We made it across! Giving Rob a driving break and still keeping to the adventure! — at Killimer-Tarbert Ferry.
The ferry leaves hourly and is only a 20 minute crossing. It's kind of amazing how many (and the size of) vehicles they manage to squeeze on. My travel companions felt no need to exit the vehicle which was fine as it was a bit windy. By taking the ferry, we didn't have to drive all the way around Limerick and knocked off quite a bit of driving time as well as got to experience something different. It was easy on/off. A ticket agent comes up to your vehicle and if you pre-pay like we did, you can just show him the confirmation code on your phone from the email receipt.
Spanish Point.
Our seaside cottage. We've moved from Dingle to Spanish Point. Named after the Spanish who died in 1588 when many ships of the Spanish Armada were wrecked. The survivors who made it to land were later executed. Today it's a popular surfing beach with seaside activities. — at Redcliff Lodge Spanish Point.
I don't quite remember how I came upon Spanish Point when planning our trip. I was looking for something to break up the drive between Dingle and Clifden. I think most people tend to stay at Doolin for the coast or Ennistymon and Lisdoonvana for more direct driving. When I first looked up Spanish Point, the idea of a seaside cottage with a beach just sounded like the perfect mid-trip break. We were right next to the village of Miltown Malbay (an easy driving loop from the cottage). Stopping here midway also gave us plenty of time to see The Burren on our drive from here to Clifden. The Cliffs of Moher are only about 25km away too, so very convenient distance from here.
Lovely seaside dinner.
Kids found snails on the beach cliff.
Rob got sunburned. In Ireland.
We were able to walk right down the cliff to the beach. It's lined with rocks at low-tide and covered at high-tide, but there is a parking lot with easy wide beach access just down the street. There's also a large hotel down there if that is your preference, but we just loved our cottage.
Red Cliff Lodge does not do a sit-down breakfast, but they bring fresh breads and juice/coffee/milk to your room. We also found lovely yogurt/cereal mason jars in the fridge of our room. There's also ample coffee for the grownups and cereal for the kids. What Red Cliff Lodge does have is a restaurant for dinner and I will tell you that it was one of our best meals in Ireland! You can see the restaurant in one of the pictures. It's the thatched roof building next to the cottages. It may not look like much from the outside, but we surely felt underdressed when we strolled in dressed in our usual. We thought we should go back and change, but the staff would have none of it. They were truly delightful and the food, oh my, the food!
Very windy day. Great for the surfers. The beach is endless. — at Spanish Point Beach.
Look at all the surfers! They had such exhilaration on their faces when they came out. The chicken in me got no closer than this.
Safe distance from total wipeout, but they had so much fun running around this beach and didn't even want to get any closer.
I felt like she was safe at this distance. Look how far I let her get from us. BWAHAHAHAHAHA.
But, look how close this one got! BWAHAHAHAHA!
The thing to know about Spanish Point is that the waves are huge. You can't even tell from my pictures. It's such a sight to see in person. We enjoyed watching the crazy surfers. It looked like a surfing class, so I nudged Rob. I'm not sure why he didn't go join them.
Up Next - Days 14-15 Clifden, Ireland
We were able to walk right down the cliff to the beach. It's lined with rocks at low-tide and covered at high-tide, but there is a parking lot with easy wide beach access just down the street. There's also a large hotel down there if that is your preference, but we just loved our cottage.
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