Dingle Dolphins

The day started with a disappointment, but (spoiler alert!) it continued very well. We turned up bright and early for our 9.30 a.m. boat tour to the Blasket Islands, only to be informed that it was cancelled due to fog further out, which would last until the afternoon. Then the young man said that he had tried to phone me earlier. I knew that this wasn’t true because I had no missed calls and being in the centre of Dingle my phone reception was fine. Thanks to this small but foolish lie, I became suddenly suspicious about the alleged fog. So we walked around the corner to another boat tour company, and sure enough they told us that there was no fog! In fact the weather and sea conditions were so good that they were putting on extra tours, and we managed to get booked on one at 11 a.m. Now, to be fair to the first firm, they refunded us in full. Perhaps the skipper was feeling unwell, or had slept in, and if I had been told the truth I would have understood. But I do hate to be lied to, so it was quite annoying. 

However this was all soon forgotten when we set off on our new boat trip because it was brilliant! We were in a rib which whisked us all the way out to the Blasket Islands. Our young skipper was very informative and also very relaxed about letting us walk about the boat while it was moving, we were all wearing life jackets so it was perfectly safe. We first visited Thunder Cove, spectacularly made of layers of compressed sand and stone, and originally formed where North Africa lies today. We saw sea arches and lobster pots, and many sea birds. We even went right into a sea cave; the water in there was so clear and an amazing green tint. 

Then our skipper cranked up the speed and off we went to the Blasket Islands. He told us that Inishvickillane was bought by future Prime Minister Charlie Haughey in the 1970s, which caused a lot of speculation at the time about how he could afford his lavish lifestyle on a government salary! Great Blasket island (the largest one) was inhabited until 1953 with a beautiful wee beach called the White Strand. But, a bit like our own St Kilda, life for the inhabitants was very harsh especially in the winters and eventually they agreed to be evacuated. We saw lots of puffins flying around from the cliffs. Another of the islands, Inishtooskert, resembles a “dead man” or “sleeping giant”  and there has been children’s book “The Sleeping Giant' written about it. 

On the way back to Dingle we traversed an expanse of shallow water which was thronging with many seabirds, and we encountered the famous Dingle Dolphins who frolicked around the boat. What a fantastic boat trip! And the weather was great the whole time - no fog at all!