Surf weekend in Kerry! 🏄

I have to admit that last weekend will probably be one of my fondest memories in Ireland! If someone had asked me a year ago if I could imagine myself surfing in 13 degrees, rain, and wind - my answer would definitely have been a firm NO. One could assume that the first weekend in June would be the ideal time for a surf trip. Not here. But what is much more important is that it was still incredibly fun and an experience that I don't want to miss anymore:).

We booked the tour through the Meet Up app (highly recommended!!) and on Saturday morning we were picked up in Dublin by a minibus to make our way to Kerry, on the west coast. The bus had 6 Spanish women, 1 Italian, 2 Irish, and the man who organized everything. It started quite funny with how the luggage was stored .. with a ladder and the seats as support, one of the men crawled half onto the car roof to stow everything - you really have to see it to get a picture of it: D. During the drive, one of the Irish declared himself a DJ, which made the atmosphere on the way there quite good and we didn't begrudge him too much for arriving at our hostel later than expected due to his navigation. We had a short time to check in before heading straight to the beach: the 'Inch Beach'.

We were greeted by our surfing instructors, who then equipped us with wetsuits so that we could get started. Everyone got a surfboard, but we started with dry exercises in the sand, which turned out to be not so easy. Then it went straight into the water. And when I say straight, I mean it... The cold no longer bothered me after a while, just like the rain (although my toes were still a little blue and frozen: D). It's not as easy as it always looks to even keep your balance on the board and not fall off to the side or make a 'nose dive' (sliding forward, with the nose first into the water - very funny) as soon as a wave comes. And the most exhausting part of the whole thing is actually running into the sea against the waves and the wind with the board after every (often very quick failed) attempt.

Back at the hostel, we all ordered takeaways in the evening (typical fries, chicken goujons, burger or fish..) and then drove to Dingle for about 15 minutes to end the evening with a pint and some music. Unfortunately, we were so exhausted from surfing that we didn't have much energy left to party and in the end, we all sat at the table watching the Irish drink and celebrate: D.

Another surfing lesson was planned for Sunday, but our anticipation was somewhat limited when we arrived at the beach due to the weather conditions. It was so windy that we had to carry the surfboards in pairs so that they wouldn't just fly away. And the warming up also took place on the surfboards to keep them under control. The waves in the water were quite strong and irregular, so after half an hour we actually had no more strength and were more busy keeping the surfboards from flying into our heads. At this point, one of the surf instructors called us all back to the beach because it was becoming too dangerous. Shortly afterwards, they raised the red flag, so it was no longer allowed to go into the water in general. It was actually the first surfing lesson in 5 years that had to be canceled. - But it turned out to be quite good because we got a new chance the next day. Instead, we sat down in the restaurant, ordered hot chocolate and soup. I felt like I was on a skiing holiday.

After a warm shower in the hostel, we all drove to Dingle to see the town. I really fell in love with the little town and we would have loved to stroll through the shops a bit.. but unfortunately it was already too late, so we had to make do with the shop windows. But definitely a reason for me to go there again sometime (although not within the remaining time here). For dinner, we found a cute Italian restaurant and afterwards we went to Murphy's, an Irish ice cream chain originally from Dingle. There we could try all kinds of ice cream flavors: e.g. Irish Cream (Baileys), seasalt, brown bread, and apple vinegar - everything tastes better than it sounds!

After dinner, we all decided to spend the evening together in the hostel, where we sat by the fireplace with other hostel guests for a while after a short walk to the cow pasture (haha, what irony on June 2nd ???). Later, we joined the rest of the group in a barn / common room with a few drinks and snacks and played table tennis or billiards together.

Monday was unfortunately already departure day, or also our last opportunity to go surfing again. The weather was really great and I had a lot of fun. Especially since I could already assess the waves a little better thanks to the exercises in the days before and it was therefore easier to time paddling with my arms and then standing up. I even made it to the beach with a few waves :), even though 70% of the attempts ended up under water: D. It was definitely a great end to our extended weekend and my temporary last trip in Ireland.

Here are a few impressions of surfing:

I don't know if I mentioned that our bus wasn't the newest... On the inside of the car, a lot was fixed with duct tape - for example, a part of the windows. Unfortunately, it rained quite a bit during the return journey and then it started to drip in the bus: D.

Many greetings - Your Hanna :)