This article is from page 13 of the 2014-06-24 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 13 JPG
SWIMMERS and surfers have been warned to watch out for dangerous currents on Lahinch beach as thousands of tonnes of sand have banked up on the beach in recent weeks.
Lahinch was turned into a virtual rock beach in January and February following a spate of unprecedented storm which literally stripped the beach of all its sand. A large amount of this sand has slowly been washed ashore by the tides over the past three months – but this returning sand has created some potential hazards for beach users.
People are being urged to consult with the lifeguards or local surf school operators before entering the water in Lahinch.
“The sand levels are pretty much back to what they were but the way it has landed is very different – so there are a few current that people would not be aware of. Because of this it is very important that people who are coming to swim or surf in Lahinch have a chat with the lifeguards or the surf schools to find out how things have changed,” said Ben Bennett of Ben’s Surf Clinic.
“There are some unusual currents there and they will change over the summer. The currents will continue to change and to reduce as the summer goes on and we would expect them to be gone completely by the end of the summer. There will always be some current on a surf beach, the problem with these currents is that people wont be expecting them.”
According to Ben, all the tourism related businesses in Lahinch are open and ready for business, but numbers are a little down on recent years as many people believe the beach in not accessible due to the storm damage.
“Lahinch has recovered well. The beach is almost back to normal and all the businesses are open so things are going well. We need to get the word out to people – we have had a lot of people ringing us up who think that we got wiped out by the storm and that we’re not here anymore, so we need to get the word out that Lahinch is open for business,” continued Ben.
“We’re a bit down on this time of year. It is hard to tell because the sun has been great but there has been no surf. So we’ve had a lot of day trippers down to the beach but not as many surfers as normal.”