West Cork Kayaking - you couldn’t ASK for a better guide

The West Cork Hotel are delighted to recommend, unreservedly, a local expert whose standards of safety and professionalism, and dedication to his chosen specialty is unmatched, not just in West Cork, but internationally: Jim Kennedy of Atlantic Sea Kayaking (ASK): We know that by introducing you to the services provided by Jim, his wife Maria, and their three children (Jessie, 28, Naoise 13, Adam 10) we are putting you (and yours) in the hands of the very best. Simultaneously, we are also helping to protecting our precious maritime heritage.

As Skibbereen resident Jim explains: "In order for others to enjoy this special place, we must respect and protect it, and carry out our work in such a way that we enhance, rather than harm or deplete, its sustainability and its beauty…that is why we operate a strict ‘no-trace’ policy."
Jim is an internationally acknowledged expert, one of only two Level 5 Instructor/coaches working in Ireland. A former British and Irish sprint and marathon champion he is in demand worldwide as a teacher. Laconic, and utterly Corkonian in attitude, he places visitors at their ease immediately, and his kayaking excursions are renowned as much for the laid-back atmosphere, as for Jim’s keen insights and humorous observations. In particular, ASK’s night-time and moonlight kayaking excursions – out of either Reen Harbour or Lough Hyne – are proving increasingly popular with those in search of something different: "There’s always something to make you gasp on the moonlight kayak, whether it is  the silhouette of seabirds on the bank, the red sunset, the panoply of stars, the moonlight reflected on the water, or, at certain times of year, the astonishing bio-luminescence which causes the water to light up around your paddle in 1,000 tiny lights..." .

Atlantic Sea Kayaking featured on RTE's No Frontiers

ASK offer half day and full day courses (the latter with an organic lunch and a rare opportunity to paddle, under Jim’s expert tutelage, to an offshore island). There are also River Lee excursions, plus the option of extended 2-day courses. Individual private lessons and ‘rolling clinics’ (usually, on a Saturday night in the Leisure Hotel in Clonakilty) are also available, the latter often resulting in the obtainment of that elusive goal: The Eskimo Roll.

‘’ But to be honest, 80% of our business is with novices, everyone from young families and singles who want to start off under our wing. They’re the ones who enjoy it the most, if you can judge, that is, by the size of the smile on their faces.’’

Contact Jim directly on 028 21058 …, or  through The West Cork Hotel.

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