Rules of the Sea - Swimmers

Emelio

I swim in Irish sea often and atlantic beside galway, clare, mayo.
Sometimes I go to beach with sufers but am frequently intimidated out of the ocean by surfers / kayakers / sailors.
Are there beach where surfing is banned during certain hours?
Also, who has right of way in water - surfer or swimmer?

spaceHopper

None that I know of - do you wear a wet suit - why not get a bright rash vest so that you can be seen and give them as much room as possible

As for right of way - probably swimmers but if they are out there surfing and you swim out then they won't be getting out of the water, besides the first time they see you might be when it's to late they will be sitting with their back to the shore waiting for a set.

Be nice and you will probably be made more than welcome.

gerk86

if you're swimming near surfers/kayakers/bodyboarders you're swimming in the break. If you're in the break you're not swimming you're dodging waves and making yourself an unintentional target to get a fin across the back.

It's a different story if you're swimming in the line up/ where the surfers start paddling for waves. Everyone's safe and happy.

What annoys the bejesus out of me is when (always during summer) some granny on her annual swim gives out to me for almost killing her after I pull out safely to avoid her!

I didn't see you here in the depths of winter so don't tell me we should be banned ya auld wagon

John_Rambo

Emelio wrote: »

I swim in Irish sea often and atlantic beside galway, clare, mayo.
Sometimes I go to beach with sufers but am frequently intimidated out of the ocean by surfers / kayakers / sailors.
Are there beach where surfing is banned during certain hours?
Also, who has right of way in water - surfer or swimmer?

Are you seriously telling us you can't find a spot on the beach where there are no surfers, kayakers or sailors "intimidating" you? Regarding right of way, most sea users have cop-on and avoid collisions at all cost, usually the more mobile person will avoid the less mobile person.

kippy

John_Rambo wrote: »

Are you seriously telling us you can't find a spot on the beach where there are no surfers, kayakers or sailors "intimidating" you? Regarding right of way, most sea users have cop-on and avoid collisions at all cost, usually the more mobile person will avoid the less mobile person.

I suspect this person swims in Lahinch a lot where its more congested than the English Channel at times.

kodute

If your swimming in lahinch then there is a water sports exclusion zone for swimmers. Never seen it enforced except on the hottest day of the year.

I'd treat being a swimmer amongst surfers as a cyclist in traffic. Stay out of the way of most of them even though you have right of way. In both cases right of way is no good to you if you get a smack of a car/surfboard from some numpty.

CRenegade

There are some Bye-laws brought in different counties like the latest one in Cork but these are not really implementable. Regardless swimmers have more choice when it comes to beaches as surfers have to go when and where the conditions are working whereas all swimmers need is the water and a bit of sun!

There are beaches where there is no surf at all and if you want to avoid surfers your prob best going to these. Tell us the location u want to go to and people here might know of a beach which rarely has surfers. Like Rosses Point in Sligo is a nice beach for swimmers but not for surfers.

Emelio

I live in east Ireland but wish to swim in atlantic - galway, clare, offaly, kerry i think is good
maybe best galway because of motorway

jkl

The entire west coast is dotted with great swimming beaches. But if its purely for swimming and you're living on the east coast, Wexford is my spot of choice, its not the atlantic, but nowhere's perfect.

Unfortunatly though Offaly is land locked.

Emelio

yes i mean sligo/mayo!!
i never go to lahinch except for the guinness
beach is not good for swimming..

Despite wearing bright vest I still have visibility problems with surfers - it is their responsibility to plot a route that does not necessitate collision.
In my country we have surf beach and swim beach and boat beach.
it is simple rule but work effectively.

spaceHopper

Emelio wrote: »

yes i mean sligo/mayo!!
i never go to lahinch except for the guinness
beach is not good for swimming..

Despite wearing bright vest I still have visibility problems with surfers - it is their responsibility to plot a route that does not necessitate collision.
In my country we have surf beach and swim beach and boat beach.
it is simple rule but work effectively.

It makes no odds if they don't see you they can't plot a course - you need to keep an eye out and advoide trouble

tyler71

Speaking as both a swimmer and a surfer, I don't know any beaches where you would regularly have both swimmers and surfers out together - if there's a swell out and there's surf, the swimmers will generally be in a more sheltered area. Down in Cork, none of the regular open water swimmers go out in surf beaches, generally they don't go to beaches at all, more likely to go for sheltered bays (Sandycove Island - excellent open water swim spot), lakes or rivers.
I can recommend a few places in Cork to swim if you're interested - unlike surfing, there's no real secrecy about good open water swim spots, so I'd suggest if you're going to visit somewhere to swim, post a thread in the swimming section about good places to go (and get warned off the bad ones, some dangerous places as well) and you should get some help.

lizgal

is spiddal clean for swimming?

seachto7

Common sense.

Use common sense.:rolleyes:

rodento

Emelio wrote: »

yes i mean sligo/mayo!!
i never go to lahinch except for the guinness
beach is not good for swimming..

Despite wearing bright vest I still have visibility problems with surfers - it is their responsibility to plot a route that does not necessitate collision.
In my country we have surf beach and swim beach and boat beach.
it is simple rule but work effectively.

Simples, avoid surfing beachs that are unsafe to swim in at the best of times anyway

hollysf

Emelio wrote: »

I swim in Irish sea often and atlantic beside galway, clare, mayo.

Head for Connemara! very rare to see anyone apart from the odd few kids in the water, or some people swim at the diving boards in Salthill, and the beach there is very quiet.

rodento

Thread is over two years old and op who asked for advice is no longer around:rolleyes: