Kerry Aqua Terra Boat Tours

Located on the stunning Kerry stretch of the Wild Atlantic Way, admire Valentia Island – otherwise known as Ireland’s best-kept secret – on a trip with Kerry Aqua Terra Boat Tours.

Created by husband-and-wife duo Brendan and Elizabeth, take your pick of a range of interactive and fully-guided boating experiences boasting stories of Skellig monks, Vikings, high kings, Irish pirates, and more. A truly unique and memorable Irish adventure, it’s also the ideal way to explore The Kingdom’s renowned Skellig Coast.

With their love for the sea and Irish history, Brendan and Elizabeth provide explorers with many five-star review-rated experiences. They interact directly with their visitors on board to showcase Valentia Island and the Skellig Coast’s unique geographical and cultural delights, which date back to the sixth century. 

On board ‘The Navigator’, a specially-designed wheelchair-accessible aluminium passenger boat, or the newest addition to the fleet, the ‘Skellig Bounty’, visitors to the area are amazed at the wealth of historical sites that include two monastic islands – one being a UNESCO World Heritage Site – the ruins of a Viking village, a 12th-14th-century castle, a 17th-century Cromwellian Fort that’s now home to a working lighthouse, and many more exciting treasures along the way!

To book your Valentia Island and Skellig Coast adventure, visit www.kerryaquaterra.ie for an adventure to remember. 

A quick history

• Valentia Island Lighthouse sits on the site of the 17th-century fort known as ‘Fleetwood’ Fort.
• Built in 1653 to guard the entrance to Valentia Harbour against invaders, 40 soldiers and eight cannons were stationed here.
• The lighthouse was designed by famed civil engineer, George Halpin Senior.
• First exhibited on the 1st of February 1841, the light boasted 2000-candle power and could be seen for 12 miles in clear weather.
• A lighthouse keeper lived with his family on site until 1947, when the lighthouse was automated.

Did you know?

• The fossilised footprints of a tetrapod are located near the lighthouse. A Tetrapod (the first four-legged animal with a backbone) stepped from water onto land here over 300 million years ago.
• A standing stone, dating back to the Bronze Age (3000-1200 BC) still marks the site at Cromwell Point where the lighthouse was built.
• From the lighthouse, you’ll see one of the landing points for the transatlantic cable that connected Europe with North America for the first time in 1866 – marking the birth of modern communication.
• Supposedly there’s a dungeon below the lighthouse!
• Beginish Island, just across from Valentia Lighthouse, was inhabited by Vikings between the 9th and 12th centuries. Two Viking settlements were excavated on Beginish in 1965.