinerary was to surf in the morning, fill up on soup and sandwiches for lunch, then explore the area in the afternoon, sometimes with an ice cream or fistful of sweets from Tickety Moo (blue flavours, of course, if you’re my daughter).
At low tide, on the advice of Aoife our host, we walked around the beach in the direction of Smugglers Creek. We saw hundreds of hermit crabs along the sand or sheltering in the seaweed from the gulls. Check high and low tide times on the Magic Seaweed site to ensure you don’t get caught out. Remember the tides in Ireland can run up to 4m a day. Most beaches are clearly marked as to rip tides and safe swimming areas, but stay aware at all times to avoid getting into a complicated, scary or dangerous predicament. We chose an afternoon at low tide to walk across to this secret end of the beach with our portable Campingaz BBQ, sausages, sliced pan and ketchup. The children turned the sausages intermittently, drew pictures in the sand, climbed rocks and lay mesmerized by tiny creeping crabs. We drank tins of 7Up purchased earlier from the Brew Box by the surf school and ate sausages rolled up in a slice of bread, savouring the magic of the Enid Blyton “Famous Five” moment without getting trapped by the tide or finding real smugglers along the way, but imagining that we did.
Another day, we took the headland walk in Bundoran to see the natural Wishing Chair and Fairy Bridges. Easy to find, park and follow the trail, there are signs marking the memorial of a World War 2 plane that crashed into the cliffs here, as well as happier tales of those that sat in the chair before. Windswept and gorgeous, with the excitement of watching surfers far better than ourselves, we held onto our hats and each made a wish.
North of Rossnowlagh is the soft sandy beach of Murvagh. It is denoted a Special Area of Conservation (to protect the dunes from erosion) and is a treat for an afternoon out. Behind the beach is a forest park with trails to explore first, then cross the sand dunes to the beach which delights and surprises your toes with its warm waters and perfect paddling conditions. As the bay is shallow, the water has over 1km of sand to cross as the tide moves in, which keeps it relatively warm and lots of fun for skim boarding, on a board which we purchased from Decathlon.
Places to Eat near Rossnowlagh
We took breakfast and lunch in our AirBNB most days, however there are a host of good eating options for evenings. A 3-minute drive arrives at the Smugglers Creek Inn, a popular pub with cut stone walls, renowned for good quality food, and moreover, enjoying a pint looking over the beach at sunset is mighty. The Salmon Inn is a wonderful seafood restaurant with views of Donegal Bay. If it’s packed here, and you don’t mind a drive, head for Killybegs Seafood Shack, a food truck near Killybegs that benefits from the freshest catch of fish.
The weather doesn’t matter
At the end of our few days of fresh air and good sleeping, salty sea and takeaway chips, I hastily checked online to see if we could extend our stay. I feel like my shoulders have dropped from my ears a little and I could dig my toes into the sand for a little longer. For older children and families, it is a great holiday, minimal sight-seeing, lots of activity, well-earned ice cream and the weather doesn’t really matter as you are going to get wet anyway. The children wanted to stay.
It is a popular place, however, so home on the east coast sadly beckoned. We bought postcards and picnic supplies from Finnegans Shop and Post Office, sent the postcards to family with the words “You absolutely Must Come Here With Us Next Time!” and loaded the basket with freshly baked rolls and ham and Haribo for the car journey home via the Marble Arch Caves and the Stairway to Heaven. We bought soap from the Donegal Bay Soap Company for our neighbours who were Minding The Cat, and for us to wash our hands and remember the smell of the ocean until we return next year, or perhaps sooner.