What facilities should be in place at the surf beach?

famoussheamus

I am looking for peoples experiences of what makes the ideal facilities at surf locations. For example, Boards/wet suits for rent, lifeguard, showers, toilets, etc. Simple stuff that makes the experience out of the water better. Any ideas welcome.

breadmond

To be honest, I prefer a nice empty beach myself. Somewhere safe to leave the car is all I really want, I can live without changing rooms etc

spaceHopper

In Donegal they often have chemical toilets and do a great job of keeping them clean... that's great help but you don't need much more.

Boards for rent make no odds to me but at least they are their to offer advice to beginners.

Sligo CoCo took the decision not to have life guards at Standhill but instead to have a beach warden in the summer. That was because having a lifeguard made it ok to go swimming and the beach is just to dangerous with such strong rips. I think they are right. If you are a surfer you have to be able to look after your self in the conditions you go out in and be clued in enough to spot rips and know when it's to big for you.

A tap or shower would also be good.

dermo909

A freshwater shower would be nice to rinse off after being in the water.

CRenegade

At the regular spots there should be showers and toilets. and where there are toilets in place already these should be open during the winter months and not just to suit swimmers in the summer.

dermo909

CRenegade wrote: »

At the regular spots there should be showers and toilets. and where there are toilets in place already these should be open during the winter months and not just to suit swimmers in the summer.

I never mentioned tiolets because I normally surf in Tramore and the toilets there are open most of the year around. Cant remember right now if they are open all year round but they are at least open most of the year.

There are showers attached but they dont work. Well they did'nt last year anyway. Have'nt checked them this year so far.

CRenegade

I think surfers should demand more facilities at 'Known Spots' from the Councils, are all ye paying members of the ISA or local Club? If we all were in favour we could put a motion to the ISA to request this from councils.
Now I know 'We' are not Clare Co. Co. flavour of the month due to Doolin Pier issue but we have to start somewhere and get ourselves recognised. Bundoran Town co. on the other hand are a lot more receptive to surfers.

And I know there will be the ones (surfers) that will say no to facilities, were tough enough, who needs a shower, etc. and facilities will bring more people to surf spots, etc. but

Not everyone lives beside the coast, a hell of a lot of people do day trips with a drive of more than 2 hours to the coast and also I think facilities at 'Known Spots' wont be hurting the secrecy/quietness of certain lesser known spots.

Im off to Oz next month so wont bother me too much now but when I return in year/s be nice to have these in place!

famoussheamus

I like the idea of known spots that can be fully advertised to bring visitors into an area. There are plenty soul surfers who do not need anything but a board and wetsuit. But funding is spent on other sports to improve their accessibility to the public. Why not spend them on surfing. On a drive down from Dublin on Sunday evening, I spotted so many cars with boards on the roof. We should highlight certain surf spots to get upgraded with simple facilities such as a lifeguard, toilets, parking and showers.

piddles

Give me a quietish spot and i am happy... i hate the crowds and also i let my dog loose when in the water so the less people she has to eat the better .

It's not always about the "surfer"... there's plenty of other places to surf other than beaches and those who go to the other places go for the surf not to be pampered.

But i suppose take for example today i brought my niece and nephew for a lesson, definately toilet facilities and showers are really really appreciated.

And girls who go away for surfing generally would prefer showering facilities... me i live with salty hair but thats me

keryl

I think a shower, it's not too much to ask really is it? for a beach that is. Generally beaches=tourism so from the point of view I think there should be showers.

Toilets would be a bonus, some just have portable toilets and semi containers just to change and shield from the wind and rain and then car parking space but I have to say I'm not all that fussy but I do live near the sea, others don't.

Regards lifeguards, well that's more of a H&S issue and how much resources there are, I've seen beaches abroad with no lifeguards so I suspect that bathers generally go where the lifeguards are for safety, if they don't, it's they're own risk.

Overall I think anywhere that benefits from people going to a place and putting money into the economy should be entitled to at least a shower.

cornbb

Give me somewhere that's not covered in dogsh*t and I'm happy.

Whether a place has showers and whatnot wouldn't really be a factor in making me decide whether to surf there tbh.

I dont know

The ideal situation would be an empty beach with no facilities of any kind around

But I think it would be good to have some basic facilities at the well known spots.
A fresh water shower & tap would probably be top of my list, maybe even a portaloo.
Changing facilities would be bit of a luxury – but a nice one.

I was at rossnowlagh over Easter and could see plenty of people using the surf club facilities. With the great weather I had no use for them, but it would have been handy to have been able to change inside a few months back when it was freezing!
I assume you have to be a club member to use the facilities? Are there any members on here, or does anyone know if they be open all year round? I cant find a club website

Sport101

Arcades, slot machines and somewhere to get a 99.

spaceHopper

The stone pick-nick benches they have at the far end of Enniscrone beach are also great.

If you want to go all out french style AIRES would get more than surfers and would be great to have them dotted around the counrtry, every boat pull up spot on the shannon could easily take one or two campers, put some basic services at beaches too and you'd get overseas campers coming to ireland, we could use the buisness and jobs....
Even camp sites would benifite as there will always be those that want to set up camp and stay a few days.


http://www.motorhomefacts.com/modules.php?name=Aires

xxyyzz

breadmond wrote: »

To be honest, I prefer a nice empty beach myself. Somewhere safe to leave the car is all I really want, I can live without changing rooms etc

What he said +1,000,000

famoussheamus

Thanks a million guys. I do realise what the soul surfer requires as I prefer it quiet myself. But I do want county councils and community councils to recognise that if they advertise surfing for the family that minimum standards should be met. Appreciate all the comments.

JeanOH

empty beaches... ;-) hailstones, and frost ;-) and concur with being able to let the trusty pooch run loose...

killedsirius

a nice smooth surface to change out of your suit without damaging it is all i ask

spaceHopper

killedsirius wrote: »

a nice smooth surface to change out of your suit without damaging it is all i ask

That's what board bags are for.

PS elction poster make great boot liners and changing mats

chimpo85

xxyyzz wrote: »

What he said +1,000,000

Totally concur. We have a few nice quiet spots at home (Castlegregory) where I bring the jeep and the dogs and dont have to worry about either. We also have some messy spots where the dunes have been ruined over the years. Wouldnt mind seeing some minor facilities at some places, rubbish bins, a portacabin for changing/toilets...

Not The Real Scarecrow

What I'd love to see(especially in Tramor) is a designated surfing area on the beach.There are plenty of spots where kite surfers can go yet the majority of them stay in the one decent spot for surfing.

Balmed Out

I like somewhere close by that i can have a hot drink on a winters day or a pint in the summer after being out in the water. Other then that somewhere to put the cars all you need or want.

rodento

A decent coffee shop over looking the beach:D

ThOnda

If the place is a money-making spot, that is visited by families, and local businesses are thriving on this, few things should be mandatory: bins, toilets, showers, changing area (or just a windbreaker), parking with CCTV.
Other places would be nice to see at least maintained (Easky toilets) or a bit cleaned. Although I haven't seen a single surfer to leave garbage after them, usually can-fishermen and group trips leave carnage behind them.

promethius

a stop for the surf bus

donalfo

My local beach (Tullan Strand, Bundoran) had a water tap at the car park that was handy for rinsing stuff or filling the dogs bowl up for while I'm in surfing.
Cheeky council buried the tap and installed a container with a vending machine. Cheeky, and my dog does not even like Fanta!

kodute

donalfo wrote: »

my dog does not even like Fanta!

Your dog has taste, Club Orange is much better.

killedsirius

chimpo85 wrote: »

Totally concur. We have a few nice quiet spots at home (Castlegregory) where I bring the jeep and the dogs and dont have to worry about either. We also have some messy spots where the dunes have been ruined over the years. Wouldnt mind seeing some minor facilities at some places, rubbish bins, a portacabin for changing/toilets...

went to Dumps once, and it was literally dumps all over the sand dunes, and not rubbish. I think the quote of the weekend was is that a dog poo, not unless dogs use toilet paper. It was like that the whole way across the dunes, really horrible
People are disgusting.

That said a little beach down the road was the MOST beautiful place i have ever surfed in all my life, with Brandon and the mountains and the sunset, couldnt ask for more

I dont know

One thing that drives me nuts about local beaches is the litter.
Rossnowlagh at the end of a busy day can sometimes be pretty bad – cars just drive off leaving their bags of rubbish sitting there, but there aren’t any bins as you come off the beach!

I see Donegal County Council are going to crack down on littering on beaches – imo the first thing they need to do is provide bins!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-foyle-west-13788960

VNP

Whoever installed the portaloos at streedagh beach, fair play to you saved my bacon today, spotlessly clean and even bog roll in it , doubt id ve made it all the way to grange:eek:

spaceHopper

VNP wrote: »

Whoever installed the portaloos at streedagh beach, fair play to you saved my bacon today, spotlessly clean and even bog roll in it , doubt id ve made it all the way to grange:eek:

Parked up in a camper van at Rosnowlagh last summer, was woken at 7 on a Saturday morning by lorry that services the porto loos, all cleaned then he was gone - 7 on a Saturday morning and the CC were out cleaning them - that not like an CC on the East Coast. They put them remote beaches as well, was at one out passed Killeybegs and there were two. Horrible yokes but alway glad to see them fair play to Donegal CC

VNP

Yeah I think in general we forget how clean this country is in many ways compared with some parts of the world. There are many people accross the country that voulenteer their time to clean up parts of the coast many of them are surfers too, you might never hear of them but they deserve hero status.