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The Manx/inhabitants of Isle of Man are avid sports enthusiasts, and in addition to golfing and motorbike racing, they are fond of water-centric activities like deep-sea sailing & board surfing as well as traditional British pastimes like cricket, rugby and bowling. |
Sporting facilities & venues are plentiful and wide-ranging on the Isle of Man, catering for everything from aero sports to water sports.
Water sports
The deep enclosing Isle of Man is perfect for sports like scuba diving, yachting, boardsailing, water & jet skiing. The long northern coastline and the natural harbours at Douglas Bay and Ramsey are ideal for both novices and hardy seamen.
Isle of Man has 6 sailing clubs, located at its manifold scenic harbours – Douglas, Ramsey, Peel, Laxey, Port St. Mary, Port Erin and Castletown. During winter, regular dinghy competitions are held on Sundays; however the most prominent event on the Manx sailing calendar is the Round the Island Yacht Race. Owing to its’s singular location in the middle of the Irish Sea, Isle of Man is a perfect staging post for visiting yachtsmen from Ireland, England and Scotland. Every year, in mid-June, a traditional Boat Festival is held in Peel wherein majority of the vessels plying the Irish Sea participate.
The waters near Derbyhaven and Gansey are good for water skiing, boardsailing as well as for jet-skiing. Touted as a massive untapped diving market, Isle of Man abounds in easily accessible diving sites that open doors to a truly spectacular world of lobsters, wrasse, seals, basking sharks and of course, the ship-wrecks.
Football, cricket, rugby…
Ramsey, Peel, Castletown and Douglas all boast Astroturf pitches that ensure uninterrupted matches of football, cricket, rugby and hockey in all climatic conditions. The pitches can be booked at the National Sports Centre. Crown green bowling is another popular outdoor pastime on Isle of Man, with scores of fine greens and a number of clubs and competitions admitting people of all ages. You can indulge in indoor bowling at the Manx Superbowl in the Castle Mona Hotel complex.
Exhaustive accounts on various clubs are published in the Manx Sports Council's official annual directory, available from the National Sports Centre. Also, information about favourite sporting activities can be freely availed of from Tourist Information Centre; details are recorded in the Isle of Man Yearbook as well, found at all major bookshops.
