Active Pursuits

Beaches

Barleycove Beach is a vast expanse of pristine sand with a fine view out toward the Mizen Head cliffs; despite the trailer park and holiday homes on the far side of the dunes, large parts of the beach never seem to get crowded. Take R591 to Goleen, and follow signs for Mizen Head. There is a public parking lot at the Barleycove Hotel.

Inchydoney Beach, on Clonakilty Bay, is famous for both its gorgeous beach and the salubrious Inchydoney Lodge & Spa (tel. 023/33143) that specializes in thalasso (seawater) treatments. For more information, visit www.inchydoneyisland.com.

Bicycling

The Mizen Head, Sheep's Head, and Beara peninsulas offer fine roads for cycling, with great scenery and few cars. The Beara Peninsula is the most spectacular; the other two are less likely to be crowded with tourists during peak season. The loop around Mizen Head, starting in Skibbereen, is a good 2- to 3-day trip, and a loop around the Beara Peninsula from Bantry, Glengarriff, or Kenmare takes at least 3 days at a casual pace.

In Skibbereen, 18- and 21-speed bicycles can be rented from Roycroft's Stores (tel. 028/21235; roycroft@iol.ie); prices start at around €60 ($78) per week, depending on the season. If you call ahead, you can reserve a lightweight mountain bike with toe clips at no extra cost.

Bird-Watching

Cape Clear Island is the prime birding spot in West Cork, and one of the best places in Europe to watch seabirds. The best time for seabirds is July to September, and October is the busiest month for migratory passerines (and for bird-watchers, who flock to the island). There is a bird observatory at the North Harbour, with a warden in residence from March to November, and accommodations for bird-watchers; to arrange a stay, write to Kieran Grace, 84 Dorney Court, Shankhill, County Dublin. Ciarán O'Driscoll (tel. 028/39153), who operates a B&B on the island, also runs boat trips for bird-watchers and has a keen eye for vagrants and rarities.

Diving

The Baltimore Diving & Watersports Centre, Baltimore, County Cork (tel. 028/20300; www.baltimorediving.com), provides equipment and boats to certified divers for exploring the many shipwrecks, reefs, and caves in this region. The cost starts at €50 ($65) per dive with equipment. Various 2-hour to 15-day certified PADI courses are available for all levels of experience. For example, beginners can take a 2-hour snorkeling course for €30 ($39), or a scuba-diving course for €45 to €450 ($59-$585), depending on duration; experienced divers can take the 2-week PADI instructor course.

Fishing

The West Cork coast is known for its many shipwrecks, making this one of the best places in Ireland for wreck fishing. Mark and Patricia Gannon of Woodpoint House, Courtmacsherry (tel. 023/46427), offer packages that include bed-and-breakfast in their idyllic stone farmhouse and a day's sea angling aboard one of their two new Aquastar fishing boats. A day's fishing costs around €60 ($80) per person. Boats holding up to 12 people can also be chartered.

Kayaking

With hundreds of islands, numerous inviting inlets, and a plethora of sea caves, the coast of West Cork is a sea kayaker's paradise. Lough Ine offers warm, still waters for beginners, a tidal rapid for the intrepid, and access to a nearby headland riddled with caves that demand exploration. In Castletownbere on the dramatic and rugged Beara Peninsula, Beara Outdoor Pursuits (tel. 027/70682; www.seakayakingwestcork.com) specializes in accompanied trips out and around Bere Island and as far as Glengarriff. Frank Conroy is a terrific guide and can lead you to waters that are as protected or as rough as you want them.

Sailing

The Glenans Irish Sailing Club (www.glenans-ireland.com) was founded in France and has two centers in Ireland, one of which is in Baltimore Harbour. The centers provide weeklong courses at all levels, using dinghies, cruisers, catamarans, or windsurfers; prices run from €350 to €560 ($455-$728). The living facilities are spartan, with dorm-style accommodations, and you cook for yourself. The clientele is mostly middle-aged and younger, from Ireland and the Continent; call tel. 01/661-1481 or fax 01/676-4249 for advance booking.

Walking

One of the most beautiful coastal walks in West Cork begins along the banks of Lough Ine, the largest saltwater lake in Europe. Connected to the sea by a narrow isthmus, the lake is in a lush valley of exceptional beauty. To get there, follow signs for Lough Ine along R595 between Skibbereen and Baltimore; there is a parking lot at the northwest corner of the lake. The wide trail proceeds gradually upward from the parking lot through the woods on the west slope of the valley, with several viewpoints toward the lake and the sea beyond. Once you reach the hilltop, there is a sweeping view of the coast from Mizen Head to Galley Head. Walking time to the top and back is about 1 1/2 hours.

Near Lauragh on the Beara Peninsula is the abandoned town of Cummingeera, at the base of a cliff in a wild, remote valley. The walk to the village gives you a taste for the rough beauty of the Caha Mountains, and a sense for the lengths to which people in pre-famine Ireland would go to find a patch of arable land. To get to the start of the walk, take the road posted for Glanmore Lake south from R571; the road is just over 1km (2/3 mile) west of the turnoff for Healy Pass. Follow the Glanmore Lake road 1km (2/3 mile), then turn right at the road posted for "stone circle"; continue 2km (1 1/4 miles) to the point at which the road becomes dirt, and park on the roadside. From here, there is no trail -- just walk up the valley to its terminus, about 2km (1 1/4 miles) away, where the ruins of a village hug the cliff's base. Where the valley is blocked by a headland, take the route around to the left, which is less steep. Return the way you came; the whole walk -- 4km (2 1/2 miles) -- is moderately difficult and takes 2 hours.

An easy seaside walk on the Beara Peninsula begins at Dunboy Castle, just over a mile west of Castletownbere on R572, this stretch of trail is part of the O'Sullivan Beara trail, which may eventually extend from Castletownbere to Leitrim. You can park your car along the road, by the castellated gatehouse, or drive up to the castle. The castle is a ruined 19th-century manor house overlooking the bay, with some graceful marble arches spanning the grand central hall. Just down the road are the sparse ruins of a medieval fortress. Beyond, the trail continues to the tip of Fair Head through rhododendrons, with fine views across to Bere Island. A walk from the gatehouse parking lot to the tip of Fair Head and back takes about 2 hours.

The Sheep's Head Way, voted "Best Walk in Ireland," by Country Walking magazine, makes an 89km (55-mile) loop and incorporates numerous smaller day loops. The Guide to the Sheep's Head Way, available in most local stores and tourist offices, combines history, poetry, and topography in a fantastic introduction to the region. It is a rough place, and you won't find many tourists in its more remote reaches. There are treasures to be found, but you might have to work a little harder to unearth them here than in regions long since "discovered."

One of Ireland's most beautiful spots, Gougane Barra (which means "St. Finbarr's Cleft") is a still, dark, romantic lake a little northeast of the Pass of Keimaneigh, 24km (15 miles) northeast of Bantry off T64 (also well signposted on the Macroom-Glengarriff rd.). This is the source of the River Lee, where St. Finbarr founded a monastery in these deeply wooded mountains, supposedly on the small island connected by a causeway to the mainland. Though nothing remains of the saint's 6th-century community, the setting is idyllic, with rhododendrons spilling into the still waters where swans glide by. The island now holds an elfin chapel and eight small circular cells, dating from the early 1700s, as well as a modern chapel. Today Gougane Barra is a national forest park, and there are signposted walks and drives through the wooded hills. There's a small admission charge per car to enter the park.

Windsurfing

Weeklong courses and equipment rental are available at the Glenans Irish Sailing Clubin Baltimore. There is a sheltered beach in Courtmacsherry where beginners can get started and another nearby beach that's good for wave jumping.