First Surf at Doonbeg April 2010

Yesterday saw Niall come back to the fold for his first surf of 2010, the poor lad couldn't handle the cold weather!! The swell was just beginning to build on Saturday afternoon, we decided to hit Doonbeg.

For any of the beginner surfers thinking of hitting Doonbeg I would only do so after a bit of experience and with somebody who knows the beach. Watch for the rips and the sudden change in swell height!

Yesterday was my first surf at Doonbeg and the furthest south I've gone along the west coast. Colin and Marc got there early and Colin bumped into Fergal Smith and Mickey Smith ... starstruck! but these guys are dead sound and chatted for a few mins... I missed them but hopefully will get the opportunity to have a chat some other time.

When we got out to the water at about 4pm there wasn't much happening at the entrance to the beach and went down to the turf reef for about an hour. I didn't catch anything here, the waves were ranging between 2 and 4 foot but they break on really shallow water here so if you mess up you know all about it.

When the swell picked up I moved further up the beach back towards the entrance, the waves were coming in here in nice sets of 2 - 3 foot clean so I had a good hour with some nice waves. This area was a lot safer and I'd recommened any first timer's not to hit the turf reef without experience and someone who knows it.

A serious amount of driving (about 6 hours) but it was worth it for my first surf at Doonbeg. No pics to show but there were some really nice waves peaking and almost barrelling at the turf reef and nice clean sets closer to the entrance.

I'm headin to Cork and Kerry in 2 weeks with a few of the guys on a surf trip for a week - hopefully the sun will shine and the swell will roll in!