We woke up on the hottest day of the year on day two of our roadtrip… and decided a swim was an absolute must! Nestled in a fold of hills, 5km south west of Skibbereen in West Cork, Lough Hyne is Europe’s first marine reserve, a saltwater lake connected to the sea by rapids! The perfect swimming spot!
Apart from warm summer days when the lake bursts into a hive of laughter as holiday makers soak up the rays of sun and jump in off the pier for a swim, the lake and its surroundings are total tranquility. Beneath a perfect sheet of dark blue silky water lies a world of eccentric, unusual sea creatures, sea plants and legends about Kings who lived there hundreds of years ago!
A short drive from Baltimore we pulled up right on the waterfront! Although crystal clear…it was absolutely freezing! We built up the courage and jumped in… so refreshing! We met with some lovely locals who go swimming every morning and were well used to the cold!
Not just a great swimming spot, on a summers evening a kayaking trip is simply magical as you shall be surrounded by bio-luminescence. This is the biochemical emission of light by living organisms, which causes the water to glow. It’s as if thousands of buckets of glitter spill into the lake, and each time you lift your paddle out of the water, a glistening stream of a million tiny stars appear!
With a lovely hike nearby which overlooks the entire Lough… there is most certainly plenty to do here! As we drove back to Baltimore we were most certainly wide awake and ready for our action packed day!
