- For the past week, I've been discovering the beautiful coasts and landscapes of Northern Ireland, which makes up one sixth of the island of Ireland.

But now it's time to explore the Republic of Ireland.

More specifically, I'm heading to the west coast, home of the Wild Atlantic Way.

At 1,600 miles in length, the Wild Atlantic Way is one of the longest coastal routes in the world, following a dramatic coastline with towering cliffs, mystical islands, and rolling farmland.

The route winds its way past picturesque villages, castles, and a stunning countryside.

It's an ideal place to explore by car, foot, or by boat.

Of course, I was drawn here by the idea of exploring the coast by kayak, but what I quickly discovered is that there's much more to the Wild Atlantic Way than a breathtaking coastline.

(upbeat music) My name's Ken Whiting.

And for over 30 years, my life has been guided by the paddle in my hand.

This is my search for the world's most spectacular paddling destinations.

This is "Facing Waves."

(upbeat music) Facing Waves is made possible by the following Vivid-Pix memory station and software allows users to scan personal history items like photos and documents, record voice narrative, and share what has been conserved.

More online at Vivid-pix.com.

Collette offers small group exploration tours, destinations and local experiences.

Explorations by Collette.

Guided travel since 1918.

♪ upbeat music In4adventure.com Inspiring, educating and encouraging outdoor adventure Host- And by these additional sponsors ♪ upbeat music (gentle music) Well, you can't come to Ireland and not expect a bit of rain, and that's what we've got today.

But the adventures continue.

We are gonna take a look at the underworld here at the Doolin Caves.

(gentle music) We will, we are now in the underbelly of Ireland.

(gentle music) You know, I've heard a lot of people say over the years that I'm crazy for being a whitewater kayaker, a sea kayaker, paddling the open ocean.

I tell you who's crazy are the people who explore these caves for the first time.

I mean, that is a real adventure.

(gentle music) Wow.

I need one of these for my dining room.

(gentle music) Well, it's pretty cool to see the dark depths of Ireland but I've got more dark depths to explore.

And it shouldn't be too hard to find a Guinness in one of the local pubs.

Hehe.

(gentle music) You don't need rainy weather to enjoy a Guinness and fish and chips in Ireland, but it's a good excuse to do it a little earlier than you might otherwise.

(gentle music) (gentle music) Well, I am in a little town called Balivan, getting ready to get my first taste of west coast paddling.

I've hooked up with Patrick from North Clare Sea Kayaking, and we're heading out into Galway Bay.

Hopefully the rain holds off because there is some beautiful views to be had.

Here we go.

(gentle music) - We're a little north of Balivan, a small little town called Bell Harbor.

From Bell Harbor, we're gonna be exploring a beautiful little inlet, and then we're gonna be heading west out of Bell Harbor into Balivan Bay, out across the Martello Tower that sits on Vin Avara Peninsula on the northern side of Balivan Bay.

And then we're gonna go out into Galway Bay, heading west into Galway Bay, out towards the Aron Islands.

(gentle music) - I'm doing this trip with Patrick from North Clare Sea Kayaking.

He started this sea kayaking guiding company 14 years ago, and he's been doing it and loving it ever since.

I feel like he was born to be a sea kayak guide.

He has a love for the marine environment, the ocean, the outdoors, and everything that surrounds it.

But on top of that, he just loves getting people on the water and sharing the experience and his backyard with people.

- That's a release for me.

Sea kayaking now is a release.

It's an escape in a way.

We can all have so many things going on in our daily life that it's just nice to get out on the water and kind of leave those troubles on shore for a little bit.

I enjoyed it so much that this is where North Clare Sea Kayaking came from.

You know, just getting people to come and explore the coastline.

Just see what we have to offer here in Ireland as a sea kayaking destination.

(upbeat music) Well, we're just moving into Galway Bay now, and we got a bunch of current help us out, about a five knot current, a little bit of a tailwind.

We're gonna be covering some miles pretty quick right now, but I think that's where we want to go first, another tower.

One of the things I really wanted to do coming to Ireland was paddle around castles.

You don't get to do that very often when you're in North America.

It really has been a great day of paddling around castles.

Well, this one's a little different.

- Well, it's fully standing, Ken.

Beautiful Martello Tower built during the Napoleonic Wars.

It's the only tower in Ireland that has its cannon on top.

- [Ken] Oh, really?

- So there's a huge brass cannon up there, and on the top of it, it's kinda shaped like a shamrock.

So there would've been three circles with three huge cannons that would've been able to swing the 360 degrees.

But these were pretty much abandoned from around about 1920 when Ireland got its independence.

- So we've turned the corner here.

This is much bigger body water.

This is Galway Bay.

- We've come out of Bell Harbor, out of Balivan Bay, right into Galway Bay, absolutely.

- So we have about, can't really see the other side but.

- [Patrick] We can't.

- There's a fair bit of water ahead of us, but we're going that way-ish.

- We certainly are.

We're gonna be heading west.

- Okay.

- So we're gonna be heading out to Elon Lou and then up towards Gleninagh Castle.

- All right.

(gentle music) Well, we're in Galway Bay now.

It's all of a sudden, it got a little bit of waves, a little swell, not much at all.

But if we were to paddle straight across the bay, it'd be about five and a half miles or so.

But that's not what we're doing.

We're just paddling across the section, across the Balivan Bay to Gleninagh Castle.

The fog or mist or clouds have rolled in, and so we can't see the other shoreline, but we know it's that way.

- Wind can be a huge factor on whether we can get through one of these sea kayaking sessions.

Usually when we get wind, we're probably getting swell and the west coast of Ireland is exposed.

It can be quite a swell magnet for huge waves, but a vast majority of the time, just those elements come together.

Blue skies, slack winds, and it works for us.

But don't be coming to Ireland expecting blue skies, 30 degrees.

If you get it, you're lucky, you know?

But it's all about the experience.

And the weather certainly plays a big part in that.

(dramatic music) - Well, the clouds have lifted enough to see our next destination, Gleninagh Castle just up here, which is where we're gonna stop for a quick lunch and hope that the clouds continue to lift so we can see the hillsides here.

Perfect day to stop off at a castle for lunch.

I could get used to this.

(dramatic music) Sunsets, waterfalls, and rainbows.

Doesn't matter how many times you see them, they're always cool.

And now there's another one for the list, castles.

(upbeat music) One of the nice things about paddling in a protected bay like this is that you can get out of your kayak and take a little walk around, explore.

Explore off the water and not just on the water.

And when you can do that around castles, well, that's pretty cool.

(upbeat music) The clouds are starting to lift, especially over that way.

And that's where Balivan is.

And that is where we're heading about four kilometers away.

(gentle music) Well, it was worth the wait, I'd say.

Had to wait all day for the sun to pop out, but wow.

What a view.

(dramatic music) Well, the powers at be certainly were on our side today.

What a spectacular finish to the day.

(dramatic music) (upbeat music) While we're taking the morning off of paddling and we're exploring Ireland from a very different perspective, from the road.

This is the Wild Atlantic Way.

It's a 1600 mile coastal route that you could explore this way by kayak, by hiking.

Today we are driving our way down to Loop Head Lighthouse, one of the most beautiful points in this area, and we're gonna do a whole bunch of exploring along the way.

(upbeat music) I think the biggest question along the Wild Atlantic Way is where to stop and go for a hike.

There's so many spots.

But a lot of people told us about this spot.

This is the bridges of Ross, and so this is where we're starting and what a start it is.

(upbeat music) Oh yeah.

Wow.

I tell you what, when you're around big swell, you feel so small.

It's like you're in the land of giants.

(upbeat music) Well, we're at the end of the line, Loop Head lighthouse.

(upbeat music) You know, I had heard a lot about the West coast of Ireland and the Wild Atlantic Way and how beautiful the coastline was.

But I mean, the whole way has been spectacular.

(Ken laughs) What a coast.

(gentle music) Well, the surf is really pounding on the west coast of Ireland right now.

And so even though part of me wants to go out there, we decided to have a chiller day.

We've come to the Inchiquin Lough.

This is where Patrick brings his groups when things are too rough along the coast.

It's a freshwater lake, not that big, but lots to see.

(upbeat music) Ugh.

No one but geese on the lake today.

- Today we're here at Inchiquin Lake.

We're right on the edge of the Boron National Park.

Nice, flat, calm water.

It's not a big lake, 365 acres of lake here.

We've got an acre of lake for every day of the year.

But it's a unique, special place.

Where I grew up is only about seven miles or so from here.

So I would've cycled here when I was a kid.

(upbeat music) I did have an old canoe that was hidden in the trees by the car park, and I would've come to this lake and paddled.

And this is where I kind of got my first taste of canoeing and kayaking.

So the love from kayaking, the love for my kayaking, pretty much came from Inchiquin Lake.

(upbeat music) It's nice to see the leaves turning color.

- Or not (Ken laughs).

- Well, autumn is my favorite time of the year, for sure but.

- It's pretty, but it marks the end of the season.

- It certainly does.

It certainly does.

And then winter, I'm usually like looking forward to this time of the year.

And then a couple of weeks later, I'm like, bring on the spring.

- Yeah, yeah.

- Bring it back.

(upbeat music) - Lakes can sometimes be very one dimensional.

They can be beautiful places, but you know, not too much diversity within a lake.

But the cool thing about this lake is that it's got a variety of different little ecosystems.

You have beautiful marshlands where the swans were swimming around and really holding to.

And then you have these islands that, and very different islands that you can explore, paddle around and explore, a really cool farmland coastline.

And then you have a castle.

(Ken laughs) I mean, any lake that has a castle on it is a body of water worth exploring.

(gentle music) So what's the name of this castle?

- [Patrick] This is Inchiquin Castle.

It belonged to the Quinn family.

- [Ken] Oh, okay.

- So the castle, which is standing on the right, is a 14th century.

And then this big structure we can see on the left is the banquet hall that was added on in the 17th century.

- [Ken] Wow, 14th and 17th century.

- [Patrick] 14th and 17th century.

- Well, you paddle past a castle.

Of course, you're gonna have to go explore inside.

(gentle music) - I suppose when this castle would've been abandoned in the 1820s, 1830s, like lots of castles around Ireland would've been abandoned back then.

There would've been a law that would've come in where if you had a vacant or empty property on your land, you would've had to have paid tax on it.

And one of the only ways of getting out of paying that tax would've been to remove the roof from the castle or from any property that you would've had on your land.

So to avoid the tax, a lot of people then that would've owned the castles or moved out of the castles to smaller or newer modern homes, would've taken the roofs off the castles.

But once they were exposed to the elements, I mean, that was it.

It would, everything just started to deteriorate on the inside.

And stairwells started to collapse, and then the ivy started to grow, things like this.

So nature just took over.

(gentle music) - Oh wow (Ken laughs).

Look at these vines.

It's like they're holding the whole wall of the structure together.

(gentle music) - We're gonna go just around the corner here, and then we're gonna start paddling up the River Fergus towards Kilnaboy.

Beautiful, quiet little area, nice meandering stream.

If we're really lucky, we might get to see some kingfishes on the river here.

(gentle music) - Look at this guy.

You're very curious.

Ah, hi.

How's it going, buddy?

(Ken laughs) Very curious, aren't you?

(gentle music) Every time I go on an adventure or a trip, instead of they're, you know, it crossing one thing off the list and the lists get shorter, that's not what happens.

The list gets longer as my eyes are opened up to other cool adventures that can be had.

And that's exactly what's happened here in Ireland.

I mean, it's been an incredible trip and exploring the coastline, I just wanna explore more coastline.

But now that I've explored one of the freshwater lakes, I also have a ton of freshwater lakes to explore here.

So great trip, but a lot more to do here.

(water splashes, gentle music) Well, I would love to keep paddling up this river, see where it takes us.

But the sun is dropping and it's gonna get a bit cooler, so time to head back.

What a fun day though.

(gentle music) Facing Waves is made possible by the following Vivid-Pix memory station and software allows users to scan personal history items like photos and documents, record voice narrative, and share what has been conserved.

More online at Vivid-pix.com.

Collette offers small group exploration tours, destinations and local experiences.

Explorations by Collette.

Guided travel since 1918.

♪ upbeat music In4adventure.com Inspiring, educating and encouraging outdoor adventure Host- And by these additional sponsors ♪ upbeat music