Kayaking / Canoeing

Soldie

I live in south Dublin and I'm looking for a good spot for leisure kayaking or canoeing - somewhere no further than about two hours drive. Preferably a lake and/or somewhere scenic and it'd need to be somewhere that rents all necessary equipment as I have none of my own. Any ideas? I had a look on the Irish canoeing website but it was more geared towards the competitive aspect. I'm just looking to do some leisure boating some weekend on a nice lake!

larryone

Blessington Lake is fairly close to you.
Heading south, through blessington itself, straight through one roundabout, pass Texaco station, take left. This is the last turn before you're completely out of the town.
They have all equipment and gear, etc.

KenHy

The ICU run plenty of courses on the liffey which are great for starting out. They are not competitive at all. They do evening and weekend courses.

Another great option (and the one I'd recomend) is to join a club . Wild Water Kayak Club, on the strawberry beds is a great club.

A lot of these look like they focus purely on competitive kayaking, but most people wont be into that at all. They just want to go out on leisurely paddles on lakes/rivers.

Soldie

Thanks for the replies guys.

larryone: Any idea on price and opening times?

KenHy: I'm not really interested in joining a club as this is likely to be a once-off thing (or reasonably rare at most), but thanks anyway.

If anyone has any other suggestions for nice spots I'm happy to hear.

Thanks again.

Irish Wolfhound

there are a few sit ons for sale on gumtree.ie. I think they might offer a trail on the kayak.

Sit ons can be used anywhere. However it is not recommended to go out kayaking alone.

Sits on are becoming more affordable. Sometimes cheaper than renting the stuff out. Other than that join a club. Good opportunity to see what kayak suits you best

Cheers Irish Wolfhound

larryone

They're in the phone book I think...
I havent actually been there in years, but it was good when I was there.