And then we saw Fungie the dolphin

When we say to friends “oh we are heading to Dingle for a holiday/weekend” no one yet has said “oh are you going dolphin watching”.

This is understandable although somewhat surprising as Fungie, the Dingle Dolphin has been swimming in the bay for over 30 years & has his very own Wikipedia entry.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungie

He, yes, it is a he, is a common bottlenose dolphin who is known to live in very close contact with humans in Dingle. According to locals he was first seen in the harbour in 1983, and continues to seek out human contact over thirty years later. Dolphins have been known to live to 48 years of age. Fungie is a male fully grown bottlenose dolphin and he is named after the fisherman who first spotted him, Fungus.

Now at 34 years of age, Dingle tourism has about another 5/10 years before they need to find a replacement. And find a replacement for him they must. Fungie has almost single handily driven the tourism of Dingle for over 30 years. The other drivers of tourism to Dingle are both The Quiet Man and Ryan's Daughter.  (Both films were shot locally)

It was with some scepticism that we decided to book on the trip. It all seemed very touristy and was Fungie really there, we asked.

The key we discovered was to take a four and half year old and a one and half year old so that the anticipation and excitement is then contagious.

Booking ourselves onto the 10.30 ferry - essential to book with two small children in tow - we headed out to the Dingle Bay. Surrounded by tourist, English, French, German it was an entertaining trip in itself.
We were one of three boats chasing down Fungie. Being the friendly dolphin that he is we were only about 20 minutes out of the harbour when he first bounded up beside out boat.
And then it was a matter of just keeping an eye out for his appearances, of which there were many and which were accompanied by hugely enjoyable screams of many young children. 

Rounded off with a super fish and chip lunch in Anchor Down this was a brilliant Saturday.

It capped off a fantastic family weekend which included much ball playing in the garden, building sandcastles on the beach and a fun early evening meal in Murphy's pub in Ballyferriter with friends.
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