Alumni August

Calling all those between the ages of 12-17 who’ve been to the DAC in the last year.

Alumni August Donegal Adventure Centre

As promised before Christmas , we have a very special offer for all our Alumni this year. August has been set aside for our best ever offer for Teen Surf camps - so good that we aren’t putting it on our website.  You have contact us and say alumni august and tell us when you or your family member were here , with what school or organisation and we will send you are brilliant offer.  This is open to people who were here with schools, youth organisations , birthday parties or day trips as long as you or someone in your family were here. This offer runs from the Monday the 6th of August until Sunday the 26th and is hands down the coolest deal we’ve ever had. Full surf camp with other teens from all over the world. Food, activities, supervision , cinema, bowling, equipment etc all included.

Anti- Valentines Surf Weekend

Donegal Adventure Centre will be once again offering the ‘Anti-Valentine’ activity weekend : a welcome alternative to the couples packages that tend to dominate

Anti-Valentines Surf Weekend

this weekend. Donegal Adventure Centre invite all single people, with no ‘significant other’ to join us in Bundoran on February 10th for a great weekend of fun, activity and craic with other singles, unattached, and those who are clouded in mystery.
Arrive to Homefield Rock Hostel on Friday evening for check-in and some friendly meet & greet with other arrivals, and on to The Chasin’ Bull pub for some anti-valentines craic, games and pints!
On Saturday, we begin the day with a fun session of rope climbing and group activity with our wonderful instructors, and again the emphasis is on enjoying yourself with your friends, and other people who are not wrapped up in hearts and flowers for the weekend. Later that afternoon, we’ll have a surf session for beginners, if you haven’t surfed, you haven’t lived, and you have to give it a try!
Absolute beginners and non-swimmers are welcome, the beginner lesson is very gentle and very well supervised, and we provide all the equipment you need. Later that night, we all meet up in the rock hostel for a glass of wine, and then move on to The Chasin Bull for some live music, more craic and somewhere safe from the dreaded Valentine couple…And the cost of this weekend, including 2 nights B&B and two activities, all of the above: 90 euro per person sharing a private room. €80 pp for a dorm room.

There is limited availability of twin/double rooms, and then rooms are 4-6 bed sharing. Groups of singles welcome, and single individuals very welcome. Dorms offered will be female only and male only sharing

 

Anti-Valentines Surf Weekend

Christmas at the DAC

Hi all – hope 2011 has treated you right – even though the nights are long we still have a lot going here at the DAC.

Our brand new FÁS course is up and running which means we will stay open all winter this year with the exception of Christmas week.  We have a few groups over December but we are also available for Christmas Vouchers (more on that later ) and taking bookings for our January OITC course .

Christmas specials
There is some brilliant value on packages bought as Christmas vouchers this year.   
Our Recession Session deal (2 nights B&B in a private room & any 2 activities) for 2 people is  just €160 to buy as a voucher (worth €198)

Our Group deal – 4 People 2 nights B&B in a private room & any 2 activities is just €200 total for all 4 people.

Teen Surf camp.

Easter Surf Weekend
Our First ever Surf weekend. 3 nights
Friday evening to Monday afternoon full activities including 3  surfs , cinema, meals and full supervision all inclusive Voucher price just €180.

Summer Surf weeks – Voucher price 20% off all Surf camp prices.

Madness but you know we, we do kinda like you.

New Fas Surf Instructor Course at Donegal Adventure Centre

There is a new FAS Surf Instructor & Lifeguard Course which will run at Donegal Adventure Centre, Bundoran, from November 2011 until March 2012. This is a full time course, fully supported by Fas. Anyone who is currently unemployed and receiving social welfare benefits is eligible to apply. To apply, you should contact your local FAS office and register (if you are not already registered) and then speak to your fas officer. The course code is EZ1Z3. Candidates should note that strong swimming ability is a pre-requisite, and that a swim time-trial is part of the interview. The course is for people who would like to be trained to become surfing instructors and beach lifeguards, and work in outdoor adventure centres and surf schools when qualified. The course will take place in Bundoran over 20 weeks, and will include intensive surfing practice and lifeguarding training. Canidates will then be put forward for the governing body assessments in Surfing and Lifeguarding. Interviews will take place on November 8 & 9, and the course begins on Monday November 21^st. Accommodation is available on campus: for information on accommodation, please email collie@donegaladventurecentre.net Please contact your local Fas office for further information, and you may also contact Donegal Adventure Centre at info@donegaladventurecentre.net.

Donegal Adventure Centre FAS course

Eurosurf line up

Thanks to Eurosurfbundoran for all the information below

The musical entertainment line-up has been revealed for Eurosurf Bundoran 2011 Party – the festival end of The European Surfing Championships. Headlining the event will be Derry band The Undertones who are this year celebrating their 35^th anniversary – they will play Paris Nightclub in Bundoran on Saturday 1^st of October and perform some of their time-loved hits including “Teenage Kicks”, “My Perfect Cousin” and “True Confessions”.

Dubliners Royseven will also play Paris Nightclub following the gala screening of SOUL SURFER on Saturday 24^th September – the night before the official contest begins. Best known for their infectious pop hit “We Should Be Lovers” Royseven will no doubt rock Bundoran for the second time this year and help to kick off the European Surfing Championships in style.

Popular Irish traditional fusion band, Kíla will kick off the Eurosurf Party at Gallagher’s Astoria Wharf in Bundoran on Friday September 23^rd and are looking forward to opening up this ten day event in the “Surfing Capital of Ireland”. Kíla are always a treat for the senses and often bring surprise guests.

A host of other acts have been lined up to perform during the Eurosurf Party which is hosted by Discover Bundoran and supported by Fáilte Ireland. Boxtie, The Rare Groove funk Orchestra, Big Generator, Pump Up the Jam, The Kinky Wizards, The Logues, The Vintage Infants and the X-Presidents all appear during Eurosurf – the full line-up is available to view on www.discoverbundoran.com

Speaking about the entertainment line-up, Eurosurf Bundoran Press Officer Shane Smyth said “We are thrilled with the calibre of musical acts which have been confirmed to play in Bundoran during Eurosurf. Internationally known names such as The Undertones, Royseven and Kíla are sure to offer visitors and spectators an exciting and complementary plan which will ensure that between surfing and entertainment, a great time and experience will be had by all. The music line-up would not be possible without the great efforts of the Discover Bundoran members and the Eurosurf committee thank them for this contribution”

Train To be An Outdoor Instructor

10 Week training course in surfing, water safety, climbing, leadership and child protection.Learn the skills of outdoor insruction at Donegal Adventure Centre. Improve your personal fitness ,gain work experience at Ireland’s premier outdoor centre,enhance your CV with qualifications in sports and child protection and enjoy training and working in a busy fun enviroment.

Course description
The Outdoor Instructor Course OITC is a training course for candidates who wish to become instructors working in the area of surfing and other beach activities. This course concentrates mainly on training for the ISA level 1 surf coach award, the RLSS Beach Lifeguard award, and over the ten weeks candidates will also train in child protection, adventure (land-based) activities, leadership skills, team training and development and beach first aid skills. Candidates are expected to attend Monday-Friday for the duration of the course.
Candidates must be able to swim. Candidates do NOT have to be able to surf, as you will be taught the skills of surfing if required. Surfing and swimming training are major parts of this course, and you can expect to be in the water every day. Students are expected to be (or get) fit through training every day. Training will include water-based (Swim & surf) and land based activities ( running, circuit training etc.)

Candidates will also do basic training in low ropes, climb & abseil and high ropes instruction . Candidates will also participate and learn to skills of conducting team-training activities and land-based activities. Candidates will do child protection training, and Beach first aid. The fees for the course are 950 euro.

Qualifications
All candidates will be put forward for the following qualifications:
1: The Irish Surf Association Level 1 Surf Coach award (200 euro for assessment & certification)
2: The RLSS Beach Lifeguard Award (350 euro for assessment & certification)
3: Chid Protection
4: DAC certification in Adventure Activities
5: DAC certification in Leadership Skills (Children & Teenagers)
6: DAC certification in Work Experience

You can also add on a canoe/kayak module which will take place each Friday of the course. This is run by Mr. Jon O’ Neill at The Lakeside Centre, Ballyshannon. This will give qualifications in Kayak and Canoeing. This is an excellent add-on to the course, and Jon is a superb trainer. There is a minimum number of 4 persons required to deliver this module, so please let me know if you want option 1 or option 2. Please feel free to contact Jon at 087 7920302 for further information.
What do you need ?
You do need to be able to swim – there is swim coaching included in the course for those who would like to improve their swimming. You need a willingness to learn, a sense of humour and an interest in meeting new people and learning new things.
You don’t need any surfing or outdoor sports experience – if you have them, that’s a bonus but not necessary. As well as being trained and coached by our multi-qualified instructors, you will get a chance to interact with clients and learn leadership and management skills by shadowing and helping our staff with school, adult and special needs groups.

Candidates who complete the full course will be offered the following assessments & qualifications:

1: The Irish Surf Association Level 1 Surf Coach Award*

2: The RLSS Beach Lifeguard Award *

3: HSE Child Protection

4: DAC certification in Adventure Activities

5: DAC certification in Leadership Skills (Children & Teenagers)

6 DAC certification in Work Experience

*The following assessments are conducted by the national governing bodies, and an examination fee is payable. The awards are assessed independently, and DAC does not guarantee that students will pass these awards: that depends on student’s own performance during the assessments.

Teacher Preview Weekends

We are very pleased to offer another brilliant value teacher weekend this year. These weekends offer the chance for teachers and youth leaders to sample what we have to offer here with a full refund for  teachers that bring a group in 2011 /2012.

We offer 2 nights B&B in private rooms, lunch and dinner on Saturday and 2 fantastic expression session activities for you and your friends to experience on Saturday. All this and evening entertainment in Bundoran, Ireland’s surf capital.
Friends and partners are more than welcome to attend the weekend for the same price.

Schedule.

Friday 29th of October.
8 pm – 9 pm  wine reception and registration.

Saturday 30th

9:am Breakfast.
10 -1  Surf lesson – all wetsuits, transport and equipment provided
1:pm Lunch
2 – 5 High Ropes / Zip Line / Archery session.
7:pm Dinner La Sabbia restaurant.

F.A.Q.
How do I get a refund?
Any teacher who arranges a trip for a group of 8-30 will receive a refund for up to 2 spaces when the group pay their balance.  For groups of 30 or more and extra teacher weekend space will be refunded for every extra 15 students.

Does everyone have to be a teacher to take part?
No – as long as one member of your party is a teacher / youth worker, you can bring as many friends as you like.

How many people can I bring?
As many as you want as long as you book in advance. 2 places will be refunded for every group up to 30 and and extra place for every 15 after that whether they were teachers or not. People travelling on their own are very welcome too.

Are there children / students there that weekend.
No, this is an adults only weekend.

What is on at night-time?
Bundoran is a lively and fun holiday town. There are many pubs and clubs as well as restaurants, cinema, bowling etc. We will we putting on certain evening events such as the annual fancy dress party in the Chasin’ Bull on Saturday that we would love you to attend but equally you are welcome to do your own thing if you prefer.

Come join the fun

Eurosurf 2011

Eurosurf – the European Surfing Championships takes place in Bundoran from Friday 23rd September until Sunday October 2nd.

Both the Rock Hostel and the Donegal Adventure Centre will be providing accommodation for teams and fans that week. For the best rates email us here at info@homefieldrockhostel.com or call Collie on 07198 29357.

Here is some information about the event.

* The Opening Ceremony will take place on Saturday 24th September at 5pm, with the competition will begin on Sunday 25th September at 8am and will run daily until 6pm.

* 16 european countries are expected to take part – Ireland, England, Wales, Channel Islands, Belgium, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Morocco, Norway, Sweden, Malta, Switzerland and Israel MAY submit a team. Teams should be confirmed by August 15th.

* The Irish team is made up of Shane Meehan, 29, from Strandhill, Stephen Kilfeather, 23 and Ashleigh Smith, 24 from Sligo, Cain Kilcullen, 24 from Enniscrone, Ronan Oertzen, 20, Shauna
Ward, 24, Darragh McCarter, 25 & Richie Fitzgerald, 36 from Bundoran, Easkey Britton, 25, and John Britton, 32, from Rossnowlagh, John McCurry, 26 from Portrush & Oliver O’Flaherty, 24 and Stephen Kelleher, 24 from Lahinch, County Clare

* Eurosurf 2011 is supported by Fáilte Ireland

* This will be the fourth time the European Surfing Championships have been held in Ireland and the third time they’ve been held in Bundoran – the previous times were 1985 and 1997. They were first held in Ireland in 1972 in Lahinch.

* The competition will be run mainly at the Peak and at Tullan – depending on conditions – podiums will be built at both of these locations with temporary podiums being built at Tullan and at The Peak.

The Opening Ceremony.

The official opening ceremony and parade of nations will take place on Saturday September 24th at 5pm. Each national team will gather at the bottom of the town around KFC/Marlboro House (in similar fashion to the St Patrick’s Day parade). Carrying their national flag, the parade route will take each group (one group to include the judges that each team will also bring with them), up Main Street, they will take a right onto the Promenade with the parade itself finishing at the “Carraige na Nean” monument – the site of one of the main podiums for the competition.

The traditional “sands of the world” ceremony will also take place at this time. All teams will bring sand from their own corner of Europe and, in Olympic spirit, all sands will be joined, signifying Europe’s surfers coming together regardless of international, political or religious boundaries.
Following the opening ceremony there will be the gala screening of the movie “Soul Surfer” at the Bundoran Cineplex. This movie has already been released in the US, however the opening of the movie in the UK and Ireland has been specifically delayed to coincide with the opening weekend of Eurosurf!
A Film Festival of classic surfing movies will happen across the week at Bundoran Cineplex with a movie being shown each

The Schedule
Week of September 19th Teams Arrive

Thursday 22nd September
All day Teams Registration

Friday 23rd September
All day Teams Registration

Saturday 24th September
5pm Parade of nations followed by Opening Ceremony
7.30pm Gala Irish Screening of “Soul Surfer”
10pm Entertainment at Eurosurf Venue

Sunday 25th September
8am – 6pm Day One of competition
7.30pm Film Festival movie #1
10pm + Entertainment at Eurosurf Venue #1

Monday 26th September
8am – 6pm Day Two of competition
7.30pm Film Festival movie #2
10pm + Entertainment at Eurosurf Venue #2
Eurosurf Bundoran Briefing Document
4

Tuesday 27th September
8am – 6pm Day Three of competition
7.30pm Film Festival movie #3
10pm + Entertainment at Eurosurf Venue #3

Wednesday 28th September
8am – 6pm Day Four of competition
7.30pm Film Festival movie #4
10pm + Entertainment at Eurosurf Venue #4

Thursday 29th September
8am – 6pm Day Five of competition
7.30pm Film Festival movie #5
10pm + Entertainment at Eurosurf Venue #5

Friday 30th September
8am – 6pm Day Six of competition
7.30pm Film Festival movie #6
10pm + Entertainment at Eurosurf Venue #6

Saturday 1st October
As most of the competitors will be knocked out at this stage, it is expected there will be a fairly substantial party taking place tonight!
8am – 6pm Day Seven of competition – Semi Finals (the comp may be down to a single podium at this stage depending on conditions
7.30pm Film Festival movie #7
10pm + Entertainment at Eurosurf Venue #7

Sunday 2nd October
8am – 6pm Final Day of competition
Medals presented on beach/The Peak
7.30pm + Closing Ceremony
Closing party for competitors and Eurosurf staff – trophies awarded.

Summer time at the DAC

Hey how are you doing.

We that was a crazy first half of the year. From the Adventure Centre being flooded at the start of the year to the massive crazy success of Seasessions last weekend , it’s been a fantastic first 6 months of 2011 – even if the weather could have helped us more. But there’s no rest for the wicked here and we have loads planned for you this summer.

For Families:
We have brilliant deals on family rooms available in the Rock Hostel Sunday to Thursday and there are camps for tots, 8-12 year olds and 12-17 year olds Monday to Friday – just €15 pp. There is also Surf lessons for all at 12 o clock every day. Plenty do in the evenings too with special family activities running every evening Monday – Thursday just €15 pp with MUMS & DADS FREE! Now that’s value but don’t worry you don’t have do the activity if you’re a fraidey cat

Teens: Residential Surf camp for 12-17 year olds has just started. Includes accommodation , food , all activities & tours – you can come join teens from all around the world & surf some of the best waves on the Atlantic for 5 days, 1, 2 or 3 weeks. For more information contact us on 07198 42418 or email info@donegaladventurecentre.net

Adult Breaks : Every weekend is a surf weekend – we also have budget packages available during the weeks too , with special discounts for College students on their holidays . We also have a brilliant selection of Bank Holiday offers for the August Bank Holiday , which for our money , is always the best one here in Bundy

May & June things to do.

Hey Gang

Busy times here in the DAC & the Hostel - we have a lot of school stuff over the next few weeks but we have a couple of weekends you should  definitely put in your diary – we have a couple of really good adventure weekends coming up on the 20th & 27th. The first weekend only has a few spaces left for surfing & The High ropes session so get in touch soon.

June brings both The Rory Gallagher Festival and Seasessions which are going to be awesome this year.  Judging by the bookings Rory G  is going to be bigger than ever this year – it runs from June 2 and we have just about sold out the hostel and rooms in the DAC are selling out fast.

Seasessions starts on June 24th and has three fabulous days of music, surf, skate & craic. It will sell out -Nearly all the private rooms have sold out in both centres so  contact Collie on info@homefieldrockhostel.com if you want to take part in the coolest Surf & Music festival this year

 Lots of shout outs to do
Firstly to Colaiste Eoin & Cambridge house for being 2 awesome groups on a really busy week
Secondly to all our italian friends for an amazing 8 days -Siete sempre i benvenuti qui in casa irlandese
and thirdly – Huge congrats to Team Ireland cheerleaders http://www.cheer-ireland.com/ who finished 10th in the world championships. They are old friends of ours and believe me , if you think cheerleading isn’t a sport – you’ve never seen these guys perform.

October Bank Holiday Weekend & More

I am a technical Neanderthal when it comes to.well, technology, I suppose but here is the start of our new news blog.Work is still ongoing to upgrade and relaunch Home field House as a large hostel for groups, backpackers and weekenders: We are already using the building for some groups: there will be a major overhaul in December, and we will reopen it after Christmas, and do a launch ‘proper’. We had hoped to do
the overhaul first, and then the launch, but we have had so much demand for rooms it was impossible to close over the summer months. So we’re going to continue until our surf weekends finish up, and then get the overalls on. We will be running some introductory weekends in Jan/Feb, I’ll be telling you all about it!

Surf weekends continue regardless:  our OCTOBER BANK HOLIDAY  weekend is
almost upon us, and we are still booking for groups in both centres: DAC and Homefield House. We have a special offer of three nights’ accommodation & two surf lessons and a rope-climbing session for 150 euro per person for the whole bank holiday weekend, -. If your group is of 8 persons or more, we are happy tomake one place free for the group organiser – a thank you for doing the gathering!
You can surf am or pm Saturday, am or pm Sunday, am Monday, and the ropesoption is available pm Sunday. You will be met by your instructors on Friday Evening when you arrive: there will be a briefing at 10pm Friday Evening before pints in the local, and again at 10am on Saturday morning before the first surf. For those interested, there will be a surf theory lesson onSaturday evening at 7pm, and for intermediate or own-board surfers, there will be an advanced option over the weekend. We provide you with all you need, – you bring towels and togs, and something eye-catching for the nights out!
If you’ve no plans  yet for the bank holiday, give us a call- groups are welcome, and there are plenty of facilities for either self-catering, or eating locally. There’s loads of live music and craic happening, and itlooks like a good time for a break – especially as the rest of the world seems to be collapsing Niamh

Winter heats Up at Donegal Adventure Centre

Greetings from a calm day in Bundoran. Hope your weekend was a good one! Just letting you know what’s happening at DAC in the next few weeks:

This coming weekend we have a beginner surf weekend: suitable for absolute beginners, newbies to the water – starts Friday evening with meet & greet & a few beers in the local, 2 surfs on Saturday, some après-surf fun on Saturday night, and a final third surf on Sunday morning before departure. Our special rate for this weekend is 120 euro per person for 2 nights + 3 surf lessons. For non-surfers, 2 nights accommodation is 50 euro.
Entertainment this weekend: Ronan O’ Snodaigh of KILA & Donal Dineen are in town Friday night, and on Saturday night Jinx Lennon plays Paris, Bundoran.
The weekend of November 28 – 29 is a Surf Rock weekend here at DAC : We have a surf weekend available for beginners, and also we have an intermediate level surf weekend: The rock part of the weekend features superb Cork band FRED on Friday night at The Chasin’ Bull, with support by ONYA, followed by brilliant Sligo originals ‘THE DEAD FLAGS  on Saturday night. Admission to these gigs is FREE for our weekenders: Surf weekend 2 nights accomm + 3 surfs 120 euro pp, or 50 euro accommodation only.
Give us a call to book: 07198 42418, or you can email me back here.
We are also now offering vouchers for surf lessons, surf breaks and surf camps as very cool Christmas prezzies.
We are open through December, closing (briefly ) from December 20 – 26th inclusive. We reopen December 27th for surf lessons, accommodation & rentals. Dublin supergroup RED KID play Bundoran on Dec 27th – that will be a great gig, and again, admission is FREE to any DAC clients. On December 28th, local surf-rock band INUENDO play The Chasin’ Bull – possibly my favourite band of all So if you will have had enough of the family by then,  there is plenty of fun going on up here.
Hope all is well with you: remember, if you don’t wish to continue to receive updates from me, just send a ‘remove’ and I will. Re staff gossip, – Kyle cut his hair! It’s a big deal when a surf-king decides the time has come to ‘go short’, so promise to be gentle with him.

Niamh

The Gospel According to the DAC

Gospel Choir

Niamh here, with the usual gossip and info from Donegal Adventure Centre – this is not the last email of the year, just a short one to tell you what’s happening this weekend -
If you are heading for a surf this weekend, or fancy a lesson, we have beds for you in our Homefield House at 20 euro a man (or woman) and on Saturday night, the Inishowen Gospel Choir are performing in The Chasin’ Bull – I saw them perform at Glastonbury this year, and they are amazing, and it seems like the right sort of thing to do coming up to Christmas – so just letting you know it’s going to be a fun weekend here! And- for those of you on flexi-time (or with someone who can call in sick for you on Monday), the annual Donegal Adventure Centre Staff Christmas Party is on Sunday night at the Bull: the theme is 80′s – some of us remember it from the first time around.and some of us don’t (I have had to explain to several staff members that YES we really did wear hair that big.) anyway, if any of you are hanging around, you are more than welcome to party with us. Give us a call if you need accommodation/surf lessons etc, it’s 07198 42418

We are going to take a wee break over Christmas, – the office will be open for Christmas vouchers and bookings etc, -  we will reopen officially on Jan 5th 2009. But I will chat to you before we lock up the surfboards. Just wanted to let you know about the Gospel Choir thingy, – surf looks nice Thur/Fri, getting a bit messy Sat/Sun, ain’t that always the way!
By the way: Our most wonderful instructor & friend, Paul Darby, had a very unfortunate accident last week: his car  skidded off the M1 and he  did himself a fair bit of damage: he is going to be OK but he’s in Tallaght Hospital at the moment, and will be on crutches for a while. I am sure that any of you who know Darby will join us in wishing him a very speedy recovery – if any of you want to send him e- cards , flowers (!) or anything, send along here, and I’ll make sure he gets them.
Have a safe weekend, whatever you do! Best wishes for now, from all at DAC.
Niamh
P.S. Brian D says we never mention him, so we won’t.

Happy New year

Hi Folks we’re all back now getting the two centres ready for the new season. We know times will be tough for everyone but feck it we may as well enjoy ourselves while we are here. We are kickin’ off with some new stuff for people in the area.

Niamh’s Aerobics -
Mon, Tues & Thursday 7 – 8:30 Beginner level

Ken’s Advanced fitness -Mon & Wed 7 – 8:30
for those already reasonably fit -improve stamina and fitness, indoor and outdoor

Neil’s Fitness Adventure- Wed 11 am
For those who have always wanted to to try adventure sports includes surfing, climbing & kayaking. A different activity every week, inexperienced and even non-swimmers very welcome

DAC Youth Club -Thurs 7 – 8:30
Age 8-10 supervised indoor games, activities and fun for boys & girls -5 € !

DAC Surf & Skate Club Sun 2-4 pm
Age 10-15, Boys & Girls, All equipment provided, beginners welcome- 10 €

Loads more news soon

Iglu and Hartly SurfRock weekend

Just want to give you a head’s up on some of the stuff going on at DAC. We are SUPER excited that USA surf-rockers IGLU & HARTLEY have just agreed to come to Bundoran for a gig on Friday March 6th – these boys are surf fanatics, and we are stoked that they are our main act for March SURF ROCK. If you don’t know who I’m talking about, watch the video
So – before the tickets go on sale, I am offering our regular subscribers
the option to join us for those two nights, 6th & 7th March, prebook a ticket for this gig, and join us for a surf or other activity. This deal is 99 euro per person,-again, that’s for 2 NIGHTS ACCOMMODATION + TICKETS TO CHASIN BULL FOR FRI (Iglu & Hartley)  & SAT (Inuendo)  + SURF OR ACTIVITY SESSION it is ONLY available through us here at DAC, and on a first come/first serve basis. Tickets will go on sale to the general public next Wednesday, and there are only 200 tickets- this is going to be an intimate gig, and  a fantastic surf rock weekend, – you are ‘in the know’ about it before anyone else, and you’ve got the option to come, surf and rock.

TO BOOK: You must call DAC office on 07198 42418. You must have a credit card number ready, and there is no refund and no deposits. Don’t ring before Friday 16th January, 9.30, you’ll get voice mail. The only package for sale at the moment is the accommodation + activity +
gig. We are NOT SELLING tickets only at this point. Tickets-only go on sale next Wednesday.You can, of course, book for your friends and people who haven’t been here before. The gig is OVER 18′s.
And yes, the band are all surfers, and we expect they’ll be in the water over the weekend. YAY!

OMG gorgeous surf today, clean as a whistle earlier when I passed by Tullan Strand. and the Rally’s on as well, so it’s busy everywhere. Love that at the end of January!

Anyhow – just a quickie, reminding you of our RECESSION SESSION weekends – we have one next week, we have 2 nights accommodation AND 2 Surfs or other activities AND free passes to COWBOY X in The Chasin’ Bull, Friday Night, and MIRACLE BELL, Chasin’ Bull Saturday night.
So – two nights accomm, 2 surfs with all you need, coaching, wetsuit hire, boards, handsome lifeguards, and a cracking nightlife.

Cowboy X

WHERE ELSE WOULD YOU GET IT?
Phone us and come up, 07198 42418.

By the way- our new HOMEFIELD HOUSE HOSTEL has a music theme- yes, it’s all rock & roll!
We are doing up each of the rooms as an homage to various bands and artists, so I’d really like to know who YOU THINK deserves to have a room in our Hostel! Please email me info@donegaladventurecentre.net with your suggestions!
Also, as part of the décor, I am looking for VINYL RECORDS – it doesn’t matter who they are, or whether scratched or not, but we just need black vynal 33 records- if you have a box of old records you don’t want, and would donate them to us, let me know!
THANKS.

Its just a holiday invented by Hallmark anyway!

Valentines Day.
if you’re feeling BAH HUMBUG about all the hearts & flowers business going on, we have a simple remedy - Come up to us for the weekend: Here’s the plan: Arrive Friday night – meet our staff at the Homefield ROCK hostel at some stage on Friday night, check into your room, and come on out for some beers – Surfchixxx are doing the ‘NO LOVESONGS ‘ acoustic rock gig in the Chasin’ Bull, it’s free, and full of lots of single people On Saturday & Sunday, sign up for any three activities, from Surf lessons to climbing & abseiling, high ropes, skateboarding or cliff jump. Sessions are at 10am and 2pm each day. On Saturday night, avoid all the crap that goes on in restaurants on love-night, and join our staff for a big feed from the local Indian, in our Home field Kitchens, you bring your own brew, and order cheap & cheerful recession friendly grub! After a few beers, we will head on out to ‘pub. And our cheap & cheerful prices?
Accommodation only (Dorm rooms) €15 per person
Accommodation private rooms x 2/4/6 €20 per person
Double rooms – BANNED! (not really, I think they are all booked up tho..)
Activities – activities from 20 euro pp – tell us what you want to do. Food & drink at your own discretion. Beginner Surf Weekend: 2 lessons for €50 euro – all equipment & coaching supplied. Book our Valentine Bah-Humbug special 07198 42418
And why look for love, when no-strings surf debauchery is far better all round?
ALSO – we are NAMING the final few rooms in our Surf-Rock hostel- we have Beatles, Pink Floyd, Led Zep, Bruce Springsteen, an 80′s room, Elvis, Motown, Beach Boys.. We need your SUGGESTIONS and we are crying out for any unwanted vinyl records or music memorabilia/posters any one has – c’mon folks, if you have just got too grown up for your old posters, we will give them a good home here, and you can visit any time.. Looking forward to seeing you soon,

Howdy from us here at Donegal Adventure Centre.
Like us, you’re probably sick to the back teeth of all the doom and gloom on the radio & TV about the state we’re in.well, none of that from us! It’s all cheap and cheerful Bundoran Way Now- I told you we were theming our ROCK HOSTEL - well, we are done, and now we have all kinds of groovy (yes.the word groovy is making a comeback ) accommodation options for you. We have dorm rooms – male, female & mixed, with beds from 15 euro a night. We have private rooms – doubles, twins, 4-beds & six beds. We have an apartment for 6-8, and for groups of 50+ we will book out the whole hostel for you, including 2 kitchens, two large rec rooms, etc. In case you’re wondering who we named the rooms for – well, we had to have a Rory Gallagher room, The Beatles & U2 made it , there’s a Rocker’s Male Dorm, and a Diva’s female dorm, – the double rooms belong to John n Yoko, Sonny & Cher ,.and for those who aren’t sure exactly what their relationship is, we will put them in the White Stripes room. There’s a little bit of country in our Elvis & Country legend rooms, but it’s mostly rock and roll- and if you’re a Springsteen fan (like me) you’ll have to check out the Boss’s kitchen . Now- surf rock weekends. This weekend is sold out, we welcome UCD Commerce to Home field Rock Hostel, – next weekend, we have what I think is the best weekend we’ve ever put together. IGLU AND HARTLY are playing a once-off Surf Rock in the Chasin’ Bull, – the band are keen surfers, and added on a Chasin’ Bull gig cos I asked them to.. If you are into your music, please snap up a ticket for this – the tickets are only 20 euro, there won’t be more than 250 people at the gig, I know it’s gonna be one of those gigs that will be legend. The IGLU & HARTLY boys are staying in town to go surfing, and on Saturday night, the Bull is home to local surf rockers INUENDO and also the surfchixxx (that’s me and Onya) are celebrating their birthday! It’s gonna be a great atmosphere & a great weekend.
I know I’m always telling you that every weekend is gonna be a good one, but seriously folks, if you haven’t anything on, lift the phone -07198 42418 book your tickets for Friday night, get a bed sorted out and go for it. We are doing 2 nights accomm + IGLU ticket for 60 euro,
2 nights accom + ticket + surf lesson for 90 euro.
Admission to the Bull on Saturday night is free, and a tequila for me is an optional
Will you also spread the word that this is happening at the weekend: unfortunately this is a ticket-only gig, so people arriving on spec next Friday won’t get in if the tickets are all sold.. But we will take orders by phone and hold them no problem, so please don’t leave it til the last minute. Don’t want people arriving up & then can’t get in, … Loads more happening over the next few weeks & months, – I’ll keep in touch! Rock on, and have a great weekend, and unless you really can’t make it, hope to see you here March 6th! Best for now, Niamh & DAC crew.

SeaSessions & other fun in Bunderland

Just about recovering from one of the most rock and roll weekends EVER in Bundoran – if you made the Iglu&Hartly gig, -then.you understand. Have to say, fair play to the lads, they were probably the most affable, fan-friendly band I have ever met, they hung around before and after the gig, meeting fans, posing for photos- it was 100% Rock and Roll, and great craic. Also, our own Trisha, from reception beat Jarvis (the fetching lead singer.) in an arm wrestle.. We think she ROCKS for that! Lots of youtube up already, especially a very funny performance of Onya’s featuring band frontman Jarvis.
Now- no sooner is one Rock n Roll event over, than another one appears. The SEA SESSIONS in Bundoran is the big summer festival, and they have just announced dates, some of the line up, and amazing recess..sorry, not gonna say that word – good cheap prices! So, for those of you who like to plan ahead, here’s the details. The Sea Session festival takes place in Bundoran, down by Main Beach. It runs from Friday 26th of June-Sunday 28th. It’s such a party weekend in Bundi, and the town rocks- Kila are headlining the Friday Night this year, and Super Furry Animals on the Saturday, also playing are Mick Flannery, Jape, Fred, Juno Falls, rsag, Zion Train, Onya – and loads more to be added on. It’s a really cool chilled out set up- not the manic mudfest of Oxygen or Picnic, it’s a smaller boutique thingy, and every chance of bumping into the bands during a surf or a pint in the local. www.seasessions.com for info. Tickets for entry into the Sea Sessions are 53.50 for THE WHOLE WEEKEND! And there’s skateboarding & surf stuff going on too, we think that’s amazing value, and we are delighted to make those tickets available to you. if you want somewhere to stay, our Home field Rock Hostel is 3 minutes walk from the action, and we are doing accommodation from€20 per night, or €50 for the three nights. We can also arrange the beginner surf lesson, the climbing ropes or whatever – but have to let you know that SEASESSIONS is the weekend you need to set aside for your Bundoran summer visit. Beat the crowd, book a bed and a ticket, and start looking forward to it. Our number is 0719842418 -give us a buzz. It’s the perfect weekend to gather a few heads, come down, and enjoy hanging out by the beach with great music and a very cool crowd. Other stuff happening: Beginner Surf weekends EVERY weekend from now through summer, those of you who have o2 surf packages, that deal ends end of March, so try to make use of it. Our RECESSION SESSION weekends have been great fun- 99 euro for 2 nights & two activities- most people have gone for surfing lessons – and we will continue the recession weekends for the next few months anyway. We have a Beach Lifeguard Training Course at Easter, still one or two places left, we are also booking for a May Beach Lifeguard Exam, Paddy’s day Bank Holiday is an extended surf weekend (pretty busy actually) and May Bank Holiday weekend there is an awesome music weekend planned featuring masterclass from the legendary Pat mc Manus & equally legendary Johnny Gallagher.. See http://www.guitarbreakaway.com/for more info All this and more from your non-stop source of happiness, Donegal Adventure Centre I hope all is good with you – remember, to unsubscribe just send me a remove, if this info isn’t what you require anymore, we will cut it off at the source, and likewise, if you have friends who you think should be copied, I’ll put them on the list. If you are, or have teens, we have an email with updates on family and teen stuff, let me know if you want to get that info. Oh yeah, and finally, we have all the rock hostel rooms done, including rooms dedicated to The Beatles (very popular suggestion!), Rory Gallagher, U2, White Stripes, An 80′s dorm, a Rocker’s dorm, Diva’s dorm, Madonna, Queen, Elvis.and the upstairs kitchen is dedicated to the OTHER boss in this place, Mr. Bruce Springsteen. Thanks for all the suggestions, and pop in anytime you are in town for a look. And finally: to reward those of you who actually read all my emails, we will give two places on a recession session weekend for whoever makes the best suggestion re naming our canteen.. Needs to be something that ties in rock n roll with food.. Go for it!

Teen Surf Camp

Thanks to all for the great response to our competition.’What should Collie wear’ !  Our prize went to Mary Kate Mc Grath, who sent us specially designed and very colourful Collie-surfing prints..

Mary-Kate's winning entry

OK- anyway: Surf Camp kicks off at lunchtime next Monday – anyone getting bus from Dublin, if you get the 09.30am bus from Busaras, we will pick you up at 1.30pm in Ballyshannon, and have you in the water by 2.30! We will send you back home on Friday.
Some questions we’re getting:
Can you come to surf camp for just a day or two, not the full week?   YES!
Can you bring friends /brothers/sisters?  YES
Is there an age limit for residential camp? YES  you must be 12 years or older. oldest is 17.
Can you bring guitars and your own skateboard and that sort of thing?  YES we love it when you bring music stuff
My Mum / Dad / is worried about supervision – can they call someone?  YES, me (Niamh) 087 2941232.
I want to go, but my friends don’t. I’m worried about being billy-no-mates?  DON’T WORRY ABOUT THIS .. you can never have enough different friends, why not add some other surf/skate heads to your collection? And we are really friendly.
I get withdrawal symptoms if I’m not on bebo/facebook every day?  DON’T WORRY we have free wifi & a computer for you if you can’t live without it. But just 5 mins to check!
I / My friends have never surfed  or skated before?  NO PROBLEM, that’s what we do. Teach people
My Mum/Dad wants to come for a surf with me?  NO PROBLEM, surfing works for all ages, shapes and sizes. That’s cool.
I don’t have enough money – ?300 is a lot..
Yes we know not everyone can afford a camp that costs this much. It includes all your meals, and also your coaching and supervision by qualified instructors, your lifeguarding, all your equipment, and your transport & stuff. The camp starts at 9am and you keep going until bed time, always supervised and always having fun. We can collect you from the bus, and we drop you back. There is a lot going on, and it’s worth it. It’s also on every school break, mid-term, and all summer. We do have discounts and scholarships for teens and parents who love the idea, but can’t afford it, so if you feel you have a genuine reason for asking for a discount or scholarship, you can email me & tell me why. We also love when we get a group of teens, and if you arrange your friends to come, then we can give you discounts for doing all the work! Or maybe your Mum or Dad – just talk to us and tell us what you think. Also – this is a real teen holiday, with more fun and attention than you get anywhere else! We think we do a really good job, and that it is good value for money – maybe you can save up for the summer, or October, and don’t be askin’ d parents to cough up  
Teen surfing is a really good, safe, positive fun way to spend holiday time, with other teens in a healthy and cool environment. Any further questions or comments, please feel free to phone or email me

Niamho

Hope you are well, and tanned from that rare but wonderful thing- the sunny weekend. Surf here was very small at the weekend, but clean as a whistle, and Tullan Strand looked positively Mediterranean Saturday and Sunday! Now-some news for those of you who have done surf lessons with us in the past.

Richard

We are absolutely delighted to tell you that local surf megastar, RICHARD FITZGERALD is back in Bundoran for the summer. If you saw the movie ‘Waveriders‘ you’ll know all about Richie, he is probably the best Irish big-wave surfer and without a doubt one of the best ambassadors of surfing ever. He is also, as anyone will tell you, a helluva nice guy. Richie has joined the DAC to offer you guys some Intermediate-Advanced Surf Coach clinics, and we are stoked about this – we are running the first two clinics over the May and June Bank Holiday weekends and don’t worry if these book out, we will be running further weekends in June. Richie’s numbers are strictly limited to 8 persons per coaching session, and we are booking for sessions on the Saturday and the Sunday of the May and June bank holiday. You have to have done a beginner lesson before- these sessions are really for people who are surfing, but want to improve.( If you are a beginner, Kyle Wilshire will be doing a beginner’s course over the same period so just book in for that) In order to avail of the DAC -Richie Fitzgerald Bank Holiday Surf package, you need to book the package, including accommodation with us here at DAC.
Here are the following rates
2/3 nights B&B + 1 clinic with Richie 120 euro
2 or 3 nights B&B + 2 clinics with Richie + 150 euro.
2 or 3 nights B&B + 1 clinic with Richie + unlimited Surf Hire
or lifeguarded surf sessions for the weekend  150 euro
2 or 3 nights B&B + 1 clinic with Richie + choice of 3 other multi-activities at Donegal Adventure Centre over the weekend.
2 or 3 nights B&B + 3 beginner surf lessons or
3 multi-activities at Donegal Adventure Centre over the weekend 120 euro
2 or 3 nights B&B + 1 beginner surf lesson 99 euro.
Accommodation over these weekends will be in our super cool Home field Rock Hostel. Private rooms for 2, 4 and 6 are available, and we also offer cheaper dorm rates for those who don’t mind sleeping with strangers You are welcome to bring your own refreshments and we have large kitchens and common rooms which are strictly adult-only over weekends. There is no curfew and a great atmosphere here during the weekend.
There will be après surf every night with DAC surf instructors, and the hostel has free wifi, tea & coffee, continental brekkie every morning, and sometimes I buy lollipops for the good boys and girls.

Richard surfs Aileens

We will book Richie’s classes on a first-come, first serve basis, – again, we are running on the Saturday at 10am and 2pm, and Sunday 10am and 2pm of both bank holidays, -max 8 per session, and sorry folks, but we are not offering any one night accommodation over the bank holidays: it’s a minimum of two night stay to avail of the surf weekend.
To book: 07198 42418 with credit card, Ciara will take the details immediately.. And if you are an intermediate surfer, I can’t possibly encourage you enough to go and do a session with Richie himself, he is truly a legend and this is an AWESOME opportunity to surf with him, I swear to God if there’s any room left, I’m going myself! Email me if this doesn’t suit ya, or you want other info, I’m far too excited at the mo to write about anything else!

Legends

Hi all
A quick update on the May Bank Holiday weekend here at the DAC. It started early when our OITC course had their gradutation cermony in the Adventure Centre on Thursday. Is was great to see everyone again and we wish them all the luck in the future. We are now accepting applications for the new course next September

We were blessed with both good weather and good surf on the Bank Holiday weekend- We were very excited because we had a few different things on -The guys from guitar breakaway were using our rooms for their jam sessions and we were particually excited to have Pat McManus on site- I know he mightn’t be as well known to some of you – but we once had a dog named after him ! Thats when you know your a proper musican. Think there’s many dogs called  eminem?

Speaking of legends, we had our first session of advanced surf lessons with Richard Fitzgerald of waveriders fame.

Richard, Conan and Catherine

It was a great success,  everyone loved it, and we are keen to get richie in again so get on to booking this fantastic opportunity to improve your sufing with one of Europes best surfers.

As well as all our usual Bank Holiday Surf weekends and multi -activity breaks , we also had a visit from The Cavan Senior football team who went for a wave with Neil, Ken and Fiddy and then decided to brave our ropes course in the afternoon. It was brilliant fun, the lads were really up for it  and we wish them all the luck in the championship …unless they meet Dublin of course….. (Dickie says feck Dublin what about Donegal…but he doesn’t write the blogs around here

We’ve a really busy week this week with three schools in for two nights at various times and , The Rock Hostel is of course open at the weekend for accommodation and surf and we are very pleased that an old friend of ours Noel Berwick , is still spreading the good word and has friends coming up this weekend.  Nice one Noel

Coming up – well, everything is now booked out until after June bank Hol weekend. We do have two surf weekends coming up June 12-14 and June 19th-21st. We invite all beginners to consider our recession special deal, which is two nights B&B plus 2 surfing lessons + climb/abseil/skateboard session for just 99 euro each. Accommodation only is 50 euro per person sharing, if you don’t fancy activities, – and two nights B&B plus one activity is 75 euro. Accommodation is in the very cool rock hostel, and included in your price is the rental of surfboard, wetsuit, bootees, tea/coffee before & after session, breakfast in the mornings, a really fun après surf scene including live music and great pubs, and the friendliest instructors and staff you will meet anywhere. Come on your own, or bring a group; you will have a great weekend either way. None-surfers can play golf, visit the beautician, have a seaweed bath, go to the cinema (Waveriders still on!), go watch the footie in the pub, book some horseriding, head off walking.. There is so much to do around here, you’d be spoiled for choice.
For more experienced surfers, you can book a session with Richie Fitzgerald on Saturday 13th June, or Saturday 20th June. Richie charges 40 euro per clinic, which is 3 hours long and the max number is 8, although groups are usually smaller. Advance booking is essential, email me.
I’m sure you know about the SeaSessions weekend- brilliant festival June 26-28, tickets on sale, and beds booking out. www.seasessions.com  heading into July, we has some surf weekend availability, and our big surf weekend in August is over the Aug bank hol – We are putting together a few special bits and pieces for that, but it is always a lot of fun.

The Cavan boys on the All Aboard

 

Hill Walkers and Easy Riders

Phew what a week.
After a cracking surf weekend with Noel Berwick and crew- oh they’re addicted, they’ll be back-there was no rest for the wicked as Abbey Vocational school arrived on Sunday afternoon for

Abbey Voc. stop for a snack

their Gaisce Bronze award hillwalking expedition.   

The Gaisce trips are different from regular schools trips but still great fun and Neil Ken and Dickie really enjoyed bring the group on their 25k hike…well they enjoyed the first 24ks anyway.

 Meanwhile over in Homefield Rock Hostel Collie was busy establishing us on facebook- and on Twitter  when , to quote Steppenwolf, he heard the sound of heavy metal thunder as a load of bikers from Bradford turned up on the doorstep looking for somewhere to stay.  We like our bikes here at the D.A.C. plus they were really sound so we moved a few things around for them. Needless to say most of them stayed in the rockers room

Midweek the weather was gorgeous , but the surf was quite small so we used the opportunity to bring the group Cliff jumping which is a brilliant activity, probably only second in popularity to Surfing.

 However today the Surf is absolutely perfect  and no ones out there! (except all our staff  so get your behind up here.

 

Join us on facebook http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Donegal-Adventure-Centre/104041180658 or

follow us on twitter – daily surf reports and possibly Bundoran related silliness http://twitter.com/dacsurfreport

Roryfest and lots of Surfing

Where to start ? I’m sitting here listening to Kitty, Daisy and Lewis - on e of the benefits of working

Lee..he will not thank me for this

in a Rock Hostel is you get to hear really cool stuff  and Lee who runs the Hostel at nights, put all the newest, trendiest stuff on my pc. Don’t know how to break it to him that I’m going to see Journey and Def Leppard in a couple of weeks.

What Been Happening

Last weekend we had the fantastic combination of sun and surf and it made for a great weekend. As well as the well behaved lunatics from Aghlee FC in Antrim- We had the Carty crew up from Wexford and Carlow for a surf weekend and the were kind enough to say this
“I just want to say thank you so much for a great time. It
really was great and we hope to head up that way to you again soon. In
the meantime we will be annoying all our friends with our ranting and
raving about how fantastic you are!

This time of year we have a lot of schools in during the week and this week was no exception. We had the the TY’s from Coláiste Íosagáin from Dublin and St Aloysius from Athlone- Our Americans were a bit freaked by the girls from Iosagain speaking as gaeilge but it was really good craic and the pupils did their schools proud. At the weekend, we had one of our regular schools up , our old friends Ardee Community School

The Hostel was full of 3 rd level students- we had a group of Germans from the fabously titled Wolfgang university and we had our Adventure Ireland students from Meredith College who are staying with us for three weeks doing a combination of culture and sports -not to mention enjoying the nightlife Bundoran has to offer!  You can follow their blog here

Whats Coming Up

June Bank Holiday is possibly my favourite on enot least because the Rory Gallagher Festival is on, and the only thing we like as much at surfing is top quality music! The Rock Hostel is full that weekend but we do have a couple of rooms left over in the D.A.C. where we are doing an incerdible deal of 3 nights & 2 surfs for just 99€- only 8 places so get booking by calling 0719842418 or email us on info@donegaladventurecentre.net
We have surf weekends available for June 5th & 19th weekends, 99 euro 2 nights + 2 surfs .

On June 12th, we are offering beginner & intermediate surf coaching, own-board surfers are

The Legend Rory

invited to bring their gear and avail of the excellent and scrumptious Kyle who will coach those of you gone past beginner ..
Rates are still recession proof at 99 euro for 2 surfs, 2 nights B&B in private rooms in the Rock Hostel
June 26th-28th is the SEA SESSIONS festival, another great weekend to be in Bundoran. You can check for tickets & line-up at www.seasessions.com but we’re offering accommodation at the following rates:
Hostel en-suite (2-4 people sharing) 25 euro pp per night  B&B, 2 night minimum
Hostel en-suite (5-8 people sharing) 20 euro pp per night  B&B, 2 night minimum
Hostel (Dorms) 20 euro pp per night  B&B 2 night minimum

We love this too..

I know we usually write about whats going on and you can see all our Bank Holiday plans in the blog below but this is great:)

Sea Session Speshials…sorry Specials

Hi Folks -

Greetings from Fundoran once more. Lots to tell you about this month- June is one of our most mental months -lots of little people on primary school tours during the week and Adult surf weekend…well at the weekends obviously.
We have just said  good bye to all our U.S  Students from Meredith College in North Carolina only to recieve a gang from Liverpool Uni -
They seem really sound but I don’t know if they’ll have the same impact on Bundoran that our ten southern ladies did

We have two pretty busy Surf weekends on the 12 and the 19- we have decided to extend our Recession Session deal right through the summer- 2 surfs or premium activies and 2 nights accommodation in the rock hostel for just 99€ so get emailing / call Ciara or Trish on 07198 42418 to avail

Of course the big weekend this month is the Sea Sessions festivial here in Bundoran- A brilliant and eclectic line up, surf competitions, events on in all the pubs and guarenteed sunshine…well ok made the last bit up but all the signs are good – We are doing really good deals in both centres

Rock Hostel en-suite 2-4 (Sharing) 25 euro pp per night  B&B, 2 night minimum
Rock Hostel en-suite 6+ (Sharing) 20 euro pp per night  B&B, 2 night minimum
Rock Hostel (Dorms) 20 euro pp per night  B&B 2 night minimum
Adventure Centre en suite private B&B  22 euro per person  2 night minimum
Adventure Centre  private, shared bathroom  B&B  15 euro per person. 2 night minimum
We won’t take single-night bookings for the Sea Sessions, so try and free yourself up for the two nights! Availability is limited, and first to book, gets.
You can book accommodation only at the rock hostel 07198 29357 or call the DAC on the usual 07198 42418- we can also arrange tickets- surf lessons and any thing else you can think of !

I’ll leave you what is sure to be one of the highlights of the festival….

Post Sea Sessions…

The surf weekends continue, all at recession-session prices, brilliant value for two nights in our rock hostel www.homefieldrockhostel.com and surf lessons at all levels with the handsomest & friendliest instructors on the planet. If you haven’t arranged a weekend away for yourself and your mates so far this summer, do this. It’s inexpensive, brilliant craic and reasonably healthy.
For those interested, we have just released details of our surf instructor training courses starting in September – due to demand we have put on a three-month full time course running from Sept- December, and a second course running from January-March. This is for anyone who wants to upskill and become an outdoor instructor. Email or check website for the application forms which are available now.
Keeping an eye on the calendar, please pencil in the weekend of Aug 22nd- that’s the weekend that all the surf schools in Bundoran run THE BIGGEST SURF LESSON EVER at Tullan Strand, in aid of the NIALL MELLON AFRICA TOWNSHIP projects.  We invite anyone with a board, or without, to join us to try and break the world record for the biggest surf lesson – it’s a full day of craic on the beach, with a live music stage, (Bands are playing all day!)  horseriding, there’s football, fun runs, treasure hunts.loads happening, I’ll give you all the details later, but you could just make a note that Aug 21-23 is a really good weekend to be in Bundoran.

August Surf Madness

Here is what’s going on for August.
Everyone’s feeling the pinch this weather, so we aim to keep things cheap and cheerful! The Sea Sessions festival was a cracking success, and our rock hostel has got the thumbs up from everyone who stays – so we’re sticking with our ‘recession session ‘ breaks anytime thru August- 2 nights B&B and two surf lessons for 99 euro per person. All you need to do is phone us 07198 42418 and book in. In case you don’t know what’s involved in a surf weekend, – well most people arrive Friday, check in and head off for a few pints. Madden’s Bridge Bar is a great local surfie hang-out, and further up the road, The Chasin Bull has live music and is open ’til 1am.
On Saturday morning, we gather up everyone and see who is an absolute surf beginner, who has done a lesson before, and if we have more experienced surfers or own-board surfers, we dispatch you off with one of our dudes.
If you haven’t tried a surf before, you should! It’s easy, safe,great craic, and our instructors are super friendly and will be there by your side to help you get surfing. We provide wetsuits, boards, coaching and lifeguarding and a lovely cup of tea when it’s all over Our hostel accommodation offers twin rooms, doubles, 4-bed and six bed rooms. We have a large kitchen and two big rooms for hanging out, watching TV, playing the piano, or just chilling.
There’s LIDL, Supervalue & other shops close by, so you can rustle up your own lunch & dinner, or you can pop next door to La Sabbia bistro, or visit the many restaurants & coffee shops close by.
We have free parking, free wifi and breakfast is complimentary each morning.
On Saturday night, most people enjoy heading out after an exhilarating day of surf to hit the pubs and clubs. Bundoran stays open LATE on Saturdays, and there’s loads going on. We also have other activities- kayaking, canoeing, climbing, high rope adventures, skateboarding, archery & so on. For the non-sporting, there is the cinema, seaweed baths, hillwalks & beach walks, beauticians, barbers, bookies, .Bundoran is a busy place with lots of alternatives. For August, you can come any two nights- during the week is fine, and the town is as lively as ever.
So- 99 euro will get you two nights and two surfs and all the craic above. Rooms are subject to availability, but we will always do our best.
Collie and Lee are the friendliest hostel managers in the universe, and if you don’t agree with all of this after a visit, come and chat to me!
Good weekends coming up- the bank Holiday is fully booked in the hostel, but we have about 15 beds left in the DAC accommodation – rates are 150 euro for the three nights & 2 surf lessons, or 200 euro for the three nights and 4 surf lessons. Because of demand, we are only doing 3-night breaks for the bank hol- Fri, Sat & Sun. Bank Hol weekends are great craic!
Also, the weekend of Aug 22nd is the ‘Tullan For The Township’ Weekend- on the Saturday, there is a major event on the beach- live music from noon-6pm, followed by the world’s biggest surf lesson. This is a charity event, and all money raised goes to the Niall Mellon Township project. The beach music sees 12 bands strut their stuff, including the brilliant Dead Flags and Redkid, who will also be headlining the Surf Rock night later in the Chasin’ Bull. If you love your music, this is the weekend for you! ]
And- the weekend of August 30th, the DAC is TEN YEARS OLD! We are celebrating with an open day on Sunday August 30th, when we will be running all our activities FOR FREE. If you are interested in booking anything, you need to call us and book, as we are limited with numbers. We will be having a big party on the Sunday night, if you fancy partying with us, let us know. If you have a family, or teens, please email me for info about our deals, we have super offers for taking the whole gang away. I’ll not pester you in this email, but just give me a shout.
Gossip. Darby is back with us, good as new! Jamie got engaged It’s Ken’s birthday on July 31st- a BIG birthday.. DAC are on ‘Nationwide’ next Monday night ( me, I think, gulp!) Those of you who know Aine and her music should check out her new band called NoLady www.myspace.com/noladymusic (She’s recruiting friends!)
Please do email back if you have any news for us, I absolutely love hearing what you are all up to – if you came and enjoyed seasessions, if you bought a new board- do stay in touch! And come and see us in August. Also- for those of you in clubs, colleges, schools, please remember us when it comes to arranging group trips away. Yes, we want your business, and we will make sure you are well looked after. And for those of you at a loose end Sept-Dec or Jan-Mar, we have our surf instructor training courses kicking off, why not become one of us? Scary, huh?

Tullan for the Township

 Hope you’re well, and making the most of the summer. Oh, what can you say.I heard someone on the radio point out to weather-whingers last week that we are not The Canary Islands, and we always end up with summers like this, so why do we get so disappointed? Hmm, but a week or two of sunshine would still be welcome.

Anyhow- just updating you on what we have going here for the last couple of weeks in August – our ‘recession session’ deal is doing great, it’s 2 nights B&B and two surf lessons + all equipment, craic agus ceol and it’s available any two days between now and end of August, weekends or during the week. We also have family specials – accommodation + camps for the kids, email me if this is something you’re interested, we are giving super deals on all age groups. Teen surf camp has two weeks left as well, – I have a separate email for our teens, but if you’d like info, let me know- god children, nieces, nephews, – it’s the last chance for a wee break before school, and we are doing it at 50% price of last year!

Now- just want to let you know about the weekend of 21-23rd August, it’s the third annual TULLAN FOR THE TOWNSHIP event. Part of this event is the world’s biggest surf lesson, and we’re doing a shout out to anyone and everyone with or without a board to join in with us- we’re doing our usual Guinness Book of Records bid, but we’d love to make it an amazingly monstrous lesson. The lesson is at 6pm on Saturday 22nd, preceded by a big stage of live music kicking off at noon, 13 bands in all, including those minxes, The Surfchixxx, The Dead Flags, Red Kid, Sons of Gingerbread, Neon Knights, The young Cardinals, Organic Jam & More. There’ll be loads of stuff going on all day at the beach- there’s a 5K run being organised by Tir Chonaill Athletic Club, there’s horseriding & picnics and – oh dear God, just give us a sunny day! Anyway, all info is at www.tullanforthetownship.com and there’s funny vids from last year, you’ll get the idea. If you’re within distance to come down for the day, please do – if you fancy making a weekend of it, there’s a beach party in the Bull on Friday night, and on Saturday Night, The Dead Flags and Red Kid are staying around for a big Surf Rock in Chasin’ Bull, so it’s gonna be a big weekend. It’s all free, we’re raising money for the Niall Mellon South Africa Project, – Niall Mellon himself is coming to host a breakfast in the Allingham Arms hotel at 10.30am on Saturday morning, and everyone’s welcome to go along, meet Niall and hear about the work this fantastic charity does building homes for those truly in dire need – all we’re asking for is whatever you can donate on the day to participate in the surf lesson or run or whatever you do, details are on the site. If you’re thinking about doing a weekend away before end of August, this will be a lot of fun.

Now- for anyone considering a move to the dark side, our training course begins in September, this is an eleven week course to prepare and train you for work in surf instruction and lifeguarding – generally becoming one of ‘us’. Info on the website www.donegaladventurecentre.net or you can email me for an info pack. The course costs 800 euro, it’s over eleven weeks, four days per week, you have to be prepared to move to Bundoran (unless you live locally, of course) and we’ll do all the training to get you in shape for the ISA level 1 surf instructor assessment, and a water safety qualification, plus you will do child protection & first aid training, & more stuff – it’s our fourth year of the course, and on our own staff here, Ken, Punk, Sean, Diarmuid, Rachel & Lee are all graduates, and many other grads are working in other surf schools & adventure centres. There will be a second course Jan-march 2010. Would really appreciate if you could pass this info on to anyone you know either taking some time off before or during college, or thinking about doing something ‘different’ for a while. Cheers!
Gossip and scandal here at DAC. everyone’s a bit wrecked after weeks of camps and loads of kids from overseas, -we’ll be having a bit of a party at the end of the month, so I expect scandal and gossip will unleash itself then – everyone’s been too tired to misbehave! The rock hostel has been incredibly busy – it’s never dull, that’s for sure – some strange person stealing all of the ‘D’s of our signs (onegal aventure centre???) hmmm I wonder why. Actually, best suggestion as to why someone stole our D’s will get a DAC teeshirt!

Hope all is good with you, if you haven’t seen Waveriders yet, its out on DVD, just makes you wanna get in the water. Come up and see us all soon,
Till then, happy last-few-weeks-of-summer
Niamh, Neil, Collie, Lee, Darby, Ken, Rachel, Morgan, Punk, Ciaran, Eimear, Shiv, Fiddy, Dickie, Trish, Ciara, Jamie, Kyle, Diarmuid, Melissa

Autumn Action

Hi again from us at Donegal Adventure Centre. It’s Niamh here, with an occasional update on our surf weekends, special offers, bits and pieces of gossip, what’s on in Bundoran, and whatever else crosses my mind on the day. Right now, we are warmed and invigorated by last weekend’s surprise sunshine, after a rotten August, it was really nice to work in tee-shirts and shorts. The beaches were packed, and that wonderful peely flaky skin-thing was on show everywhere by Saturday evening..
Anyway, we are looking forward to the next few months, September/October usually brings in the best surf of the year, and we are keeping our fantastic recession sessions going- yes folks, only 99 euro for the weekend, 2 nights B&B, 2 activity sessions, and all the general craic that is Bundoran at the weekend- and for those of you who work at weekends, we also do this offer for groups during the week, so just email us for more information.
We are also doing a special offer for the October Bank Hol weekend, and this will be of interest for those of you who have already done a few surf lessons- Kyle, our resident surf superstar, will be running a special surf weekend for those past beginner level – you’re already standing up on your board, and you want good coaching to improve your turning and surfing – Kyle will also be doing theory workshops including information on reading weather charts and predicting swell, buying wetsuits and boards, surf etiquette at unfamiliar breaks, and safe surfing. The lessons will run simultaneously with beginner lessons, so if you are ready to introduce your friends to surfing, you can pop them onto the beginner lessons, and surf a bit more intensively yourself.
The price of the Bank Hol weekend is 150 euro for three nights’ accommodation & three activities (Surf, climbing, high ropes, cliff-jump etc.you choose.) There will be three surfs on the dedicated surf weekends, + a workshop on the Saturday evening for those interested. Please book early as we have limited availability, the DAC is already fully booked out. The number is 07198 42418, and the craic will be good, it’s the last bank hol weekend of the year, and while the water is still reasonably warm and friendly, make it your next surf weekend!
Other craic.well, the restaurant next door to the rock hostel is under new management, and will reopen on October 1st, super chef Keith Barry, formerly of Locks’ restaurant Dublin is taking over, and promises a super menu catering to all.our mouths are watering at the thoughts of his cooking next door to the centre!
If you are planning the Christmas Party, we are now booking for overnights and package deals including dinner and evening craic. Best thing to do is contact me directly. We have two new activities for adult groups, we have ‘Prison Break’ which involves climb & abseil, zip wire, clues and problem solving, – it’s a team event, and hilarious fun- not everyone HAS to climb or swing, so it does suit scaredy people, – we also have a challenge called ‘Survival’ which is also a FUN team-based couple of hours involving land-based activities.. If you think your staff would be up for an afternoon of capers here at the centre, then drinks & dinner and an overnight stay, just let me know!
A big thanks to all who visited our Rock Hostel over the summer, the hostel is now becoming famous for its cool, friendly buzz and this is a credit to Collie, Lee, Ciara, Eef & Trish who have worked so hard in making it THE place to stay in Bundoran for good value, comfortable clean accommodation convenient to everything in town. The staff celebrated the end of the summer season with a raucous trip to Donegal Town, most survived, although Ciaran was unseen for about five days afterwards.
For those of you into your music, we are chuffed that Aine O Doherty’s new band, NOLADY  www.myspace.com/noladymusic was selected for the Hard Working Class Heroes festival , as were our friends THE DEAD FLAGS, we’ll let you know times and dates, but really delighted local bands making themselves heard up there in Dubbelin.
As always, if you don’t want emails from us, just return this email with a remove, it is never our intention to spam. I absolutely love receiving hellos from you back, (I feel less crazy, talking to myself.only a little less tho) and hope you are all well, wherever you are. DAC has a facebook (doesn’t everyone these days?) and a twitter, and all that new-fangled interweb stuff, and I am always available to you by phone 07198 42418 or by email info@donegaladventurecentre.net
Have a good week, chat soon,

Surfing, Fancy Dress and Bloody Marys!

Hello from Donegal Adventure Centre & Surf School - 
Those of us fortunate to live in Bundoran did enjoy a very nice Monday of clean surf- it’s dropped off a bit during the week, but looks like it’s gonna pick up by Friday, Saturday’s got waves, westerly winds probably going to make it a bit messy, but Sunday looking promising.
We do have two options for surfers- we have a beginner weekend with Ken, and an intermediate surfer’s weekend for those already popping up on their boards, with intensive surf coaching by Kyle. This weekend, we are doing a fantastic ‘recession session’ price of 99 euro per person for two nights B&B and up to three surf sessions- two on Saturday, one Sunday morning. If you are interested, phone Collie or Lee at 07198 29357 and book in. Please let us know if you are beginner or intermediate.

If you have your own board, accommodation is from 20 euro per night B&B, and we also offer free board storage if you get tired of hoofing your board up and down the country every weekend.
Music-wise, Na Doirse (Doors tribute band) are in the Chasin’ Bull, and J90 are in Paris, DAC staff are having a bit of a night out on Saturday, so eh.apologies in advance!

Coming up over the next few weeks- October Bank Holiday is looking busy, we’re doing a three-night break & surf or multi-activity weekend, don’t forget that if you’re not a water baby, we have brilliant climbing & abseil facilities here, high ropes, skateboarding, cliff jumping and lots of other stuff going on.

Over the Bank Hol weekend, there is a mini ‘Sea Sessions’ including the movie premier of ‘Bustin down the door’. The film is a documentary/story of Rabbit and the bronzed Aussie taking on the Hawaiian locals and waves in the 70′s and has won rave reviews. The film will be shown at Bundoran multiplex at 8pm on the Saturday night.

There is a full line up of live Music in The Bull all weekend, including the amazing Jason Kelly on Friday, Skins on Saturday and Moonchild (Rory Gallagher covers) on Sunday, and late night Saturday in Paris features the amazing RSAG.

Also- La Sabbia restaurant (next door to Homefield Hostel) reopens under new management next week- they have given us a sneak trial run of their menu, and it’s all good- yummy cocktails, credit crunch-friendly pizzas and pastas, mouthwatering steaks and.my favourite, their Sunday Brunch menu from 10am-3pm has pancakes, bagels and yeah, a Bloody Mary Cocktail! I’d imagine we’ll be there a lot.

Halloween is October 31st, naturally, we will all be dressing up in costume for this, there is a party in the Chasin’ Bull with music by one of the absolute crackingest bands at the moment, The Dead Flags. We’ll have a surf weekend, multi-activity weekend or just accommodation here for you, with free entry to the Chasin’ Bull (as long as you’re in suitable Halloween attire).
In November and December, we are booking for Christmas Parties & – yeah, it’s getting nippy for surf but a: that’s what winter wetsuits are for, and b: everyone knows that the fastest ultimate cure for a hangover is a surf and c: if you have snogged the boss/office nerd the night before, surfing makes everything OK again. Fact!  We are also doing great ‘Boot Camp’ breaks for sports teams, clubs, PE students and groups to do some intensive training & team building- if you want more info on this, give us a shout.
Finally – if you are a Dublin-based muso, and you are going to the HWCH showcases, please check out Bundoran band NOLADY www.myspace.com/noladymusic featuring local Diva Aine O Doherty – they are playing at the Academy, Friday 16th at 8pm. If you’ve been in Bundoran at all, you’ve probably seen Aine performing, either with Surfchixxx, solo or Nolady, and we are all very excited about this big break. More info on www.hwch.net
Just remember- if you fancy going somewhere that’s good craic, single, couple, gang of friends, school or college group, staff outing – this is what we do. Easy on your pocket and reasonably healthy, you can’t beat Bundoran and Donegal Adventure Centre. Please email back if you have the time and tell us what you’re up to, love hearing from you all. Take care, have a good rest-of-week, see yiz soon,
Niamh, Collie, Lee, Trisha, Ciara, Fiddy, Neil, Ken, Kyle, Morgan, Rachel, Eimear, Shiv, Melissa, Ciaran, Punk, Dickie, Darby,

Winter blues (boys in green) festival

Hey guys – a quick plug for what we will be doing this weekend  aside from praying that Trap can pull off another upset!

Prepare to beat those Winter Blues (and les blues) with some great music at The Chasing Bull Music Venue. Friday night sees Greg Gorman’s Bluestack Jam Club take the stage. On Saturday, there is a double bill with the thrilling Mirenda Rosenberg hosting a night of jazz, blues, funk and soul with special guests Mark Black and Aine O’ Doherty and Oisin Cannon with support from The Rare Groove Funk Orchestra. In addition to celebrating roots music, the event also hopes to highlight some of the exceptional talent from the North West.

Plans for 2010

Hey everyone-Happy New Year to all.

Big plans to kick off the new year here at Donegal Adventure Centre and Homefield Rock Hostel.
We are going to be offering new packages, deals and even a spanking new website …or two perhaps. Stay tuned for details

Aerobics back in Donegal Adventure Centre Bundoran

Tomorrow is AEROBICS STARTING AGAIN DAY! 7pm at the DAC, I promise a gentle start for everyone. Knock off the Xmas flab in a fun class – tunes are good and loud, think of it like a night in Jack’s, just without the triple vodkas. Every thursday, monday and tuesday at 7, fit as a fiddle by spring!

Niamh

Get Fit in 2010

Volcanoes Blow

It’s DAC o clock once more with a general update on what’s happening here – a cracking volcano inspired offer for this weekend and a music shout out.  We can’t believe how many times we have written blue skies on our daily twitter( www.twitter.com/dacsurfreport )surf update already and today is no different- looks like the surf is picking up too.
We’ve had a week of volcano inspired madness with a huge group stranded in Milan and the hostel bombarded with calls of people who were stranded on this side of the Irish sea. Best volcano inspired bit on twitter ‘I was lead to believe that if a tiny island with a volcano caused international disruption, James Bond would be assigned.’
However we did think it was a bit crappy of so many places to put their prices up to take advantage of the stranded and people who changed their holiday plans to do a weekend at home. Everyone wants to make a buck but stop screwing people just because you can – isn’t this how we got into trouble in the first place – volcanoes aside. Anyway (rant over I promise) as we see ourselves as leaders not followers , we’ve decided to buck the trend and do the opposite – so for this weekend only our cracking mid-week recession session student deal – 2 nights B&B in a dorm in the Rock Hostel & 1 surf lesson & 1 high ropes skyframe session for just 75? applies to everyone ! It’s gets better – if there are 3 or more of you we’ll give you a private dorm – if there is only 1 or 2 of you, you can upgrade to private for just 85€ -
This deal is only open to those in the know so unless you mention #volcano special – normal rates will apply- and lets face it they’re pretty deadly too. Like the 120€ 3 nights & 2 activities May bank Holiday deal !
So if you’re plans were scuppered or you just fancy the best value break since the goalie in escape to victory email us or call Collie in the Rock Hostel on 07198 29357 Speaking of the Rock Hostel – we are trying to wean Collie off his current favorites – the boy loves his music but he won’t let anyone else play -
At the moment he’s mad about ‘Come & Get it’ by Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed, the new Dead Flags album, ‘Wake up the nation’ by Paul Weller and Jonsi new album ‘Go’ – even though he’s from Iceland. Any suggestions of stuff we should make him listen to ?
Have a great week from all the gang at DAC & Homefield Rock Hostel Niamh , Ken, Collie, Neil, Kyle,Trish, Ciara, Darby, Rachelle, Punk, Connor, Dave, Paul, Siobhan, Eimear

Heres some Eli with a little help from Daryl Hall

Hooray Hooray first of May

have some specials on the upcoming May bank Holiday weekend, some info about Sea Sessions and some irrelevant Bundoran gossip, – hope you’re well, and enjoying this remarkable spell of OK weather.

Collie tells me that the deal in the Rock Hostel is as follows- 3 Nights accommodation in Homefield House with continental breakfast, 2 activities (2 surfs or surf & rope climb)  – 120€ pp private rooms or  110€ if you bed down in an all male/all female  dorm room.

Craic-wise for the weekend, I would recommend Friday night in the Chasin’ Bull, where Dead Flags frontman Billy Fitzgerald is doing an acoustic solo set – and if you haven’t checked out the Dead Flags new album yet, it’s called ‘Gentlemen’s Club’ and is one of the best Irish albums I’ve heard in years..
On Saturday night in the Bull also, Indigo Fury will be rocking out, and on Sunday night, the mighty J90 play in Paris..

Activity-wise we have beginner & ‘past the first lesson’ sessions with the handsome boys & girls of DAC here, and you get to ride (in the American sense) in our fantastic new minibuses all the way to Tullan and back! For those of you curious about climbing, yes, we can harness you up and treat you to high jinks 40ft above ground- trapeze, zip wire- an adrenaline rush of a different kind!

We can also book other treats for you – a seaweed bath, a round of golf. we are your one-stop shop here Don’t forget also that the new La Sabbia restaurant (under fab new management) is right next door to the hostel- you can book your table for Friday, Saturday or Sunday and look forward to those crackling fires and yummy food without having to take out a mortgage.

Sea Sessions gossip – OMG is all I can say! Many are very pleased with the impending arrival of Mod God Paul Weller, Smoochy old Tom Baxter and those Fun Lovin’ criminals, but I’ll tell ya, I’m all buzzed about Dark Room Notes, Codes, Dead Flags, The Heathers, O Emperor, Frank & Walters, Oddsocks Revival,  Surfchixxx, Aftermath, The Hot Sprockets, Red Kid.and I can also tell you that Saturday’s Battle of the Bands is shaping up to be awesome.we got over 100 entries and we have to pick 6 or 7 for the final, and it’s difficult cos there is so much good stuff to choose from!  There will be camping over the weekend for this, BUT if you fancy booking a bed, you really need to book soon – there will be nothing left soon, and what will be left will be too dear. We still have some beds left – and if you don’t know how central we are, we are.. And there are other hostels & lodges in town. You can book your tickets with us as well if it suits.

DAC news- new buses, more newly done rooms in the hostel, we’re getting nice new teeshirts next week, all we need is you! In July we go all familyized, with stuff for parents, kids and teen camps, and in August we’ll be back to adult adventure breaks. Please do recommend us to mums and dads who are looking to either dispatch the kids, or have a less expensive family holiday.

Also- after a very successful course just finished, we are now enrolling for our Sept-Dec Outdoor Instructor Course. This is a ten-week course here in Bundoran, preparing you to become a qualified surf instructor/lifeguard and outdoor pursuits person. If you fancy doing something quite different for a few months, or you’re out of work at the moment and are thinking about upskilling, email me for info. Ask the staff here.none of us are rich, but we have a great life!

As always, folks, you don’t have to get these emails if you don’t want them, – we hope you are at least ,mildly interested in what we’re up to here. We get hugely excited when you actually reply! But more than happy to unsubscribe you if you don’t love us anymore.

DAC is on facebook and twitter, if you want even more of us, and the website, complete with online booking is www.donegaladventurecentre.net
And I live here, at the end of this Ethernet thingy.  I never get out

Ok- wherever you go, enjoy the weekend, and if you’ve no plans, make plans and come hither.
Best for now,
Niamh Collie Trisha Ciara Punk Ken Neil Collie Kyle Darby Shiv Eimear Fiddy Rachel Dickie & Co

ps here is one of favourite things

Donegal Live

Greetings from a very very busy DAC. Hope you are well- weather’s a bit grey and drizzly here today, but there’s a small wave at Tullan.

We like to let you know of the various things happening here, in Bundoran, in Donegal, and wherever else we meddle.

First thing to tell you about is the big Donegal Day in Temple Bar this Sunday. It’s a thingy by Failte Ireland and Donegal Tourism, and they are putting on a big mad Donegal festival in and around the meeting square. There is lots happening, but DAC will be there at the Donegal Outdoors stand- loads of us are going up for the day (Hey!) and our mates in Bundoran Surf Co, and the swarthy Richie Fitzgerald from Waveriders Movie, and Gartan adventure centre & diving & paddle & sailing clubs will all be hanging out. There is also a big music stage- Maire Brennan from Clannad is playing, and Altan, and The Henry Girls..and kicking off the tunes at 1.30pm in the meeting square are yours truly, The Surfchixxx. So..if you are around Dubbelin, and you have nothing planned for the day, come in and chat to us, catch a few tunes, most of the stands have good prizes and offers, and chances are, if you’re getting this email, you come to Donegal anyway, so come in and scan the goodies!

Second thing to mention is the Outdoor Instructor training Course. We have now added on a module for Kayak and Canoe, which will be delivered by Jon O’ Neill at the Lakeside Centre, Ballyshannon. This means you can choose to train as a surf instructor & lifeguard, or you can also add on an extra day per week to your 4 week’s training and get your 1* and 2* in canoe/kayak. I know not everyone is interested in training, but if you are, or you know people looking for a good course from Sept-Dec, or people who are perhaps looking for a change of direction, something interesting to do if they are not working, or an excuse to live in Bundoran for 11 weeks, maybe you could tell them to just email me. I’ll send on all the full info. It’s year 5 of the course, so far we’ve trained 70 outdoor instructors, and believe it or not, the majority of new surf coaches and outdoor instructors working in Donegal in the last five years were trained here!

Summer’s really busy. We have the usual June Summer Bank Hol weekend, which is also the Rory Gallagher festival in Ballyshannon, a great weekend. We have some space, but not much for that. Then, there’s SeaSessions. I can’t possibly exaggerate how much fun that weekend is! If you haven’t got your accommodation booked, you need to do this immediately, the town is almost sold out. There’s camping facilities, wee www.seasessions.com for more info.

We are almost booked out in July – all through the month, we do camp with teens. We have spaces for a few Irish teens, so again, if you wish to dispatch your teens to us, or you have nieces/nephews etc who would be interested, ages 12-18, there’s a special offer on the June 21-25 camp, and then it runs all through July & August.
Adult weekends open up again after July 20th, and we have really good FAMILY deals in August – great budget accommodation & camp for the kids and it’s all cheerful, fun, inexpensive, – please tell people who maybe think they haven’t got shillings for a holiday, because we really can do fun stuff at very decent prices. And we’re nice.

Well there it is for now. we’re all in good humour cos there’s a real ‘Summer’s Here’ feeling, and we are also looking forward to going to Dublin for the weekend!
Enjoy yourself wherever you go, I do always love to hear back from you lot out there in the ether, and I do pass on all the hellos to the rest of the staff
Our website is www.donegaladventurecentre.net Collie has been working on it for ages, be really grateful for your comments, and bye now from all the rest of us, Niamh, Trish, Eimear, Shiv, Fiddy, Kyle, Ken, Darby, Neil, Shayzer, Collio, Dave, Conor, Paul, Julie & co!

Seasessions & shenniagans

Hello Hello from Donegal once more- we’ve been so busy that we have updated out news section for a while. May was mental & Rory g was rocking and we have just a couple of weeks left to get our breath back before Seasessions  . We are long since sold out but are always happy to help so if you are looking for information give Collie a ring on 07198 29357.

More to follow soon.

Surf Soccer & DAC Summer plans

Hello from Donegal Adventure Centre & Home field Rock Hostel – this is our occasional bulletin with upcoming events, surf news, gossip and special offers which we hope will be of interest to you – if not, please send a remove instruction and I will not send anything further to you! It’s Niamh here at the end of this email, info@donegaladventurecentre.net and I keep all the emails of people who contact us, sometimes it’s a once-off query, and sometimes it’s you regular people who come all the time, so the last thing we want to do is be one of those in-box irritations. This email has details about Surf Weekend specials, Sea Sessions, and Training Courses, and for families, special deals for August, the injustice of world cup football pools . and an appeal for vinyl records!

So- we have been so so happy this month because of the weather.some of us have tans (not me though, pink and freckled as usual) and there is always a mood-barometer here that is dependent on surfing – and the staff are jolly and happy despite a very busy school-tour season. So we have reasons to be cheerful. We hope it’s going to continue, as we know lots of people are banking on home-holidays this year.
We are very busy with student & teen surf camps from now until July 20th, but if you are considering a surf weekend, we have next weekend (June 18-20) , Sea Sessions weekend, and then we jump forward to July 23-25 and through August. We are still doing our brilliant ‘recession session’ deal – see website http://www.donegaladventurecentre.net

Sea Sessions is just looking BRILLIANT – we are completely sold out for accommodation, I think the whole town is at this stage, but there is still room at the campsite. We do have some availability on surf lessons and high rope sessions, so if you’re in town that weekend, and fancy tempering the music & alcohol with some physical activity, give us a bell 07198 42418 to book. Also- and this if you know you’ll be here – La Sabbia Restaurant are taking bookings for meals all weekend – their number is (071)9842253 it’s  going to be a mental weekend, haven’t seen so much booked out in ten years! There are still some weekend tickets for sale, and they’ve just released some Sunday tickets, more info on the website www.seasessions.ie 

Weekends away for the craic.can I recommend August weekends- we are doing specials for the August Bank Holiday weekend in our Rock Hostel, and we also will be offering recession-session deals every weekend through August. We also have kids’ camps all through the summer, from tots ages 4 upwards right to the elder teens, you can avail of the daily camp if you’re holidaying locally, or the residential camps for 12 years + if you just want to dispatch the kids for a few days. We also will have family specials in August, cheap and cheerful breaks where the whole gang can stay for a while, do some activities with or without parents, – just send us an email for options, and we’ll reply with our best suggestions and prices, that’s how we do it!

Training- I’ll mention this in case you are, or you live with anyone looking around for something to do Sept-December. We run an eleven-week training course in outdoor instructor skills. It’s full-time, you will need to come to Bundoran for the duration unless you live locally, and you will surf, swim, paddle, climb every day, as well as learn child protection skills, work with groups, learn leadership skills and more. We do this course twice a year, and typically hire about 50% of our staff each spring/summer from our graduates- and most of our other graduates are working locally with other surf schools. It’s ideal for anyone finishing Leaving Cert but unsure about College choices, people unemployed or looking for a career change, people planning travel abroad and wanting to bring skills with them that will get them enjoyable work overseas – surf instructor, beach lifeguard, camp counselor etc. Email me for further info or see the website www.donegaladventurecentre.net/oitc 

Teachers, Schools, Clubs & Sports Teams – we are now booking TY groups for next year, we have great Boot Camps for football/Gaa/sports teams of all ages if you’re training, whether it’s a day out or a residential programme, we are planning lots of fun stuff from August through to December. We consistently are praised for our excellent staff, friendly but tightly disciplined work with kids and teens, great attitude with adult groups, and we do work hard at delivering what you want from your break. Email me for information. We also do short training courses for Beach Lifeguarding – we have one on here this weekend, and a second one beginning on Monday morning – we have a few places open for Monday if you are interested.

So-all good here at DAC, Collie tells me of new shortcuts to facebook  – http://www.facebook.com/DACSURF and http://www.facebook.com/rockhostel  and I know DAC is on twitter @dacsurfreport (but I’m trying not to get addicted to yet another social networking thingie..) our email again is info@donegaladventurecentre.net and we are always here to help you with any queries you have about coming to Donegal, sorting out a holiday, stag party, sports club booking or just wondering about the surf conditions before you jump in the car! So stay with us here and keep in touch.

Vinyl records- we’re looking for old ones of no value whatsoever for our hostel.if you are travelling to Donegal and you have rubbish records in your attic, we’d love to have them for doing a funky kind of thing in our rock hostel bedrooms. Just on the off-chance.

Finally – we did a world cup pool here, and figured out that there was a direct relationship between those who drew the best teams, and those who know the least about football. Fiddy got Spain, Neil got Holland, Punk got Brazil, Eimear got Engerland, and poor old Connor got France. Football fans like Collie got Algeria, Paul got Japan, and I have fingers crossed that Ghana are going to surprise everyone! It cheered us all up that Ken got Uruguay, it always is good for the cheap Simpson’s reference.. I’ll leave it at that!

Have a great weekend wherever you go, chat to you soon,
Niamh Collie Eoin Siobhan Punk Trish Conor Ciara Neil Ken Kieran Eimear Darby Kyle Rachelle Fiddy  all at DAC.

Quick update

We are open 24/7 all summer, with surf weekends (adults), family specials, teen surf camp and daily kids camps of all ages.
We are also now enrolling for our 11 week Outdoor Instructor Training Course which is full-time, in Bundoran from Sept-Dec.
Please do email me us you are interested in any of the above!

For those of you here for Sea Sessions, wasn’t it brilliant??

Try to find some Bundoran time for your summer, and remember, we do all the best deals, just email and we’ll find something that suits you/
I’d also be very grateful if you could let school leavers & those who might be interested in outdoor sports as a career know about our training course.
Website is http://www.donegaladventurecentre.net and look forward to hearing from you!

Summer ain’t over yet!

Dear Collie, Hi from Donegal Adventure Centre, Bundoran.  Each fortnight or so, I write to our customers to let you know what deals and events are coming up – and here’s what’s going on for the last few weeks of summer- SURFING!

 We have thrown open the doors of our surf hostel and we are offering great deals on dorm rooms, private rooms and family rooms for the next three  weeks – whatever day you can jump in the car, we have a comfy bed, a board and wetsuit if you need it, kids & teen camp, and La Sabbia restaurant 
next door with a mouthwatering menu that’s affordable!
 So if you have a few days to spend somewhere, call Collie 071 98 29537 or 
Ciara 071 98 42418 – I guarantee you that you will be happily surprised by  how much you can make the budget stretch!

 For adults:  Accommodation + optional surf hire /surf lessons 
/intermediate surf lessons + great nightlife & craic (we’ll tell you what’s 
on!)
 For families: Accommodation in family rooms, TV room, self-catering 
kitchen, kids camps every day, parents can choose to go (or not) + 

Bundoran’s funfair, multiplex cinema, circus, seafront, playground and 
waterworld are all within 5 mins walking distance of our friendly hostel .

 For kids: residential surf camp this week (Monday-Friday) and next week 
(Monday-Fri) ages 10 and upwards welcome to come and stay in our DAC 
centre (all kids) for a fully supervised, marvellous fun camp of surf and 
activities.

 Dates for the Diary!-
 Weekend of Aug 20-21
 Iradio broadcasting live from the beach, we also have the Bundoran Bay 
 Swim & great day of fun at Main Beach, free live beach gig by The Dead 
Flags!

 Weekend of Aug 27-29
 LAST SUMMER SURF SPECIAL
 Surf weekend special, 2 nights accommodation B&B  + two surf lessons on 
Saturday  including all equipment & instruction OR surf hire for two 
sessions including lift to beach and back + Saturday lunch at La Sabbia 
restaurant for 99 euro per person sharing – Please say you are booking
‘LAST SURF SPECIAL’ when you call and book – rooms are subject to 
availability, we have doubles, twins, 4-bed rooms & dorms, first come 
first served!

 WATCH OUT FOR

BOOT CAMP WEEKEND (male & female)
 Boot camp weekend – September 24-26, Friday evening-Sunday lunchtime including all meals and a full program of exercise and training. You’ll go  home fitter, healthier and lighter and still have a great weekend. 199  euro per person includes all activities, training, evening & night 
activities, full nutritional menu & proper instruction. There are 
beginner, intermediate & advanced levels, and please note, absolute 
beginners are welcome and encouraged. No bullshit- just fun training and 
getting into shape!

OUTDOOR INSTRUCTOR TRAINING COURSE
 September 27Dec 11
12 week full time course here in Bundoran to train you to become an
outdoor instructor. Would suit those unemployed, taking a break from 
College, or looking for a new set of skills to change work situation. For 
further info, email me for the application paperwork. You must be 18 years or older, you must be able to swim.

Bundoran Bay weekend

Hey y’all
this is what we’ll be doiung this weekend.

Bundoran Bay

Autumn Plans at the DAC

 Donegal Adventure Centre with some news of upcoming events & fun stuff over the next few months. As usual, we are keeping busy and have lots going on, so if you’re thinking of a weekend away with some degree of activity and craic, we have it here. We also have Lifeguarding & Surf Coach training and assessments, Boot Camps & Christmas (yeah, I’m sorry for bringing it up.) Party Options.so read ahead if interested:

Surf Weekends- Recession session weekends are still very popular, and are available to you any weekend for 99 euro for 2 nights’ accommodation & breakfast  in the very cool Homefield Rock Hostel, with 2 surf lessons or surf sessions also included. Come by yourself, or with a friend, or as a group – and if you don’t fancy surfing, we have other fun activities for you to do. Or- do nothing! Just enjoy Bundoran nightlife & craic for as little as 20 euro B&B.

Boot Camp Weekend November 12-14.
We all talk about doing ‘something’ before Christmas to kick-start ourselves- whether it’s knocking off a few pounds, or trying some new activities. On the weekend of November 12-14, we are going to have a lot of fun in a healthy

Out Bootcamp flyer

way – it’s our Boot Camp, and we will keep you out and busy Friday Evening, all day Saturday, to Sunday Lunchtime. We provide the meals, the instructors, the equipment and the encouragement, and you have the option to enjoy a detox weekend and still have a laugh. Don’t be afraid of this – if you are unfit, or a beginner, or overweight, this is for you, we are not in the business of humiliations and horrible fatigue – we would much prefer to encourage you to be active, have fun and enjoy a healthier-than-usual weekend. It costs 199 euro for the weekend, including a full activity programme and all your meals, we have discounts for friends together and groups, and we have a beginner level and an intensive level, so you can choose how tough you want this to be.
Call or email us  to book: 071 98 42418

Beach Lifeguard Course October 25-29
There will be an RLSS Beach Lifeguard training Course during the October mid-term, from Monday 25th-Friday 29th.

October Bank Holiday Weekend
Always good craic in Bundoran,  we are offering Friday-Monday (3 nights B&B)  for 75 euro per person, or 150 per person including two surf sessions or lessons & a session on our high ropes course.

Christmas Options -
If your work place is trying to come up with an original idea for a Christmas Party, can we suggest this:  Bundoran!
We will send bus/coach to get you, take you to Bundoran where you can check into the Homefield Rock Hostel.
Then you pop next door to the cosy and charming La Sabbia Restaurant for a Christmas Meal, – we highly recommend the wonderfully friendly atmosphere that this restaurant offers, and the personal service and ‘craic’ is a million times better than those Christmas Dinners for hundreds that most people sign up for. You can hang out in the restaurant, or take the party to Bundoran’s many fun pubs or clubs.  Either before your meal, or the morning after, those who want to can try an outdoor activity – we can do a very gentle, fun activity such as our team-building challenge, or we can do high-adrenaline surfing lessons, cliff-jumping or high ropes.
If you are interested in exploring a Christmas Party option with us, email me and I’ll get the menus and deals off to you immediately.

Also, tomorrow we begin our 2010 Outdoor Instructor Training Course – this is our 11 week course to train you as an outdoor instructor – this course is full, but we are beginning to enroll for the January 2011 course. Email me for info if you are interested.

Hope all is well with you wherever you are, it’s always nice for me to hear from you and if you have no need to receive emails anymore, email a ‘remove’ and I will faithfully do so. DAC gossip.we say congrats to our old Operations Manager Eoin Halliday who finally made an honest woman of Carina, his long-suffering girlfriend, and we wish them every happiness. We say goodbye to ‘English’ Kieran who was here all summer, but sadly has returned to College in the UK. But the rest of us are all still here, plotting and planning good craic for you!

Take care for now, Niamh, Trish, Ciara, Collie, Fiddy, Ken, Neil, Rachel, Dickie, Conor, Paul, Eimear, Shiv, Kyle

Special Offer 8-10th October

Hey folks – A group we had in for the weekend had to re-schedule & we have all this immense surf that we don’t want to go to waste so we thought we’d do a special deal for those on our mailing list & facebook and twitter followers as a thank you for another great year.  Not to mention we are still stoked from the Ryder cup

So this weekend only special offer of a recession session – 2 nights B&B in a private room and 2 surf lessons, all equipment & transport included just 75€ pp, Yes you read that right

To book email collie here on collie@donegaladventurecentre.net or call the Rock Hostel on 07198 29357.
To make sure you get the special offer price mention that its DAC october 8th deal while booking.

To follow us on facebook is facebook.com/dacsurf
twitter @dacsurf

Heres a little bit of Dickie to tide you over

October Bank Holiday

When did they decide to separate the October Bank Holiday and Halloween – don’t get us wrong we’re happy gives an excuse to go mad on two weekends in a row.  Halloween weekend is already sold out but we do have some brilliant surf and stay or even just accommodation only offers available for email or internet bookings. The DAC is very busy as always with schools and student groups so  for the best price call us at the Rock Hostel on 07198 29357 or email us on info@homefieldrockhostel.com

Teen Surfer News

Niamh here from Donegal Adventure Centre, and a day of mad mad waves. we’re actually enjoying this weather, these wild-eyed surf junkies are rolling
into town, following the crazy storms out there.it’s funny!

This is the shout out  for our teen surfers, and parents of teen surfers. Anyhow, here’s some news about what’s going on over the next couple of
months – we have Christmas Presents, Training Course Dates, Bootcamp &
facebook stuff to tell you about.  OK first off- Christmas.

We do lovely vouchers by email or mail for all
sorts of things – surf lessons, surf weekend breaks, – in fact, anything we
do, we do in voucher form, from as little as 10E per person. If Santa is
still your buddy, a surf camp is a great pressie! And maybe your buddy, or
mum or dad would enjoy an activity break. here are some special offers-

Surf lesson for 1 person   20e  (Save 15 euro)
Surf lesson for 2 persons 40e  (Save 30 euro)

Surf weekend break for two people
2 nights B&B and 2 surf lessons (or other activities)
Total €175  (Save 23 euro)

Teen Surf Camp: Monday-Friday full board at FEB mid-term break or Easter
2011
1 teen  300 euro (Save 50 euro)
2 teens or more  280 euro (save 70 euro per camp!)
Now: other stuff- For Beach Lifeguard Qualification, you need to be over 16,
but it is a GREAT qualification to have for summer work.
Beach lifeguard courses 2011 will be
Feb 11-13 &18-29
March RENEWAL ONLY 11-13
April (Easter Mon-Fri) 25-29
May 13-15 & 20-22

Outdoor Instructor training. how would you like to train to work here, or in
an outdoor adventure centre? If you are over 18 by Feb 2nd, you can do this
course. we do it twice a year, each Feb and September, and it’s brilliant..

Our Instructor Training Course Sept-Dec has been a brilliant success so far-
we have 14 trainees who are here every day training to be the next qualified
batch of instructors. Our next 11-week course will begin on February 2nd,
and we are currently accepting applications.  Email me if you want more
details, but we have to say this current course is great craic- lovely
students of all ages and nationalities, and everyone’s enjoying it.

This weekend, there’s an Elvis festival in The Great Northern, which
includes a Surfing-Elvis competition in Rossnowlagh at 11am on Saturday. I
believe the amazing Richard ‘Dickie’ Gillespie will be the DAC Elvis. It’s
good craic!

We have a facebook & twitter page, and we give discounts to you just for
being a fan! Yes! Here are the links..
http://www.facebook.com/DACSURF

twitter @dacsurf

WE WOULD LOVE IF YOU WOULD BE OUR FRIEND! COLLIE WILL TELL YOU A JOKE EVERY DAY!

We post surf reports, Collie’s trivia, Bundoran stuff and whatever else we
think of, and would love to build up our numbers so please, if you have a
facebook page, give us a wee click!

Thanks as always for your enquiries and your business, we do appreciate
everyone who has been here, and had fun here, and wherever you are in the
world, we enjoy hearing back from you. We are always interested in what you want to do on your weekends away, and over December and January we will be planning new activities and events for DAC/Homefield Rock Hostel, so please do share any thoughts with us!
We want you back.with your school, your club, your friends.and we will look after you!

Whats Going on ?

Niamh here from Donegal Adventure Centre, and a day of mad mad waves. we’re actually enjoying this weather, these wild-eyed surf junkies are rolling
into town, following the crazy storms out there.it’s funny!
Anyhow, here’s some news about what’s going on over the next couple of months – we have Christmas Presents, Training Course Dates, Bootcamp & surf weekends, Elvis, New year and other bits to tell you about.

OK first off- Christmas. We do lovely vouchers by email or mail for all
sorts of things – surf lessons, surf weekend breaks, – in fact, anything we
do, we do in voucher form, from as little as 10E per person. You tell us
what you need, we email you the voucher, you print it (or we can mail it to
you) and shopping done! Here are some special Christmas-only deals we are offering our regular email people (that’s you) and all vouchers are valid
for 12 months, and while subject to availability, we always do our best to
accommodate.

Surf lesson for 1 person   20e  (Save 15 euro)
Surf lesson for 2 persons 40e  (Save 30 euro)

Surf weekend break for two people
2 nights B&B and 2 surf lessons (or other activities)
Total €175  (Save 23 euro)

Teen Surf Camp: Monday-Friday full board at FEB mid-term break or Easter
20111 teen  300 euro (Save 50 euro)
2 teens or more  280 euro (save 70 euro per camp!)

We can also do vouchers for rope climbing, archery session, stag or hen
activities.just give us a call 07198 42418 and we’ll get the gift together
for you. We’re open up until noon on Dec 24th so if it’s the very last
minute, we’ll be able to help!

Now: other stuff-
Beach lifeguard courses 2011 will be
Feb 11-13 &18-29
March RENEWAL ONLY 11-13
April (Easter Mon-Fri) 25-29
May 13-15 & 20-22

Our Instructor Training Course Sept-Dec has been a brilliant success so far-
we have 14 trainees who are here every day training to be the next qualified
batch of instructors. Our next 11-week course will begin on February 2nd,
and we are currently accepting applications. I asked our current students to
write out what they think of the course, and I’ve pasted below if you’re
interested in reading their genuine comments. Unfortunately, these days
there are many people either out of work, out of college, or in the wrong
job, and this course may suit someone you know if not yourself- if nothing
else, it’s great for personal self-confidence, fitness and a bit of a
change! Email me if you want more details, but we have to say this current
course is great craic- lovely students of all ages and nationalities, and
everyone’s enjoying it.

This weekend, there’s an Elvis festival in The Great Northern, which
includes a Surfing-Elvis competition in Rossnowlagh at 11am on Saturday. I
believe the amazing Richard ‘Dickie’ Gillespie will be the DAC Elvis. It’s
good craic!

DAC and Home field have a boot camp coming up weekend of Nov 11-13, if
you’re interested in knocking off a pound or two in a fun way, and are free
next weekend, we still have some space. It’s not a ‘mean’ weekend, we’re
going to do the training, but it’s for allcomers, so put into it what you
can! We’re also now booking for weekends next year, College class trips,
clubs & sports groups, and I am feeling very generous as it’s nice to be
nice if you book in advance before we take our Christmas Holidays.

We have a facebook & twitter page, and we give discounts to you just for
being a fan! Yes! Here are the links..
http://www.facebook.com/DACSURF  (for the activities)
http://www.facebook.com/rockhostel (for accommodation)
Twitter @dacsurf

We post surf reports, Collie’s trivia, Bundoran stuff and whatever else we
think of, and would love to build up our numbers so please, if you have a
facebook page, give us a wee click!

Thanks as always for your enquiries and your business, we do appreciate
everyone who has been here, and had fun here, and wherever you are in the
world, we enjoy hearing back from you. We are always interested in what you want to do on your weekends away, and over December and January we will be planning new activities and events for DAC/Homefield Rock Hostel, so please do share any thoughts with us!

Merry Xmas to all

On behalf of all the semi-frozen staff at Donegal Adventure Centre, can we wish you a very happy Christmas and a good 2011. Thanks for suffering my emails all year and for your interest in the DAC. If you’re interested in any of the Christmas gift offers, just scroll down to the end of the email, but if not, we would like to wish you a great holiday, and hope that despite the snow, recession, budget and all the other grim stuff going on, that you still have fun! We’re open until 5pm on December 24th so any last-minute panic for vouchers can be easily fixed: the DAC number is 071 98 42418, I’ll be at the end of the phone, and will have a voucher off to you straight away, – we’re back in biz again on December 28th. Bundoran’s open for Christmas and New Year, if you can find a de-iced road to take you here, and it’s Surfchixxx in the Chasin’ Bull on New Year’s Eve. You can give me a shout if you need any help with surf pressies etc: our friends in Surf Co and Surfworld are doing all sorts of deals on boards & suits etc, so if I can be of any help, even non DAC stuff, just shout here. Also put facebook and twitter contacts here below, we’d love if you would make friends/tweet with us if you’re a social networker. We really appreciate all you can do to spread the word about DAC & the rock hostel, and if we can be helpful to you in any way, please let us know.

Very best wishes from Collie, Ken, Kyle, Dickie, Shiv, Fiddy, Conor, Paul , Ciaran, Punk, Rachel, Ryan, Aaron, Trish, Ciara, and me, Niamho. Enjoy!

Present ideas: we will custom-design you a voucher for whatever amount you wish to spend, and send to you by email.

Some suggestions…..

Teen Surf camp vouchers – a contribution to a week’s surf camp at Easter or Summer: Perfect for 12-17 years, and a brilliant gift….
Beach Lifeguard vouchers – Beach Lifeguard courses take place every month from March 2011, vouchers for some or all of the fee…
Adult Surf weekends: = Christmas offer: 2 person surf weekend: 2 nights B&B + 1 surf lesson for 150 euro / 2 surf lessons for €175 euro – valid for all of 2011
Single Surf lesson vouchers: Christmas offer 1 surf lesson 30 euro 2 surf lessons (or 1 surf lesson for 2 persons 60 euro) –valid for all of 2011
Outdoor Instructor Training Course – 12 week full time course, suitable for those wishing to become outdoor/surf instructors. Feb-April 2011, vouchers for some or all of the fee…

Donegal Adventure Centre www.donegaladventurecentre.net
Facebook.com/dacsurf
Facebook.com/rockhostel
Twitter @dacsurf

Anti-Valentines Weekend

Donegal Adventure Centre
The Anti-Valentine Adventure Weekend.
FEBRUARY 11-13 2011.
 
Donegal Adventure Centre will be once again offering the ‘Anti-Valentine’ activity weekend : a welcome alternative to the couples packages that tend to dominate this weekend. Donegal Adventure Centre invite all single people, with no ‘significant other’ to join us in Bundoran for a great weekend of fun, activity and craic with other singles. Arrive to Homefield Rock Hostel on Friday evening for check-in and some friendly meet & greet with other arrivals, and on to The Chasin’ Bull pub for some anti-valentines craic, games and pints! On Saturday, we begin the day with a fun session of rope climbing and group activity with our wonderful instructors, and again the emphasis is on enjoying yourself with your friends, and other people who are not wrapped up in hearts and flowers for the weekend. Later that afternoon, we’ll have a surf session for beginners, if you haven’t surfed, you haven’t lived, and you have to give it a try! Absolute beginners and non-swimmers are welcome, the beginner lesson is very gentle and very well supervised, and we provide all the equipment you need. Later that night, we all meet up in the rock hostel for a glass of wine, and then move on to The Chasin Bull for some live music, more craic and somewhere safe from the dreaded Valentine couple…
 
And the cost of this weekend, including 2 nights B&B and two activities, all of the above: 99 euro per person sharing. There is limited availability of twin/double rooms, and then rooms are 4-6 bed sharing. Groups of singles welcome, and single individuals very welcome. Dorms offered will be female only and male only sharing. For further information, please email info@donegaladventurecentre.net or call us at 07198 42418.

Big wave Tow ins

Cracking stuff to be seen last weekend with the Billabong / Monster tow-in competition in Mullaghmore last weekend – Photos to follow but here a video from the Billabong Adventure Division showing just how cool it was -

March / April

Hey folks
We thought we’d write a little blog to see how y’all doing at the moment, let you know whats been happening & see if you would like to avail of a special offer we are running.
The Rock Hostel has been recarpeted & painted- has new beds and we have just started to paint the outside so everything is spick and span. We also have a rake of new posters to go up once we get 5 minutes!

So special offers – The Rock Hostel is booked out most weekends up till Easter and a lot of May so we  thought we’d do a special deal for next weekend April 2 – So all private recession session offers will be offered for the price of public dorm ones – but in private rooms
So you can a private room for 2 nights B&B & 2 surf lessons or a surf lesson and a session on the high ropes for just 90€ pp
Or
for those of you who don’t need lessons,  avail of our room only deal – all private rooms for 2 or more people for the price of a dorm.
How’s that for a great deal.
However the deal is only valid with the code: rockhostel 2a
If you don’t menion this on your email or on the phone you will be charged the standart rate. This offer is only open to phone or email offers.

Lastly lets do a little house keeping -

We are now accepting bookings for Seasessions – we will sell out so please contact us early to avoid disappointment -
We will also be looking at taking bookings for Eurosurf  tournament very soon – it’s going to be amazing !
Again both this will be phone and email bookings only on a first come first served basis. So as Richie Fitz would say – get on it!

A new Pier devolpment is threating the waves around Doolin -The local surfers could really do with our support. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Magicseaweed/87669289907#!/home.php?sk=group_197515126946125

Surf lessons Donegal Adventure Centre

Surfers shocked by new “Wetsuit tax”

Surfers here in Bundoran and the rest of the country are outraged by the proposed new “Wetsuit tax” which the government want to use to cash in on Ireland’s surfing boom.  The taxes will be assed by thickness of suit, with 50 c everytime you wear a 5:3 winter suit, 25 c for a summer suit. and 10 c for shortie or a rash vest. ” Let hope for a cold summer and we’ll have paid off Anglo Irish by the time the Eurosurf is finished” chortled one unnamed councillor.  
We contacted local surf legend Richie Fitzgerald for a comment but all  we could make out was the word sham (a lot) and that David Luis “was some boy”

© associated idiot press

Seasessions

We are now accepting bookings for Seasessions – we will sell out so please contact us early to avoid disappointment -
We will also be looking at taking bookings for Eurosurf tournament very soon – it’s going to be amazing !
Again both this will be phone and email bookings only on a first come first served basis.

 

Seasessions Line up 2011

Easter

Donegal Adventure Centre is as busy as ever, after a big renovation job in both our accommodation centres- DAC and Home field Rock Hostel. Yes, folks, we really got to work, stripping (walls), painting, new beds, mattresses, sofas, floors, – you’d hardly recognise the place, and we are all delighted to be up and running with these lovely upgraded facilities. I think in particular, Home field Rock Hostel, which was always cosy and cute anyway, is now adorable! So if it’s been a while since you stayed with us, come up and have a

Coasteering

look around anytime, we are as always, cheap and cheerful, but we think that Home field and it’s lovely companion next door, La Sabbia restaurant & wine bar makes for an unbelievably great value break at very low cost.

We have been flat out in March with school tours, but we return to our surf camps, surf weekends and family breaks over Easter, as the schools are closed for two weeks. If you are thinking of taking a few days over Easter, please give us a call – we have a residential camp for teens, a daily camp for smaller kids and teens staying with parents, we have great family activities and all kinds of accommodation available. If you and a few friends are planning a few days fun, we have great rates at the hostel, and you can stay in a cool rock-themed room, enjoy Bundoran’s hospitality, great pubs and live music, and still not break the bank. You can store your surf equipment here, free of charge, or avail of our surf lessons & adventure activities.

All our Easter breaks are discounted and good value – simply email us, and tell us how many people you have, and what you want. Collie or I will be straight back to you with our best prices and packages.

If you can’t make Easter, don’t forget Sea Sessions is coming up soon; PLEASE book your accommodation early, the town will absolutely book out!
Keep in touch by phone 071 98 42418 we’re here 10-5, 7 days a week, or by email info@donegaladventurecentre.net , or make friends on facebook (dacsurf) or follow us on twitter!

Happy Easter

The Easter eggs we're hoping for

Happy Easter. I hope you are somewhere close to waves and sunny weather: we are basking in glorious conditions here in Bundoran, how nice it is to have perfect holiday weather!

Ok- a few things to tell you about, and if you’re interested in celebrity, perhaps this may be your lucky day! First of all, we were contacted by a lady named Arlene Mc Cann, who is casting for a surf commercial. She is looking for ‘groups of friends who love to surf together in their spare time. It doesn’t matter about surfing abilities, we’re looking for people with a passion for surfing that dedicate their weekends and holidays to it.’ If you are interested in contacting her, the email is arlene.mc@gmail.com

Secondly, we were contacted by the makers of the ‘Mission Beach’ TV programme.here are the details:

Outgoing and ambitious 16 year olds to be put through their paces at one of the world’s best Junior Lifeguarding Programme in Florida. You’ll be living together and supporting each other for the whole three to four weeks of this amazing course. From eight mile ocean swims to 40ft pier jumps, emergency CPR training to four day hiking missions, training alongside hundreds of American teens and real working lifeguards, this life changing experience is not for the faint hearted.If you don’t have the drive and endurance to challenge yourself, both physically and mentally, then this isn’t for you. But if you’re ready to be plunged in at the deep end and want to embark on an adventure that you’ll never forget, then get ready for the most exciting summer of your life. If You’re ready for the challenge then email beach@rival-media.com

Ok, thirdly, a consultancy group has been hired to study the needs of surfers in the Bundoran area. They are looking to send a questionnaire to those who use Bundoran occasionally or regularly for surfing. I do not want to bombard you all with this stuff, but if you are willing to take the questionnaire, please email me back, and I will send it to you then. It would be great to get some help on this, as they are working for Bundoran Tourism to decide how best to improve the services and infrastructure of the town to facilitate surfing and tourism, so your imput would be very helpful.Email info@donegaladventurecentre.net and I will forward it.

Now: that’s all the foreign affairs dealt with, here’s the domestic news. Good Friday is a big day for us, it’s kind of the official start of the Summer Season, and the town is buzzing, the tourist office is open, and the restaurants are happy to take in the normal pub-going clientele! We are kicking off our Easter Bank Holiday Weekend, and on Monday, we start our Easter Beach Lifeguard Course. We have camp for kids and teens all next week, plus family activities and plenty of stuff to do. We have family rooms, dorms and private rooms in the newly renovated and friendly Homefield Rock Hostel, and it’s not too late to give us a call and thrash out a great deal for a few away-days. There’s live music all over town, and (and I love saying this) there will be surf and sunshine! So if you’re thinking about it, ring Collie at 07198 29357 or you can email me here.

Also, if you are on facebook, we have a page, every growing in popularity, but we would like as many friends as we can get, we’re facebook.com/dacsurf and we tweet @dacsurf
And if you’re organizing anything: a hen, stag, sports getaway, romantic break, family holiday: please do give us a call and ask us what we can put together. We have great full-board deals here, we can book activities, great meal options with la sabbia restaurant, and we’ll do it with a smile and find you the best prices, so do check with us.

And if we don’t see you this weekend, see you soon! And enjoy yourself, and hope you get plenty of eggs!
Best wishes for now from Niamh & all the Donegal Adventure Centre crew

May Bank Holiday Weekend

Hi a quick update from very sunny Bundoran. We are having a stonking good Easter.

More sunshine and surf again (can’t believe I’m saying again ) . Huge congratulations to our Outdoor Instructor Course Graduates who finished their course yesterday and our New Beach Lifeguards who passed their course yesterday. All the hard work was worth it

Outdoor Instructor Graduates 2011