West Coast 'Wild' Swimming

After such a glorious day of rock climbing in the sunshine, it was hard to imagine that it would ever rain again. However, as predicted by the forecast, it was a grey start, that got darker and wetter as the day progressed. 

We had hoped to use the 'wet day' as a surf day, but having checked a few beaches it was clear that it was not a day for surfing - or snorkelling for that matter as the sea was churned up with waves, but not ones that were conducive to surfing on.

We did a short drive along the north of the Dingle Peninsula and checked a few beaches and sights, before then main rains arrived. Parked up advantageously, with a good sea view and facing into the wind, we spent the afternoon working on various projects, reading and drinking a lot of tea as the storm passed by.

Late in the afternoon, the wind eased a bit and the rain turned to light drizzle, so we went to nearby Wine Beach to see if it was sheltered enough for a snorkel.

It wasn't, but Clare decided that it was okay for a swim on the sheltered sandy beach. It took a bit of psyching up, but we burst from the van and ran down to the water, which was a lovely green colour and completely sheltered. Once the initial shock of getting in was dealt with, we actually stayed in quite long. Well, long enough that when we got out, we took a shower from a five litre water bottle that we had in the van and it felt warm to us!

Freshed up in body, mind and spirit, we made for the nearest local pub to warm up. The place was packed as there was a big football match on (Gaelic Football that is). We felt like the only people in Ireland that didn't know that today was 'the big match day'. Luckily for us though, the bar was packed, but the small dining room had a couple of spare tables, which suited us just right.

One of the bottles at the bar had the label 'Holy Water'! But I opted for trying a Guiness instead. This was soon followed by some delicious pan fried fish that we were informed had been caught in the bay. Delicious! Thankfully, the 'right team' won the match...