Unique Outdoor Activities For Students In Dublin This Summer

It’s been a tough year for students living in Dublin. Online classes, restaurants temporarily closed and travel around the country restricted until just very recently. With things opening back up, we don’t blame you for wanting to get back out into the world and experience everything Ireland’s capital has to offer!

Beyond the hidden gem food spots and reopened beer gardens, Dublin has plenty of outdoor activities perfectly suited to the Summer months so you can stay busy and make some memories before class is back in session!

Surfdock

Our first stop is just 20 minutes from Point Campus at the Grand Canal Dock. This is one of the most unique experiences you can have just a short stroll from the centre of Dublin.

The super accommodating folks at Surfdock offer activities for groups of all sizes including kayaking, stand up paddleboarding and wakeboarding!

With 3 different options to choose from, you can go for a full Surdock experience consisting of wakeboarding, paddleboarding and kayaking – with all equipment provided in the €50 per person price.

Zipit Forest Adventures

From the water to the woods! Zipit have a few locations set up around Ireland but their Dublin location, Tibradden Wood, is super accessible and even has gorgeous panoramic views of Dublin Bay and Howth.

A course of wooden platforms, ladders, rope bridges, swinging logs and ziplines that weave around this South Dublin forest, Zipit is an unreal adrenaline rush in a natural setting. With a variety of circuits that are colour-coded based on how difficult they are, this woodland playground be pretty intimidating at first but there are routes to suit people of any skill-level – you can even check out some first-hand GoPro footage on Zipit’s website!

Glencullen Adventure Park Mountain Biking

Glencullen Adventure Park, also known as The GAP, is another high-intensity tucked away in the greenery of South Dublin! The large parkland area has a variety of trails that work similarly to the circuits at Zipit; simpler trails are marked in blue with the black trails offering a more challenging experience with jumps, ramps and drops. You can check out whether or not a certain level of trail is for you on their Trail Map page.

If you own a bike you can book a ‘Pedal Pass’ for €5 and hit the trails with your own gear. If you’re a bit more inexperienced, you can rent a bike for €35 for either the morning, afternoon or evening; which even includes your helmet, elbow pads and knee pads.

If you think this is the kind of thing you could spend the whole day doing, you can upgrade to a ‘Full Day Booking’ for just €10 more and ride the trails all-day long! But be warned, the cycle up to the top of the downhill trails can be pretty gruelling!

Footee

Gorgeous fairways, tricky bunkers and plenty of trees to avoid – “Finally!” you say, “football on a golf course!”… Okay well maybe not but we promise it’s a great day out with a few mates!

The main attraction is the FootGolf which is exactly how it sounds, football played on a golf course with the aim of reaching the hole in as few shots as possible! Other games include Bubble Football where you take to the pitch in a large, inflatable zorb making for some bouncy tackles and collisions!

With Footee, the bigger the group the better! Prices are for groups of 10 but you can easily add with an additional charge for every extra person; plus they even offer a student discount! You can check out their full list of games and prices over at their website.

Flying Monkeys Trapeze

Maybe the high ropes of Zipit Forest Adventures weren’t adrenaline-inducing enough for you? Flying Monkeys Trapeze is located just off the Kilmacud green line LUAS stop, making it super accessible from Point Campus. It’s an outdoor circus experience that focuses on – you guessed it – learning how to perform trapeze jumps and tricks!

These two-hour classes start off with some safety routines before getting into warm-ups, knee hangs, being caught by a catcher and a few more skills if you have the time.

Classes have a maximum of ten participants and tend to fill up pretty quickly. We recommend booking in advance for inexperienced classes or you can even opt for the 4-week ‘Improvers’ course. On the off chance you’re already an experienced circus performer, they also have ‘Frequent Flyer’ classes. Perfect for learning some more advanced manoeuvres!

Kayaking Safari Dalkey

Back into the water again with kayaking at Dalkey! This has been voted one of the best things to do in Dublin by the Irish Times – for good reason! When the weather’s right, it’s a relaxed experience where you can check out Dalkey Island and some local seals!

Once you arrive, instructors will get you a wetsuit and all of your equipment before getting on the water. From there, you kayak from Bullock Harbour all along the Dalkey coastline and down to Dalkey Island where you can paddle past the seals and interact with them!

This one’s more expensive at €59 per person but it’s one that we’re happy to give our seal of approval!

Howth Cliff Walk

If booking and organising days out isn’t really your thing, well then fret not – this one just needs a good pair of shoes! The trails along the North Dublin coastline are some of the most stunning in all of the country with views of Lambay Island, Ireland’s Eye and Dublin Bay.

You can choose from a variety of starting points and destinations. Hidden beaches, Howth Head and even Howth Village for a bit of post-walk food are some of our favourites.

The Irish Road Trip have put together a list of five walks you can try for yourself around the coastline; complete with maps and routes so you can keep coming back and try out some new ones!

Hopping on either the 31, 31A or DART can take you from Point Campus all the way out to Howth. So if you plan on just travelling out, enjoying the walk and making the trip back it can be a really inexpensive day for how enjoyable it is!

Did we leave out your favourite day-out? Get in touch with us on Facebook or Instagram and let us know some of the best group activities around; we’re always looking for new experiences for our residents here at Point Campus!