About Us
Your Gateway to Adventure
At Atlantic Sea Kayaking, we are passionate about connecting people with the stunning beauty of Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way and beyond. Since 1987, we’ve guided thousands of adventurers on unforgettable journeys, showcasing the hidden gems of West Cork’s coastline and waterways. Whether it’s a tranquil daytime paddle, a magical night tour, or an immersive international adventure, our experienced team is dedicated to creating safe, awe-inspiring experiences that bring you closer to nature. Join us and discover why we’re Ireland’s most trusted sea kayaking experts!
Why choose
Atlantic Sea Kayaking?
At Atlantic Sea Kayaking, we combine over 30 years of experience with a deep passion for Ireland’s coastline. Our expertly guided tours showcase the best of West Cork’s natural beauty, cultural heritage, and local flavours. Whether you join us for a daytime paddle or a magical night tour, you’ll leave with memories to treasure forever. Let us show you the magic of West Cork from the water!
Meet the Team
Maria Kennedy
Jim Kennedy
Viki Arato
Awards and Honours
Irish Responsible Tourism Awards
ASK were winners of Ireland’s inaugural Responsible Travel Awards in their category. We were also voted overall winners of Ireland’s Responsible Tourism Award.
Ohtli
Award
Maria and Jim were awarded with the prestigious Othli award by the Mexican government for the support and they give to Mexican tourism and in general to sea kayaking in Mexico.
Most Sought after Adventure
Our Sea Kayaking adventures were voted Ireland’s most sought after adventure by readers of the Irish Independent national newspaper.
Top 10 West
Cork Businesses
We were named one of Bank of Ireland’s ThinkBusiness’ 10 wonderful west Cork business to watch.
Featured by
We Are Cork
We were honoured to have a short documentary filmed about Jim and Atlantic Sea Kayaking
Featured by Clean Coast’s Waters and the Wild Podcast
We were delighted to have Jim be featured on Clean Coast’s Podcast.
Top Ten
Alternative Tours
ASK’s Moonlight-Starlight trip was voted one of the top ten alternative tours in the world by Trip Advisor.
Featured in
National Geographic
ASK were recently featured by National Geographic called: Secrets of the Wild Atlantic Way
Developing the Wild Atlantic Way
ASK are presently developing kayaking trails and Blueways along the Wild Atlantic Way in conjunction with local authorities and local communities.
Part of the Global Governance Group
ASK are part of the global governance group who have come together over the past 3 years to create: Global Adventure Travel Guide Qualification and Performance Standard guidelines
Directors &
Founding Members
ASK are directors and founder members of the Ireland’s Association for Adventure Tourism.
Failte Ireland Ambassadors
ASK are ambassadors with Failte Ireland for the Wild Atlantic Way.
Discover
West Cork
Join us, Atlantic Sea Kayaking, in Ireland’s south west, on The Wild Atlantic Way, to explore this jewel of Ireland’s coastline by sea kayak. The area stretches from the Old Head of Kinsale and encompasses the tranquil, sheltered bay of Glandore and Castlehaven, embraces Carbery’s Hundred Isles and the Fastnet Rock.
Reviews
Highly recommend this trip! Could have stayed on the water for at least 4 more hours with these guys.
The guides were professional and entertaining, and they really do assume no prior knowledge — kayaking is explained completely from scratch (so much so that we found it rather a slow start given that we've done a bit of kayaking before... but we soon forgot this once we were out on the water).
The group was rather big — eight two-person kayaks, plus the two guides — which was fine, but did mean a bit of congestion out in the water. We spent a lot of time weaving between the other boats, especially when it got dark.
Highly recommend this wonderful experience.
Finally managed to do this while in Ireland as the previous 2 years it was fully booked for the periods we were over!
We arrived a few minutes late, but were reassured that it wasn't a problem and indeed, when we got there there was no fuss! We got equipped with waterproof pants and jacket straight away and joined the group for a short crash course on how to kayak! We both have quite a bit of experience, but it was still nice to see it all being explained as most rental companies don't, which results in lots of rotating kayaks.
The guides were really friendly and chatty, with Guido having loads of knowledge about the lake and the ecosystem and just being a great storyteller!
Weather conditions were pretty much perfect, with virtually no wind and a pleasant 18° 👌
Going past the rapids in the dark sounded really cool and seeing the first pinprick sized flashes of white light in the water is something I'll remember for a long time!
Normally you would hope for a completely dark night to experience the bioluminescence to the fullest but we got treated to another spectacular phenomenon in the form of a bright-as-day super-moon that came up after 2 hours or so, giving us plenty of time to experience the bio lightshow first!
Seeing the moon rise like that over the hills was pretty unique though!
The tour was over too soon, but soo worth the 2 year wait! 😁
The 2 guides we had were fantastic, Andrew & Sebi. They both were very professional and friendly and I felt very safe with them. Andrew with his calm way of explaining everything and his knowledge of the lake and it's history made for a very interesting trip.
The water was so calm and the experience of kayaking in the night sky was surreal.
I would highly recommend booking with Atlantic Sea Kayaking and experiencing it for yourself!
Thank you lads for an amazing adventure and creating a space of calm, fun and feeling save, a space to allow the interest for kayaking to grow.
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