If You Can Swim You Can Snorkel
LOUGH HYNE Europe's oldest Nature Reserve - this salt water lake is a place of peaceful serenity, steeped in local folklore and home to a unique eco system which sustains a huge variety of marine plants and animals. It is connected to the sea via a narrow tidal channel, known as the Rapids, and a great place to go for bird & seal watching or even to wander leisurely along the western shore towards Barloge Creek or the more challenging climb up Mount Knockomagh Hill, from where you'll have stunning panoramic views.
For the 2025 season
An ideal family or group or couples outing - Snorkelling in the Atlantic Ocean.
Our staff will take you through the stage of selecting the rental equipment, which is all included in the fee. You will be wearing a full wetsuit, hood, mask, fins & snorkel, booties and snorkelling vest or buoyancy aid with gloves optional. You will learn how to ensure a good fit of all the equipment, in particular the mask and snorkel - there are small sizes specially for children. The wetsuits are thicker than those used for windsurfing but if you have your own, you might prefer to wear that with perhaps an additional wetsuit top or jacket for extra warmth provided by us.
We provide you with details / copy map, tidal information and weather to help you plan your outing. A full set consists of a wetsuit, hood, mask, fins & snorkel, booties and snorkelling vest or buoyancy aid with gloves optional. We do not rent out weightbelts so you can only float in/on the water rather than engage in free-diving as that is more risky and would require special training and qualification. We also have wetsuits to fit children.
Prerequisites are swimming ability, feeling comfortable in the water and general good health, with a minimum age for children of 6 yrs. We will be happy to plan your location taking into account the weather (wind direction) and tides. It is best to book your rental in advance. Youngsters must be accompanied by an adult / guardian or parent.
Additional Information
Whether you choose to go snorkeling independantly off a sandy beach or rocky inlet – wind direction, wave height and tides will sometimes point you to the most suitable location and we gladly help you plan it. There are plenty of lovely rocky beaches and inlets to enter the water safely.
Although sandy beached might appeal to the general public, for close up encounters with marine life, the rocky walls and bottoms are much more interesting to a snorkeller as these provide the habitats of small fish, plant life and different colours and textures. Lough Hyne for instance is one such place with a history of marine research for decades by world-renowned biologists. Other locations nearby include Trafraska, Tranabo, Tragumna and Murphy’s Cove all facing S or W and Tralispean facing E. Particularly suitable for family day trips, take your rental equipment across the ferry to Sherkin Island and head for the lovely beaches (Traban – NNW facing and Silver Strand – W facing towards Cape Clear). Further afield, an hour’s car journey would be Ballyrisode Beach near Toormore (facing SE and very shallow waters or Dunmanus Bay (facing N so good with southernly winds).
Snorkelling is not strenuous and without a weight belt all you can do is float and move on top of the water. The best months for snorkelling in West Cork are mid-May to end-September when the water temperature can be between 13 and 17 degrees and the visibility and fish life are at their best.
Snorkelling can take place either in a nearby nature reserve called “Lough Hyne” or similar beach / cove location with easy access to shallow water or a ferry trip first to a nearby island such as Sherkin or Cape Clear. The choice depends on weather conditions and tides on a given day.
Sea life at shallow depths that can be enjoyed by snorkellers include sea weeds and kelp, anemones, shellfish, crustaceans and fish such as blennies, dogfish, starfish, squid, pollack, sand eels, pipefish, scorpion fish and different varieties of wrasse.
- Trips are not 100% weather dependant but obviously more enjoyable in calm sunny conditions and very much depend on your swimming ability and confidence in the water.
- If we deem sea conditions unsuitable and cancel your rental, you will be offered an alternative date OR a voucher / full refund.
- There is no refund for “No Shows” on the day OR cancellations not confirmed giving less than the required notice period.
- Refunds for cancellations are at the discretion of Aquaventures Ltd.
- If you need to cancel or amend you must give a minimum of 2 days’ written notice, either by email info@aquaventures.ie or text/sms +353877961456 (use WhatsApp).
- We kindly ask you NOT to reschedule or amend on 3rd party / booking agents as cancelled rental equipment allocation does not come through on our diary system immediately.
- All prices are in Euros and include any sales tax where applicable.
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