Exclusive! Leaked! Coasteering Northern Ireland’s fastest growing adventure activity | Ideal for Stag do Belfast | Hen Party Belfast 

Coasteering - Belfast’s Fastest Growing Adventure Activity

Coasteering is one of the fastest growing adventure sports in Northern Ireland and as the BBC’s ‘Holidays Out’ programme said it’s the ‘best liquid refreshment you can get’. You may even have seen coasteering in BBC Countryfile Northern Ireland programme recently.

Coasteering is the seaside equivalent or saltwater cousin of Canyoning and involves donning a wetsuit, life jacket and helmet, and then scrambling over rocks, exploring sea caves, swimming or doggy paddling through deep pools and jumping off sea cliffs. And if you are really lucky the Seals and Dolphins may even join you!

In short, it’s one of the most fun things you can do whilst dressed in neoprene!

Ballyhornan is Northern Irelands best location for coasteering in that has a wide range of jumps so you can challenge yourself with what you are comfortable with, and has a spectacular variety of sea caves and Irish Sea Swells for you to explore and play in. Coasteering highlights at Ballyhornan include the ‘Leap of Faith’ at the Coldron and ‘Jim Bobs leap’ at Smugglers Point.  

Just by chance Clearsky Adventure Centre is located beside Ballyhornan so once you have exhausted yourself you can jump into a warm shower and then chill out over a nice hot chocolate!

Coasteering has become particularly popular for Stag do Belfast and hen party Belfast not to mention groups of mates on a fun day out, birthday parties etc.

Interested in taking a splash at coasteering? Then drop us an email at fun@clearsky-adventure.com or call Ellie on 028 4372 3933

The next date has been set for Clearsky Nightrider, the new session from the Clearsky Adventure Centre, but this one has an extra special twist! The last total Lunar Eclipse until 2014 will be occurring at 4pm so we will be watching that first, then head out on the trails with the full moon overhead.

We are running another competition for a FREE SPACE on this session, simply go to our facebook page – www.facebook.com/clearskyadventure - and click on ‘like’, then find the post and prepare to answer the following question…’how many bikes are on display on the shop floor of the new Chain Reaction Cycles Boucher Road store?’

You must answer as a comment on the Clearsky Nightrider picture – then keep your fingers crossed that your guess is the closest! The deadline for entry is Monday 5^th December at 12.00pm, so make sure you visit now to try and win your free space on the Lunar Eclipse Clearsky Nightrider!

Know someone who would love to try this? Why not buy them a gift voucher for Christmas? We have a wide range of activity gift vouchers available for this Christmas, why not visit our gift voucher page to have a look? Coasteering, Bouldering, Kayaking, Archery, Sea Safari Boat Trips - there is something there for everyone!

Thursday 17th November saw the first Clearsky Nightrider session at Castle Ward. The session was 1.5 hours long and there were a mixture of people with different experience and abilities there. We started off all meeting at the Clearsky Adventure Centre, sorted out bikes, lights and other equipment then headed up in a big group to the start of the Nightrider designated trail course.

Our instructers were present on the trails at all times so riders were never far away and confidence wasn’t a problem…nobody was scared of the dark! (Or at least admitted it!) The trails take in quite a large portion of the new cycle network and the group was free to go at their own pace and push themselves as hard or little as they wanted.

At the end of the session everyone reassembled to head back to the Centre to clean the bikes, grab a hot chocolate and enjoy the buzz of the nightriding. We have had some great feedback for the event and are looking to run another one shortly, so keep an eye out for details.

Castle Ward Night Rides (with Clearsky Adventure Centre)

The Clearsky Adventure Centre is launching a fantastic new activity – Clearsky Nightrider! Imagine cycling the dark depths of Castle Ward by moonlight! See Castle Ward’s nocturnal wildlife as you navigate the new bike trails under the moon and stars…  

The new trails were opened in June this year and have been a huge hit with both new and existing visitors to Castle Ward and the Clearsky Adventure Centre. Clearsky Nightrider is a great opportunity to not only try out something quirky and new, but also to see Castle Ward in a new ‘light’!

During your ride you will be sure to spot the nocturnal wildlife, which will be venturing out to see what’s going on!

Top quality Vitus bikes from Chain Reaction Cycles are available to hire as are top quality Exposure lights.

Vitus bike and lights, estate entry £25

Lights and estate entry only £12.50 (bring your own bike and we will fit lights on for you fully charged and ready to go)

Our lights are bright! Brighter than a car headlight…

The Strangford Sea Safari has been running sightseeing RIB trips on Strangford Lough now for 3 years. The trips are fun and exhilarating, but are also full of information about the Lough, which is unique due to the impressive ‘Narrows’ which form the mouth of the Lough. The Narrows are 8 kilometers long and only 0.5 kilometers wide – not a large area for the 350 million cubic meters of water passing through with every tide! The Narrows is where a lot of the action happens on Strangford Lough and if you time it right, this is where you will see the whirlpools. The experienced skippers on the Strangford Sea Safari will explain this natural phenomenon, as well as tell you about the local folklore of the area. These trips are great fun and give you a unique glimpse of the power of nature. Here is a bit of information to whet the appetite and you can also see a video of the Sea Safari in action – the link is at the bottom of the text.

JUMBO whirlpools – rare and impressive!

The Strangford Sea Safari has been running whirlpool special sailings throughout the summer and this Halloween we are expecting exceptionally big ones, down to the spring tides which will be bigger than usual. The whirlpools can be found out in the narrows as a result of the ‘Routen Wheel’. They are caused by a ledge of rock only 4.6 meters below the surface, 200 meters south of Rue Point. The name “Routen Wheel” was given by the Vikings as they thought the sound of it was like cattle snoring.

Approximately twice a month, around a new moon and full moon, when the Sun, Moon and Earth form a line, the tidal force due to the Sun reinforces that due to the Moon. The tide’s range is then at its maximum: this is called the spring tide. It is not named after the season but, like the word, derives from an earlier meaning of “jump, burst forth, rise” as in a natural spring. This weekend we will be on spring tides and they are going to be bigger than normal, meaning that the JUMBO whirlpools will be BIGGER and BETTER than they have been all year! To see if there are spaces available on the JUMBO whirlpool trips, either email us on fun@strangford-sea.com or phone 028 437 23933.

You can see a video of Strangford Sea Safari here, as well as some photos on our Facebook page – ‘like’ us to stay up to date with offers and events.