A Northerly Surf

Just back from a trip up North; Portrush has been mentioned as a top surf location in Ireland but it doesn't get the publicity some of the breaks on the West coast have received... I guess this has it's up sides!

With about 14 surfers out on one of the main breaks (West Strand) on Saturday it was pretty quiet... compare this to main breaks at Lahinch and Bundoran its a ghost beach!

But there's a few reasons for this maybe... the water is a bit colder up around Antrim and the crowds are dropping off lately at all breaks around the Country as the Winter sets in. I'm told the surf is not near as consistent up there as the West coast so add these together and you have relatively quiet beaches at the end of October.

A few of the group made the trip up to the coast of Antrim, taking full advantage of the Bank Holiday weekend. We gathered in a house at Portstewart for a few nights with the surf just a couple of minutes away in neighbouring Portrush.

It felt (and I guess it was) a bit different from our normal trips to the West coast, I was feeling slightly simple trying to figure out the sterling coins!! and of course the accents are very distinctive... it's one I'm found of though.

One thing is for sure we were met by very friendly people both in the water and on dry land. Paddling out into the lineup fellow surfers would give you a friendly nod or spark off a chat. A couple of us were getting a few accessories and we couldn't get over how friendly and helpful the guys in Woodies surf shop were.

We got a few surfs in over the weekend, a double up on Saturday but Sunday was slightly hampered by the shenanigans from the night before (we soaked up the nightlife Portrush had to offer!) It was a sunset surf on Sunday... there's something about catching a few waves as the sun goes down, I'd recommened it for any of ye yet to give it a try.

The waves in Portrush were worth the trip... I've previously seen photos of barrelling waves at the beach breaks and although they weren't quite happening this weekend we could see the potential of a barrel in the way the wave formed, I've yet to come across that style of a wave at a beach on the West coast!

Spotted Al Mennie out on his stand up paddle board, making it look easy on the slowly rolling waves!

One thing is for sure the Winter is creeping in, the mornings are taking later to spark to life, the evenings are eating back into the day and the cold is taking grip on the water... but this all means more consistent waves  so its worth the compromise! This was our first adventure up in the Antrim area and I can see plenty more visits to come.