Pictures from Dublin Zoo

[Oggie]

Definitely man, I would love to do some surf photography in the future. I'd love to invest in a really good telephoto lens, one that can capture the surfers on the offshore breaks.

We get some pretty nice swells here at times, especially from September - January. The north-west is regarded as the home of surfing here, not surprised to see it about to be smashed by another swell.

Here is a video of a recently discovered secret spot in the north-west, it's called 'Riley's'...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjMMMhupyf8

Carlos Burle said that the day he was there, it was as heavy as Teahupoo.

The next few years are going to be very exciting for surfing here I think, it is getting so much more exposure than before, and new spots are being discovered all the time. If you can handle the cold water, it's a great place to be! It's always so empty and uncrowded, great for an escape from normality. We even had Kelly Slater in the small surfing town of Bundoran last year, enjoying some freezing swell.

[Andre]

Thats sik! Its way too much for me the largest id surf is that right hander at 1;14 to 1.18 and even then Id have to be in the mood.
I'd be sitting in the car with a dress on if we were about to surf that evil left.

I have a theory: I think its called O'Rileys cause everyone who paddles out says "O"!

[Oggie]

Haha, it is pretty epic alright. The lips on some of the waves are so thick, and you are hovering only inches above razor sharp slabs under the water. Serious cajones to even attempt it...

These are some shots (from the same spot) by the Irish photographer Mickey Smith, he specializes in surfing photography. I love his stuff!







The terrifying beauty of the ocean, eh?

[Andre]

Those water camermen get smacked and lip launched sometimes too.

We surf a break here called Meanos that does that same stuff but its much much smaller than that. Sometimes you think you have missed a wave totally and turn around and face the horizon to paddle back out and you just go over backwards and end up falling through the lip into the bowl and do the washing machine thing over a foot deep, flat rock bed.
A mate once turned looked at me shrugged cause he missed it, sat up on his board, started heading off backwards over the falls (which is funny enough in itself) but he starts singing Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye. his voice just fades off and we hear the water spit out the end of the tube ba boom over the reef then frrrrsssst and hes gone .