Who & What
Aquaventures and its staff have been in the marine business for over 25 years.
Aquaventures – established in March 1997 with its activities in and on the water is run by Jerry & Rianne Smith. There has been a shift from pure diving & guided snorkelling tours to boat trips, eco-tours, whale & dolphin watching, snorkelling rental "go it alone" and combined packages with the award-winning accommodation the Stone House B&B.
We mainly emphasize on diving services, equipment maintenance, hardboat charter, snorkel rental for the “go it alone trips”. A core element of the business that still carries on today with a loyal client base from both Irish and overseas diving clubs and individuals. The shift to marine eco tours (whale & dolphin watching) and Fastnet Sunset trips happened along the way (not everyone wants to go IN THE WATER but loves to enjoy BEING ON THE WATER and increased significantly during the last 10 years.
Wave Chieftain
Our boat is a 42 ft Offshore 125 hardboat with spacious open deck and seating for 12 passengers, indoor cabin seating, a small gallery for making hot drinks, toilet and even 2 sleeping cabins for 8 passengers. She has excellent comfort and manoeuvrability due to her hull design that results in a very steady “ride” on the ocean in most weathers. If the sea conditions are too rough, we of course cancel or reschedule a trip. She is fully licensed by the Department of Marine with all safety (including a 16-man life raft) and navigation equipment on board and fully qualified and experienced crew. She is available for charter for marine survey work, commercial projects, filming and of course marine tourism for individuals, groups or private bookings.
Our mission
Our mission is to provide our passengers an enjoyable tour on the water whilst remaining respectful to and promote sustainable whale and dolphin watching tours that support a healthy marine environment and cetacean populations.
To ensure the long-term health of marine life, Aquaventures aims to be pro-active in protecting marine life. We adhere to a strict code of conduct; not chase animals, not approach head-on, cross their path or get in their way of feeding, not to swim with the animals or touch them, feed them. When practical and safe to do so, engines can run on tick-over or drift switched off when close to animals.
Aquaventures assists a number of national and international research groups and conservation organisations in their projects.
Any rubbish generated on the boat by customers is brought ashore, nothing ends up in the sea and any floating plastic or rubbish in the sea is brought back if practicable and when safe to do so.
Jerry and Rianne
Jerry Smith
Diver and service technician who started his love with diving as a youngster in the Middle East in the early 70s and turned to teaching scuba full-time in 1993. Skipper of the “Wave Chieftain” hardboat, Jerry has extensive knowledge of the local waters, is an RNLI crew with positions of 2nd coxswain & mechanic of various classes of lifeboats and training coordinator, often doing duties in the winter months as coxswain/mechanic at other RNLI stations in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England. Jerry has been involved in many rescues at sea including during the Fastnet Race of 2011 when the Rambler 100 capzised and 21 crew ended up in the water for several hours. Born in Kano, Nigeria but with Irish roots, Jerry lived all over the world wherever his dad’s job took the family until they settled in the UK. He moved to Baltimore, Ireland to set up Aquaventures in early 1997.
Rianne Smith
Ocean lover and diver / instructor for over 40 years, hillwalker, year-round cold water swimmer, Irish set-dancer and looking after the Stone House B&B guests as well as the administration of Aquaventures (your contact for boat trips, dive charter, accommodation packages, ferry travel from the UK etc). Rianne is involved in several community groups including Tidy Towns, bridge (teaching and running tournaments), tourism marketing group, Deputy Launching Authority and Head Slip crew of the local RNLI. Born in the Netherlands and the middle of 9 children, she left in 1980 to study languages abroad (is multilingual) and worked as a translator, interpreter and in private security services in London before moving to Ireland in 1997.
