This week, the wind blows GARY QUINNto the Causeway Coast in Co Antrim, where the glens, cliffs and sea stacks reveal a landscape of extremes and incredible beauty
THERE ARE solo trips and there are club trips – and then there are those weekends when a group of friends pack up their cars and hit the coast, any coast, for the weekend.
And so it happened that six of us stood staring down the wind in Dublin looking for a destination. In a week of crazy weather predictions, our plans to paddle the Cliffs of Moher were being challenged. Then, out of nowhere, a calm began to build around the Antrim coast. Could it be that simple? Just drop our plans and head north? Ireland is so packed with paddling destinations that you really can simply follow the weather. And kayaking is the kind of sport in which, if you can organise the location, you’ll have no trouble finding people to come with you.
And what a destination: the Giant’s Causeway, Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, the famous glens themselves. Even though some of us had never even walked the Antrim coast, somehow we knew its landmarks.
Antrim is imposing – it’s a dark place. The rock, the cliff face, the hills and glens. They loom large under any skies, but slate grey is their touchstone.
Anyone who has walked this slice of Ireland can tell you how majestic it is, how it wraps you up in its landscape. But from the sea, Antrim is a revelation. Flashes of colour reveal the magic within it: the metals running through the stone, the lush green of the grass, the clutches of life clinging to the rock at the tops of waterfalls, the seaweed forests, the deep black caves, the white of the sand – even the green sea itself. There is simply so much to see along this strip of coast that a lifetime could be spent exploring.
We launched from Portballintrae, a town less than three hours from Dublin. Our predications were correct: while the west coast was churning under wind and rain, the conditions in Antrim were as good as it gets. A calm swell, no real wind and a few breaks in the clouds to keep our optimism for blue skies growing.
We had an Antrim man in our group who led us on a mighty expedition and every step along the coast revealed something unexpected.
As soon as we touched the water we noticed the sea wasn’t doing what we expected. For those of us more used to a north/south flood and ebb, the east/west tidal movements up on the top of Ireland are alarming, but great fun. And with so many bays and inlets creating their own eddies and tidal flows, there were times we simply had to laugh and let the sea pull and push us along.
Scotland is ever present. The shortest crossing point-to-point is less than 20kms, the short distance masking the difficulty of the crossing itself. But such close proximity creates a funnel between the two islands and so, when the sea does push through, the force it creates is huge and is also partly responsible for carving the wonderful rock formations that make up this coast.
The route that we mapped out covered 25kms, from Portballintrae to Ballycastle. We broke it into two days – 15kms to Ballintoy and the second day we covered the 10kms to Ballycastle. The two sections of this route are remarkably different with the softer glens beyond Ballintoy gaining dominance over the sheer rock that dominated the previous day.
As we paddled, hopping into caves, landing on deserted beaches and islands, I couldn’t help thinking of the circumnavigators who rush past here, searching for a speed record. It really is a different sport and we were very happy to slow everything down.
The causeway itself is the highlight of this trip, but nothing could have prepared us for the variety of coastline, how every headland and beach pulled you to it. Every cave demanded entry and every fragment of history left behind by fishermen or former residents in these wild glens created a connection.
Luckily for us, we were joined on our second day by John Ruston, a local kayaker who was a mine of information on where we were paddling. Through tales and fables, he brought everything to life in a landscape he clearly loves.
The Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge also brought the sea to life, for me at least. It was shallow when we tried to pass beneath it and I lost out. A trio of waves launched me and my Greenland T into the surf. Too shallow to try and roll, I literally walked beneath the bridge, my pride only salvaged by the excitement of the tourists on the bridge far above my head, delighted to see me rescued. Another of our group followed and met a similar fate – it’s always better to swim in pairs, but next time I’ll be wearing my drysuit.
Being in a group of paddlers like ours is great because everyone is of a similar standard and knows each other’s limits. Rescues have been rehearsed, trips planned and stops marked so we could zone in or out of the group whenever we wanted. Antrim suits a team like this. The seas get big and you have to be prepared for them but when you get the chance to play it’s great to be part of a group that knows what it’s doing.
It also guarantees a good night out afterwards. We filled our evening in The House of McDonnell on Castle Street in Ballycastle (houseofmcdonnell.blogspot.com).
A destination in itself, it’s a traditional pub run by Tom O’Neill and his wife Eileen and they gave us a great welcome, even if they thought we were mad to be out on the water at all.
The striking thing about this paddle was how easy everything was, both on and off the sea. From planning the route, gaining access to the water, gathering information, accommodation, eating and socialising, Antrim is really well served for tourism. The cliffs are filled with walking groups on tracks managed by the UK National Trust while information and guiding is plentiful and things just seemed to work so well.
Local knowledge is everything, and for the first time in this series I came upon another group of kayakers at sea. The solitude on the Irish coast is one of its selling points – you rarely meet anyone else out paddling – but here, the local kayak club, the Causeway Coast Kayak Association (ccka.co.uk), was out training.
It was great to meet them and see how organised things were up north and to get more local knowledge. Not least to hear that we had skipped one of the best parts of the coast – Portrush to Portballintrae where we had started. The caves here are stunning, they said, not least because you get to paddle beneath the crumbling walls of Dunluce Castle.
Later that evening, Robin Ruddock, a kayaker who has been driving the sport in Antrim and elsewhere for years and who will feature in a series of audio interviews I’m doing with Ireland’s top kayakers, reiterated this: it simply shouldn’t be missed, he explained.
So now we know where we’re paddling when we return.
Stay
B&B: Whitepark House– I stayed in this B&B some years ago. It's in a beautiful countryside location between Ballintoy and Bushmills and easily one of the best B&Bs I've stayed in. Whiteparkhouse.com
Self-catering– The Landmark Trust is about to open a new property just outside Ballycastle, Magherintemple Lodge, which has two double bedrooms and has been beautifully restored. See irishlandmark.com
ALL ABOUT THE CAUSEWAY COAST
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Seán Pierce
The north Antrim coast from Portrush to Ballycastle is a “must do” experience for all sea kayakers in Ireland. The Sea of Moyle coastline is a beautiful mixture of complex geology and fascinating social history, and the sea kayaker is very aware of the closeness of Scotland.
The process of erosion has resulted in the islands, arches, sea stacks and cliff faces having a unique texture and distinctive colouration of basaltic blacks, greys and reds offset by pure white layers of chalk. This combination makes the area visually stunning and very different from other parts of Ireland.
Visiting sea kayakers will be impressed at the strong tidal flows, eddies and tidal races of this area. Trips require planning to maximise the east-west flood and ebb cycles. The Irish Sea basin ebbs west to north west around Fair Head and between Rathlin Island and the mainland.
Some big seas can result when the ebb is contrary to strong west to north west winds and thus can provide some challenging sea kayaking.
The natural history of the coast is varied with great seabird life especially the density of Black Guillemots. The northern speciality species of this coast is the handsome Eider. The ports of Ballintoy and Portbalintrae, the attractions of the Giant’s Causeway, Carrick-a-Rede and Dunluce Castle, make this a super location. There is a richness of treasures along this coast that deserves a two-day trip to enjoy it fully.
Seán Pierceis a level-five sea kayaker and has selected the routes for this series
