That’s right, this years cold water surfteam was wiggling like there was no tomorrow. Other than the last years, the team spend 14 days up at the D-Place (Northwest Ireland). That’s a lot of time for loooads of waves, rainbows and general fun.
Wonder what the team has been up to? This time we won’t bore you with words in our #triplog but will let the images in our Facebook photo album and the video speak for itself.
Passionate cold water surfer yourself?? Want to be part of our surfteam?? Next years two weeks trip #IrishIcebox is now open for bookings. First to book is the first to hang and surf with us in the D-Place in November 2025.
We surely can’t wait for it to be November again. Can you??
Thinking about our past surfholiday trip to Ireland in November 2022, that’s the first thing to pop into my mind. Strange? Not really because it describes best all the non-stop fun and waves we have had.
All the wiggling started with a short clip I took of the surfteam, dancing on the beach at an early morning wave check. When I uploaded the clip to social media, the wiggle wiggle song appeared on the screen. I laughed and added it to the clip. And just like that, all the dance moves fitted the music. Epic!
I took this as a sign to produce little daily clips of the group. Imagine the fun we had seeing them later at night at our social media channels. Well, could be that I enjoyed the making off a bit more than everyone else enjoying the actual clip, but, in the end, that’s what being self-employed is all about: loving your job!!
6 years of surftripping in Ireland
#I❤️Ireland was our 6th coldwater surftrip we had organized up to the D-place The reasons we keep returning year after year are quite simple:
Amazing waves
Stunning coastline
Beautiful people
Our homebase James palace
And definitely our local surfcoach Good Old Lee
Mix all this together with a group of super motivated cold water NOMB Surfers, and there you go: the #teamwigglinghuevos. Explaining the origin of this name would take some time but let me tell you, it wasn’t short of giggles.
Mild weather and amazing waves
Going surfing in Ireland in November takes balls. You are facing mother nature at her purest. We were blessed this year with days of sunshine and mild climate. Sure, there was also a day with a 100km gail force wind but that’s part of the Irish surfing experience.
Talking about waves, we took advantage of everything the ocean had to offer. Local surf legend Good Old Lee made sure that we were at the right spot at the right stime. We surfed everything from knee high glassy peelers to powerful low tide beach barrels. Everyone of the group said hello to hers/his personal limits, and even took a step across. So proud of you guys!!
Homebase with (a) spirit: James palace
The D-place is actually a very popular summer holiday destination for Irish, Northern Irish and British holiday makers. There are a lot of luxury holiday homes, but all closed shutters when we get there in November. But none of these houses compare to our homebase anyway, the one and only James palace.
It’s a cranky typical Irish house with ocean view and passing by, you wouldn’t pay it much attention. Until you meet it’s owner, James. He lives in a little cottage right behind the house. James is what you envision a perfect Irish gentleman to be: very kind and welcoming, funny to bits, full of stories and with the biggest heart you can find up on the rugged Wild Atlantic Way. Every year he makes us feel like family staying in his house, rather than being a group renting it. We make sure to invite him over for dinner, and spoil him with little delicious treats. Just as we treat his cat, the world famous Adi.
Surftrip destination Ireland: come and see for yourself
I could keep writing for hours about the waves, about the coastline, about the moments, about what I love about Ireland and the surftrips up there. Leaving the D-place my heart is always filled with joy and love. All this, and especially the incredible waves up there, are hard to describe and put into words.
That’s why: come and experience it for yourself!! Good Old Lee and his surfschool Narosa are open all year round. Check their social media channels for information about Narosa’s iconic coaching weekends.
That’s if you can’t wait until we head up there again 😉 Due to pressuring demand, our next surftrip up to the D-place will be 14 days of pure Irish surfing experience!
There are 7 surfspaces available for this trip, with 6 places already gone. Better be quick and sign up for the last spot of 2 weeks of epic surfing, wiggling and laughing your heart out.
Words at the end
All the surftrips I run are unique and every single one holds a special place in my heart. I am grateful for the trust you NOMB Surfers, my kitchen crew and my local partners show me over and over again 💙
I am taking the time here to shout a big freezing thanks to my #teamwigglinghuevos: Chicken, Chegus, Flurina, Kim and Ray. You guys rocked it! A big freezing thanks to our host James, to yoga instructor and good vibes spreader Jude, to surfcoaches Good Old Lee and the Duncster for sharing their waves and looking after us. Can’t wait to be up your end again, and do it all over again!!
For the fifth time our surfteam set off to enjoy a surfholiday week on the Northwest Coast of Ireland. And just in time for our anniversary, Ireland showed off with amazing weather and well, the waves weren’t too bad either 😉
The surf trip started in Dublin
Surf coach Angie and camp chef Ray arrived at Dublin a couple of days before the group. Enough time to sort out the rental car, and discover Ireland´s biggest ice cream cones. Even though rental car prices were through the roof, cool surfer dude Sean at the rental car place sorted out an upgrade and some extra freebies. Legend!
Most of the team arrived in Dublin on Friday night. Meeting at the hotel bar of the airport, hotel first contacts were made. And the first laughs, too. According to Irish man Mick, a long-term guest at the airport hotel, an Irish man has to buy foreigners a drink when they meet. Imagine the interesting evening that followed.
On the way North, looking for waves
The team set off from Dublin airport really early on Saturday morning. It was a 3 1/2hrs drive up north. Here is where they would meet Karen, the last one missing in the team. Karen who would drive up to the D-place from her home on the west coast. Surfboards were tied to the roof racks, all bags stuffed into the back of the car and the team was on their way to the coast. A few hours, and a little supermarket stop, later the team finally arrived at their home base, James Palace. And of course, James was there to meet them. So good to see him again, after not having been able to do so last year. This is James Palace, a lovely Irish cottage with ocean view.
Gone surfing
Quickly the rooms were allocated, tea was made, surf equipment thrown into the car and off they were. Straight to the surf school to meet their local guide Good Old Lee. Another friendly face was waiting for them at the school, what a surprise. Duncan, the second owner of Narosa Life, normally spends the winter seasons snowboarding in Japan. This year the team was luckily enough to surf and hang out with him. What a treat.
For the first session the team headed to a nearby beach break. Mellow lines were rolling in, great conditions to get used to the waves, water temperature and also, to surfing with booties and gloves. Everyone caught heaps of waves, there were rainbows and even a seal. Not sure how this corner of the world manages to still surprise us and get more beautiful year by year.
The surf holiday week in Ireland unfolded
The first night they were spoiled with dinner at a funky pizza restaurant a few kilometres up the coast. Good Old Lee and Duncan joined the team, making it an even more fun and interesting evening. What a great start for the week.
The next few days were all about surfing. On Sunday they even managed to sneak in a double session. Conditions were simply too epic to not surf twice. On Monday, Good Old Lee had something special planned for the team and took them surfing to a different wave. Learning about how to surf a reef break was exciting for the group, and so was the surf session. That´s the team getting briefed by Lee in their new surf school / shop / best coffee shop within 100 km radius.
The rest of the week was spend with loads of waves, surf theory, video analysis and also, a very helpful surf skate session. Step by step everyone of the group advanced, got more confident and corrected little mistakes. Being an advanced level group, surf coach Angie had come up with a special plan beforehand, and it seemed to be working. Great waves were surfed, comfort zones expanded and loads of funny moments shared.
The routine
The team itself didn´t take long to groove in with each other. A steady routine was implemented. And be honest, who doesn’t want to listen to the piña coladas song before jumping into the waves?
If you like piña coladas, and gettin´caught in the rain,
If you´re not into yoga, if you have half a brain..
As a surprise the team was blessed with a mild climate this year but still enjoyed another routine: hot chocolate, tea or soup after the surf sessions. On top of that, camp chef Ray treated them with delicious cinnamon rolls or cake, what more can you ask for?
A week of surfing gone by fast
Way too soon the week was over. It generally passes fast but this time it simply ran past us. How do they say? Time flies when you are having fun.
Well, while we bath in our recent memories, we can´t wait for next November to hit our favourite D-place. The dates of #I❤️Ireland are already set and soon the trip will be open for bookings. If you can´t wait till the official details get published, get in touch with us and secure your surf space for our 2022 cold water surf trip.
Thanks to all our NOMB Surfers Karen, Johannes, Sven and Thomas for making this trip extra special and surfing epic waves.Thanks to camp chef Ray for her delicious food and great company. Thanks to the man of lee-sure Lee and Duncan for sharing their waves and treating us like family. Thanks to James for letting us stay at his palace. And thanks Ireland for having us, still can´t believe the waves we were blessed with this year!
Check out our Facebook face for pics and moments of #IrishIdols 2021.
Sea you in the water soon,
Angie & the NOMB Surfteam
Ps: couple of spaces left on our next surftrip #FuerteFuerza, an all female confidence boost workshop on sunny Fuerteventura. Check it out!
New year, new luck!! As usual Northwest Ireland welcomed the NOMB Surfteam with smashing waves (8m on 20sec) and it´s beautiful all-inclusive weather conditions.
All inclusive? That means you can have sunshine, rain, hail, howling winds, no wind at all, rainbows and about every cloud formation you can think of – within 2 minutes. For the 4th year in a row Ireland surprised with it´s natural beauty and cold but incredible surf conditions. Reason enough for our brave NOMB surfers Andy, Bianca, Chanti, Joel, Kristin and Svenja, head surfcoach Angie and local surfguide Good Old Lee to head out daily and search for waves.
Based in James Palace, the coolest crankiest house at the D-place, the team geared up every day and got ready to surf. Surfing in Ireland in November involves some serious preparation: a 5.4mm wetsuit, a neopren hat, neopren booties and gloves. Plus a flask filled with hot tea and ohh, don´t forget the hot water bottle, wrapped up in the surf poncho waiting for you to come out of the water. But no matter the time of the day or the weather outside, the stoke was always there and everyone was keen to surf. Or doesn´t NOMB Surfer Andy look stoked?? 😉
Ireland surprises with all sorts of weather and wave conditions. The rugged coastline makes it possible to find epic surf with pretty much all conditions. Local guide Lee from Narosa School of Surf made sure the surfteam always scored. Even though getting changed in pouring down hail turned out to be a challenge, the teamspirit was high and the occational warm-up dance wasn´t to be missed.
Surftheory and video analysis were a big part of this weeks surfcoaching. Head surfcoach Angie analysed the individual needs and made sure that everyone learned something new and had their questions answered. Through seeing themselves surfing the NOMB Surfers were able to correct small errors, resulting in a much higher wavecount, and some nice bombs once in a while 😉 And who wouldn´t want to sit in ´school´ in front of a fireplace snuggeled up on a sofa??
Due to the fact that campchef Basti couldn´t join the group this year the dinners were quite an experience, too. Local and traditional food turned out to always come in a maaassive portion. How about a pile of mashed potatoes, bacon, chicken, cheese and fried onions as a topping?? Loads of carbs and calories for the NOMB Surfers. Cold water surfing challenges not only our brains but also our bodies. Power breakfasts made sure the team started the day right and kept the bodies going all through the day.
7 days went by super quick, daily surfcoaching, a bit of exploring, chilling and generally just having a great time. Too soon the team was ending another incredible surftrip to Ireland with a delicious dinner in our favourite pizza place the Rusty Oven and some sneaky pints in the local pub. No trip to Ireland without the traditional pint of Guinness. Check out the recap of #IconicIreland.
Can´t wait for next year to come, the dates for #IrishIdols are already set and the first surfspaces are booked. Be quick if you, too want to join us on our 5th year anniversary surftrip to one of the most magical (and overlooked) surfdestinations in Europe.
Have a great Xmas season and hopefully enjoy some good waves (its pumping here on Fuerteventura).
Sea you in the water next year!
Angie & the NOMB Surfteam
… nothing better than starting the surfday with a MC Hammer warm-up routine!! And a little chat on a stone wall in a random Irish town on the Wild Atlantic Way!
For the third year in a row the NOMB Surfcrew returned to the world famous D-Place, a little town in the Northwest of Ireland. Home to some amazing waves, James Palace, Good Old Lee and the best Irish bar north of Dublin. But let´s start at the beginning.
The crew met early on Saturday morning at Dublin airport. And what a crew it was on this years Ireland trip. Annette from Germany, Basti our Canarian campchef, Ian from New Zealand, Sebastian from Germany, Sean from Australia, Thomas from Switzerland, Thomas Thorsten Merkel from Germany and headcoach Angie of course. After a coffee break and a supermarket shop the crew headed straight to the homebase: James Palace. There is no better name for this beautiful cranky Irish house that comes with the best host ever, James! The view from James Palace is incredible, looking straight at Killer Point, the surf break right in the heart of the D-Place. Killer Point didn´t work this year but there are some great memories of ripping it last year.
From the road straight into the water! With a pitstop at Narosa Surfschool, where the crew picked up boards, surf equipment and local surfguide the legend Good Old Lee, the NOMB Surfers headed straight for the first surfsession. Other than in the years before the Atlantic Ocean swells had a westerly direction this year. Bringing to life spots that the NOMB Surfcrew had only surfed a couple of times before. Up in Northwest Ireland you can find some great beachbreaks, in unbelievable settings. How about this one??
The focus of this 7 days intensive surfcamp was to improve the surfing skills of the NOMB Surfers. As the group had an advanced level of surfing local guide Good Old Lee took them to some great and clean shaped waves. The Atlantic showed off during the week with waves of all different sizes: everything from kneehigh to overhead (our double overchest how Lee would say). A couple of sessions the crew encountered even glassy conditions, the rest of the time offshore winds were shaping the waves.
Head surfcoach Angie couldn´t believe the luck that was thrown at her. Having clearly shaped waves made it possible for the surfers to precisely work on their skills. While Annette and Sebastian perfected their timing, positioning and line in the wave, the rest of the crew started working on surfing´s most important manoeuvre: the bottom turn. Once a surfer is able to manage take-off and timing and travel down, or even along, the face of the wave the bottom turn is the next step. Through compressing, leaning into the turn and extending the body the surfboard travels through the trough of the wave and then up the face. The bottom turn is not an easy manoeuvre to learn, it takes time and 1.000 of waves to manage to get it right. Luckily IRELAND INTENSE was run as an intensive surfcamp, giving the NOMB Surfers loads of watertime.
On day 5 the surfcrew was challenged with a large ground swell rolling in and howling offshore winds. You think they would chicken out?? No way, they could´t even wait to get into the water! Campchef Basti took the wipe-out skills to another level with this beautiful wipe-out, titled ´The falling tree´.
Generally Ireland is not know for it´s warm weather, especially in November. Back in the D-Place the NOMB Surfers always always get asked: You are here for surfing? In November? What´s wrong with you??? But actually, cold water surfing is not that bad if you are well prepared and equipped. Here is a little list of what you need to bear the cold temperatures:
a 5.4mm wetsuit
neoprene booties
neoprene hat
neoprene gloves
a hot soup for in between sessions
a cracking warm-up routine
The surfteam was fully equipped and therefore managed to sneak in two surfsessions per day. Campchef Basti made sure that everyone´s soup flask was filled up with a hearty and hot soup to warm up. Surfing with booties, hat and even gloves takes a little while to get used to but generally after a couple of surfs you are used to it.
The week passed really fast, filled with loooads of surfing, photo analysis, a breathing & breath hold session, yoga and surf theory sessions. Basti spoiled the group with nutricious and tasty food, chilling out in front of the fireplace or a trip down to the legendary Patsy Dans finished the great days out in the cold Irish waters.
So what is it about this warm-up routine?? Mc Hammer?? Are you joking?? Well, find out for yourself.. hihihi..
IRELAND INTENSE has been another epic NOMB Surftrip! Thanks to the surfcrew for joining us, you guys rocked! Thanks to James for your beautiful hospitality and a big thanks to Good Old Lee for another year of excellent guiding and coaching, we will be back!
Check our Facebook album for more photos of this great trip. And maybe book yourself into one of our upcoming trips. Next stop: TENERIFE TAKE-OFF!
Day four on the intense surfcoaching trip in Ireland. Breakfast time. The smell of fresh coffee and insense is filling the living room. Chef Basti is preparing breakfast in the kitchen, NOMB surfers Thomas and Sebastian are chatting away with the sun lighting up Killer Point, the surf break just in front of the homebase. The rest of the surfcrew is still in bed, relaxing those challenged muscles, dreaming about waves.
The first three surfdays have been amazing. Small, clean and light offshore waves made it easy for everyone to find their bearings and catch loads of waves. Up here in Northwest Ireland there are mostly beachbreaks, producing nice A-frames. Most of the time it´s only the NOMB Surfcrew in the water, noone else around. Sharing waves between the 6 NOMB Surfers, headcoach Angie, campchef Basti and local surfguide Lee is a guarantee for everyone to catch waves.
Talking about waves, yesterdays first surfsession had a slightly different aim: survive 😉 Local surfguide Lee took the crew to a stunning remote beach, which was picking up a ´slightly´ bigger swell. A challenge for all the NOMB Surfers. Needless to say they mastered it brilliantly. Those who managed to get to the lineup experienced a heartstopping moment or two when the bigger sets came through. But that´s how you improve in surfing: reach and step over your limits. Well done NOMB Surfers!
The crew is fullly enjoying their time on the green isle. Getting changed with sheep around you, having cows (and bulls) watch you from the distance, things like this only happen in Ireland. Leaving the cars in the sheep field ´carpark´,a 10min walk through fields and crossing fences and the NOMB Surfcrew found themselves here: PARADISE! What a a day!!
A delicious dinner prepared by campchef Basti and a trip to the local pub rounded up a perfect surftrip day here in Northwest Ireland. 4 more days to go, excited about whats going to happen next. We will keep you updated!
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