This course will be your first step on an incredible sea kayak journey in Donegal.
Sea Kayaking Donegal are running an introduction course to sea kayaking over two weekend days in April on Saturday 5th and Saturday 12th. This is a great opportunity to try our closed cockpit, sit in sea kayaks and pick up the skills needed for paddling on the sea in a sheltered water environment.
This introduction course could be used as a stepping stone onto our popular long term kayak development program which has the aim of giving participants the opportunity of learning the skills and knowledge to kayak all year round in some of Donegal’s most amazing coastal and Island locations.
Cost for the full course is €100 per person and all equipment and coaching is supplied. Course times and exact venues/locations in Donegal will be chosen closer to the course date to make the best use of the prevailing weather/sea conditions. Max paddler weight limit for the sea kayaks is 95kg. No previous kayak experience is required but Participants would need to have a good level of fitness and water confidence to take part in the course.
A deposit will be required to hold your place. Please email seakayakingdonegal@gmail.com for further info and reserve your place.
If you have ever fancied being a sea kayaker in Donegal but didn’t know where or how to start. Well here is your chance!
Sea Kayaking Donegal are running an introduction day to sea kayaking on Saturday 29th July. This is a great opportunity to try out our sit inside sea kayaks and learn the basic skills needed for paddling on the sea in a sheltered water environment.
The venue will be the best west Donegal location that will suit the prevailing weather conditions for that day. The meeting up time will be confirmed closer to the date and course duration is 6 hours.
This intro course could further be a stepping stone onto our long term kayak development groups, peer lead sea kayak trips and our winter swimming pool course.
Cost for the one day course is €90 per person and all equipment can be supplied including sea kayaks, paddles, wetsuits, paddling jackets, gloves, helmets and footwear if needed. Course times and exact venues/locations in Donegal will be chosen closer to the course date to make the best use of the prevailing weather/sea conditions. Max weight limit for the sea kayaks is 95kg. Participants would need to confirm they have a good level of fitness and water confidence to take part in the course and are within the weight limit for the sea kayaks.
A deposit will be required to hold your place.
Please contact us here for further info and to reserve your place.
Pictures below of our current long term development training groups out on the water so far this year.
Sea Kayaking Donegal is a registered sea kayak delivery partner with British Canoeing and Canoeing Ireland. https://www.canoe.ie/registered-providers/ and British Canoeing https://gopaddling.info/delivery-partners/sea-kayaking-donegal/
All of our tours and kayak training sessions are guided by a fully updated qualified and experienced level 3 sea kayak coach.
The aim of our long term paddler sea kayak training program is to allow you gain the kayak skills, knowledge and experience in becoming an independent paddler on the sea. The training which is due to start in April and continue throughout the year using different venues and environments in Donegal and all training equipment needed can be supplied.
Being a member of our long term paddler development group can also give you access to our peer lead sea trips group and our winter program- learning to kayak roll on our swimming pool course.
As most of the training takes place on the sea, people have to be aware that sea kayaking can be physically challenging along with at times the environment we will be paddling in. As the kayaks we will be using for the training are sit inside sea kayaks with closed cockpits ( not sit on tops ) we will be using spraydecks to practice rescue drills in open water. We advise that people who sign up for the training would need to have a good level of fitness and water confidence. The paddler max weight limit for the sea kayaks is 95kg (15 stone).
If you would like the chance to become a proficient sea kayaker and progress your paddling skills and would like some further info please contact James at seakayakingdonegal@gmail.com or through the contacts page here on our website.
Donegal’s Rocky Whitewater Slides
High in the foothills of the Bluestack mountains you will find one of Donegal’s best loved kayaking secrets, a succession of several rock slides known affectionately as the Slabs. Getting the right water levels to run this section of river is notoriously tricky at the best of times and the Slabs are classed mostly as continues grade 3 white water and up to grade 4 on high water, so a good level of knowledge and ability is required to run this river. Here in this footage we are running the Slabs and the lower part of the river on medium water levels ( grade 3 ) Music is by Speckled Red. Enjoy the ride!
James.
Kayak Surfing. Donegal to the World Championships.
- Winter Kayaksurf at Narin Strand Portnoo
Donegal is a great place to be a kayaker with a huge range of stunning coastline from cliffs to unspoilt offshore islands, pristine beaches and practically hundreds of lakes and fast flowing rivers that makes Donegal a playground for paddlers. It’s also a great place to surf, it has plenty of swell generated by the Atlantic ocean which means lots of waves hitting onto our unspoilt, coastal beaches and reefs. Added to Donegal’s normally mild winters means that you could actually surf all year round.
Donegal surfkayak Irish champion Kieran Mc Dyre in action in his HP kayak
Can you surf a kayak? You surely can! Any type of kayak can surf, it’s just that some surf a lot better than others. If your kayak is bulky, heavy or has a lot of volume it might be a struggle to get a lot of performance out of it, but it still would be fun to try. The best kayaks to use on the waves are the high tech lightweight composite competition kayaks like the high performance ( HP ) short boat which features a flat bottom sharp rails, short tail and fins and the international class ( IC ) long boats that are hard carving surf machines, but both of these types of kayak take some time to master and are relatively expensive to buy.
Early days just starting out in summer at Rossnowlagh a nice friendly beach.
If you’re new to surfing and just starting out, it’s a good idea to pick a quiet, safe beach where you won’t get in any other water users way, then it will be easier to stay within your own comfort zone. Have suitable clothing for cold water immersion like a wetsuit, wear a buoyancy aid and a helmet which is a must for kayak surfing
Ulster Paddlesurf Competition held in Portrush
There is a definite history to paddle surfing in Ireland stretching back to the 1980’s with regular competitions taking place involving surfkayakers and waveskis run by the likes of the Ulster Paddlesurf Club and Paddlesurf Ireland with both clubs sending teams and individuals to National and International competitions over the years. The biggest competition in Ireland is the Irish Paddlesurf Open event held every year at Easky (on the left hand reef break), Co. Sligo with paddlesurfers attending from the UK and Europe alongside the best Irish surfers.
A competitor in action at a regional event held at Marblehill Donegal
This year (2017), Ulster will be the venue for the World Surfkayak Competition (20th-28th October) based in Portrush, involving the best teams and individual kayakers from around the world. The event is being organised by the Canoe Association of Northern Ireland. This event offers a great opportunity to see the finest paddlersurfers in the world competing against one another in both the team and individual heats whilst executing radical and dynamic moves on the waves. At the event three paddlers from Donegal Sea and Surf Paddlers Club (based on the rugged NW coast of Donegal) will be taking part and are being supported by Rapid Kayaking. The three Donegal paddlers are James O’Donnell, Kieran and Denis Mc Dyre. All three have competed in the past at national and international events and we wish them well in their endeavours at the 2017 World Surf Kayak Championships.
Members of Donegal Sea & Surf Paddlers Club who will be heading to the 2017 World Surfkayak Championships to be held in Portrush in October. from R to L Kieran, James, Denis and fellow Donegal Surf Kayaker Conor O’D
First blog post
Unseen Donegal
Hi.
Think you have seen all the best bits of Donegal, have you visited the top 10 best places in the county all the hidden gems the secret spots that the tourist media and all the Instagram and Facebook pages keep telling us about.
I dont think so.
I have been exploring the Donegal coastline for nearly 20 years by land and sea, There are still places out there that have only been seen by a handful of people, places that even have yet to appear in photographs.
How come we don’t see them. Well thats mainly due to them being in some cases fairly remote, hard to get to, poor access ( big cliffs and stuff ) and the weather plays a big part in being able to get to them.
I still think it’s worth having a look at them even if you are never able to get to them yourself.
Remote lunch spot along Slieve League.
Sea Kayaking Donegal 