Castlegregory, Co Kerry
This was the first ‘away trip’ (outside Dublin) for the Club this year. It was organised by Pat Corcoran and Robbie Bolger and was the only trip I missed during the year. Probably the best diving in the area is to be found around Gurrig Rock, the outer most island, in particular at The Letterbox and The Pinnacle. The weather and sea state were not helpful with lots of rain and rough seas. After a shake down dive off the shore at the nearby harbour, the remainder of the diving was at Inishtookert and The Pinnacle. The cool environmental reception was well compensated by the warmer accommodation of the rented houses and local fare at Spillane’s Bar.
Hook Head, Co. Wexford
Although the month of May has often been associated with accompanying ‘calms’, 2009 was not the case, even though for the May Bank Holiday weekend we did not have strong winds, there were rough seas around the Hook. Our activities were limited due to the conditions and we concentrate our diving at or very near the Slade Harbour area on the East side of the peninsula. Our diving started beside Slade Harbour where it was evident that the Spider crab population was not on the endangered species register. The children’s snorkel activities were led by Patricia Dunne and the shrieks were initially because of the cold water but were soon followed by the excitement at the sight of crabs and various fish. On the second day we were able to access the unfortunately named Solomon’s Hole. A mid-1800’s sketch of this local well known spot shows that it has changed little in the intervening years. For me, the walk to it from Slade Harbour along the shore seems to be getting slightly ‘longer’ for some reason; a similar phenomenon to my wetsuit ‘shrinking’ every Christmas.