Kite Life

The island of Coche is the kind of spot you almost don�t want to tell anyone about. It�s so remote and low key very few people know about the beauty and kiting potential. Every year when the PKRA stops by to host an event, the word spreads a little more about this flat water kiting paradise. Coche is becoming a world class kite spot and the word is spreading fast!

Location
The tranquil island of Coche is located 24 miles off the coast of Venezuela and just a short 20 minute ferry ride across from the larger island of Margarita. (See Map)

Getting There
With direct flights to Margarita from Europe now, traveling with overstuffed gear bags is becoming easier. Most major airlines will fly into Caracas, Venezuela. From there a short 30 minute flight will take you to Porlamar. These quick flights leave every two or three hours and cost around $60-80US each way. Kites and board bags are usually allowed at no extra charge. From the Porlamar airport, hop a taxi to El Yaque for 25,000 Bolivars ($12US) then head to the Yaque Paradise Hotel to check the ferry schedule and buy a ticket for the next boat to Coche. The ferry from El Yaque Paradise Hotel services Coche island almost every 2 hours of the day from sunrise to sunset. The cost each way is 15,000 Bolivars ($8US).

Wind Conditions
The dependable South Eastern trade wind blows constantly and is much stronger in the daytime when accompanied by the thermal winds which start around 2.00pm. In peak season the average is around 18 knots and winds regularly exceeds 25 knots in the afternoon. The peak season for wind is December through June. On the “average” day you can expect to be flying a 12 meter kite.

The Scene
UK pro rider Christian Valentine owns and operates a cabana right in front of the launch called Coche Kite Sports. (Don�t let his warm personality and outgoing island spirit fool you � on a kite, he rips!) It�s a beach oasis stocked with bean bag chairs, lounge tables and a back-ache saving air compressor. Serving up snacks, cold beers and smooth music, this truly is the center of the Coche kite scene. (Pic Below)

Winds don�t usually kick up until the mid afternoon allowing local riders to sleep off their late hangovers. 12-16 meter kites fill the sky for much of the mornings and then around 2pm you realize why Coche is a world class draw. The thermals kick up and the fun begins. It�s a given that there are usually a couple pros riding around for added inspiration. Pro riders Cesar Portas, Leo Estredo and Bertrand Fleury put on a clinic right in front of me, going huge and making it look effortless. Afterwards, they can be found chilling at the kite shack recharging while waiting for another epic session.

The buttery flat water combined with a reliable offshore wind attracts professional riders from all over the world. During my 2 week stay I meet five pro riders and I�m sure there were more that I never noticed. How many people can make that claim at their local spot? Even the local kids from El Yaque that are barely 16 years of age are boosting ultra smooth 20 foot spins and board offs. Even the women were ripping. Bertrand is building a slider park on the far end of the bay in Punta Playa for the PKRA event in the end of April. The sliders and kickers will remain out in the bay until the event culminates the first of May. (Pending coast guard intervention.)

Instruction
After enduring too many windless months in California I decided on Coche as the best place to break into this sport. There a few choices for kiteboard lessons on the island. I chose Sky Riders (www.myskyriders.com) located on the beach right next to Coche Paradise Hotel. Three quick sessions with a young energetic girl named Celia and I was up riding both ways. A quick 30 minute session pushed me a few hundred meters offshore. Luckily, local fishing boats trail riders in the outer waters and fish out newbies that can�t yet stay upwind. For a $5 fee they bring you back to the launch saving you an impossible swim. Offshore winds make learning a tough task and unlike the local mantra, Coche is not an ideal place for beginners. To take advantage of the flat waters Coche is renowned for, you must stay upwind near the shore. However, seasoned riders with upwind ability will be spoiled like no other. It�s basically a kiteboard wet dream come to life.

Lodging
At this stage you have some decisions to make. Do you want convenience or luxury. Lodging in Margarita offers numerous high end all inclusive hotels, while Coche offers convenience and localized tranquility. Decide accordingly. I chose a spot one mile up the beach from the launch in the town of San Pedro. Alex Battistini runs a kite hostel for travelers and kiters looking for the rustic Coche experience. $20 a night will get you a home cooked breakfast, dinner, and all the cold beer you can guzzle. In addition to running the hostel with his wife Maria, Alex is a tour guide and knows nearly everyone on the island. If you have questions about the area, he has the answers.

Lodging Resources:
http://www.waveriders.biz

Vibe
The vibe on Coche is laid back and mellow. It�s the perfect place for either a ride-every-day-until-your-arms-fall-off session, or just to bring the wife or girl friend and enjoy a few mellow days while you share quality time. If you arrive with the right attitude, ready to absorb all the local flavors, your visit will be unforgettable.

Local Knowledge / Tips
- Store all of your kite gear in a locker at the Coche Kite Center cabana right on kite beach. Lockers rent for 10,000 Bolivars per day ($5) but will save you the hassle of lugging your gear to and from the beach, especially if you stay in El Yaque.
- The only internet access on Coche island is atop the hill at the police office. It�s free to use for 30 minutes.
- Bring your own waterproof sunblock and mosquito repellent.
- No need to bring Booties or foot protection. Unlike neighboring Caribbean islands, there are no coral reefs in Coche. The ocean floor is soft squishy sand.
- Learn some basic Spanish phrases and words before you leave. The locals are very friends yet many don�t speak any English.
- Bring enough money for your entire trip. Getting to the bank in Porlamar from Coche will cost you around $50. The cash machines in the airport and in the city will most likely be empty or out of order. If you need cash, you need to go to a bank. Bring cash and travelers checks (preferably in US dollars). Currency can be exchanged in nearly all the hotels in El Yaque and at the Coche Paradise Hotel.

The Intercontinental Resort at Abu Soma’s a great place to stay with loads of good nosh and nice rooms. The drinks are a bit excessively priced but apart from that it was a really nice resort. The kitesurfing spot at the edge of Kreasy Bay is good with loads of wind and hardly any coral although there are a few reefs way downwind to watch out for.

My only complaint is that the Mark Warner Kite School had NO KIT. They don’t have much kit to start with and then nearly all of their kites (except for 3 very small training kites) ended up broken and torn. Unfortunately, I managed to trash my 12m kite and was unable to hire anything from them as they had nothing left that wasn’t trashed and a lot of people who’d booked lesions were being turned away as they had no kit to teach with. Mark Warner really need to pull their finger out and sort out this problem or they will end up with a very bad kite surfing reputation which is a shame as the guys (Dan, Ollie and Ewan) are great blokes and its a great spot but without kit its next to useless.

OK there is another kite centre slightly upwind of the resort but they were not interested in hiring out kit to people kiting with Mark Warner and I didn’t fancy kiting at their spot as it was quiet a hike to the shore from the centre and their spot was crowded with windsurfers. Overall though I found the kitesurfing brilliant and had a brilliant time.

Winter Kiting at Treasure Cay, Abaco, Bahamas

http://www.bahamabeachclub.com
http://www.treasurecay.com
http://www.barometerbob.com
 
Treasure Cay beach was awarded one of the ten best beaches in the world a few years back by National Geographic. It has the best public golf coarse in the Bahamas said Golf Digest. The community of Treasure Cay is very small and friendly. Most people travel around in golf carts and every body waves or stops to talk to each other. Life is slow and very low key. The population is highly affluent but you would never know it by looking at them.  Treasure is very welcoming and an insane location to kite board!

Treasure Cay is a sandy point facing NNE off the island of Great Abaco in the Bahamas. The leeward beach is NE facing and is about 4 miles of wide white sand beach in a crescent shape. Starting at Windward Point a large sand bar forms out to Sunrise and Sand Bank Cays. A few miles farther out is the island of Whale Cay then the Atlantic Ocean.

Most kite-able days the sand bar off Windward point is the spot to ride. Windward is a perfect place to begin a down wind session heading NW down the Treasure Cay beach to Carlton Point. Between the rocky out cropping of Carlton and Black Points is a small beach with a flat reef that forms long braking and shapely waves.
South winds are kited from Cannon Point all the way to Windward Point. This area is a series of small beaches and sea walls protected by numerous rock groins. The Windward Beach is mostly short sections of narrow sand. Just off shore the water drops off quickly and lots of tight white capping chop forms. SW winds are generally very gusty and not very fun to ride.

The bulbous shape of Treasure Cay makes kiting possible in 280 degrees of wind direction. All the way around from NW to SW you can find kite-able launch sites. Most locations have down wind landing sites in the event of problems. The water is very clear to blue in color. Because of the water clarity staying clear of water hazards is very easy. The rock reef sections make dark patches and are generally deep enough to kite right over. Coral reef is very rare in the immediate area. Carlton Point is the only place I’ve seen coral heads near the surface and are identifiable by boiling water.

Windward Point sand bar creates butter smooth water in low tides. The middle has a large shallow pond and remains glassy in very strong wind. Just off the sides of the sand bar is hundreds of little waves then deep water. The water surrounding Treasure Cay is no deeper then 15 feet and numerous shallow sand bars form. The sandbars mid way down Leeward Beach can form mild waves with good form. On medium to low tides these sand bars have rolling waves have long periods between them and lots of smooth water can be found for fast kiting and wave riding.
In winter, the winds are the result of cold fronts headed south. The local people stay clear of the water unless it is very calm. Big winds from cold fronts are called Rage’s.  A rage sea creates high tight rolling chop in the Sea of Abaco making boating pretty much off limits. If you get into trouble during a rage it is very unlikely you will get any assistance. 
 
Cold fronts generally pass through in a matter of a few days. When fronts approach the wind starts to build rapidly. During a strong front the wind will be gusty and very strong. Six and eight meter kites are the call during strong rages.  As the front passes the wind will go around the clock (direction wise) and blow around the clock (time wise). In the beginning north winds kick up and as the front leaves the wind will be south to westerly.
Finding a kiting partner is very unlikely. A few local people windsurf but most folk’s just bundle up indoors or go to a beach bar. The Coco Beach Bar and Banyan Beach Bar provide food and drinks during the day and are well attended unless the weather is extremely foul. The local winter crowd is generally 50 plus in age. Young people come to Treasure Cay with their families generally.

The local nightlife is very slim. Only a few bars and restaurants are open at night. The food is very basic and the best restaurant is three stars tops with extremely slow service. Live entertainment is provided several nights a week at the Tipsy Seagull nightclub. Basically the club scene is several people sitting around the bar drinking Rum or Goombay Smashes and talking about fishing. During the holidays a lot of activity occurs at the bar. The parties last until the wee hours of the morning when many drunk people take to the road in golf carts. Drunk driving is allowed in the Bahamas and the drinking age is eighteen. Remarkably, local people mostly drive with their lights off at night, thankfully the speed limit is only 15 mph.
If you get into trouble in the Bahamas heavy penalties are to be paid. Car crashes will land you in jail and drugs and guns are strictly prohibited. Long jail terms are the penalty for possession of drugs including marijuana. The Bahamas is a land of many laws but very little enforcement. Finding a police officer is almost impossible!

Crime is very limited in the Abacos. Most crime is the result of petty theft from Haitian workers. Many people claim to leave their doors unlocked and never loose anything. I choose to lock my stuff up because I had a kite picked up by a local worker, better safe then sorry.
Food and supplies are limited. Nice fresh vegetables and milk are hard to come by because supplies come in once a week and sell out quickly. Two markets are open in the Treasure Cay shopping center. A bank, bakery, post office, cart and bike rental, bottle shop and small hardware store make up the shopping center.
The Treasure Cay hotel is located on the marina directly in front of the shopping center and across from Leeward Beach. Rooms start at $150 per night for a one bed facing the parking lot to $285 for a suite on the water.  The hotel is not very nice so most people choose to stay in one of the many houses for rent. Houses rent from about $1400 per week to many thousands. Numerous multi million dollar homes line the shores of Treasure Cay and some are available for rental.  

just me, a board and four kites were going to head to Costa Rica to kite from January 7-14, 2005. Chances of getting skunked were basically nil, so needless to say, I was pretty stoked. I had heard good things about Playa Copal (Bahia Salinas), Costa Rica from my friend Jeff, who runs KiteWindSurf, a local shop in Alameda here in the San Francisco Bay Area. He had spent some time there last year during the winter when there’s not much kiting to be had here in the SF Bay Area and activity at his shop is fairly dead. Rather than spend the winter doing a whole lot of nothing, he and his wife, Emily, were going to offer instruction and accomodations in Costa Rica, at Playa Copal. Not needing instruction, I just made arrangements to stay with them in the Kitehouse there for the duration of my stay.

I arranged for my flight through Continental Airlines and left from San Francisco to fly into Houston and from there to Liberia. To visit Costa Rica you need a valid Passport from your country of residence. No visas or immunizations are needed. I brought only US dollars which are fine to use as most all local shops and restaurants will offer you an exchange rate of 450 collones per dollar which is pretty much what you’ll get from the bank. Buy something in US dollars and you’ll get your change back in collones. I got into Liberia at about 7:30PM and Jeff and Emily were there to meet me and take me and my gear to Playa Copal, which was about a hour or so away. We stopped by a market on the way in to pick up some supplies (beer!) and continued on to the Kitehouse, had a bite to eat and a couple beers and crashed out for the night. I woke up early the next morning and was met with this view of the bay. Nice!

After coffee and breakfast, it was apparent that the wind had come up quite a bit and was howling. I brought four kites with me - a 7m, 9m, 11m and 13.5m and in the end it worked out great because I had used all of them substantially and couldn’t have done without any of them. The 7m was in fact brand new and I had had it for a while, but never even used it locally here in the San Francisco Bay Area or on any other trips. I was happy to have it here. I rigged up the 7m for my first session but it ended up proving to be a bit small, so I went to a 9m and returned to the 7m later that day after it came up some more. The first two days I sailed on the 7m most and also on a 9m and less so on an 11m. The conditions in the first two days were definitely tough with super strong winds that were explosively gusty at times, the result of two systems coming from different directions converging over the bay there. Normally, the winds tend to be a bit smoother as I started to find out on from the third day on.

The first two days of sailing didn’t encourage too much in the way of tricks or unhooked moves beyond just cruising and hucking huge air as the nuking, turbulent winds made it too risky. Afterwards, things smoothed out making everything else possible, more manageable and safe. Below, Scott Cox, a SF Bay instructor with KiteWindSurf, who’s in Costa Rica for a couple months throws an unhooked Railey and there’s another view of the bay from the kitehouse.

The vibe at the Kitehouse is very laid-back. In between morning and afternoon/sunset sessions which usually lasted for 2-3 hours each, we’d typically just chill on the patio, have lunch, listen to music and read. During my stay, I met some great people and saw some people I already knew as well. Jeff and Emily are the hosts of the Kitehouse and also staying there were Kent Graininger and Scott Cox, both KiteWindSurf instructors and John Fox, another SF Bay local who came down to kite. There’s another outfit there offering lessons that’s run by Niccola Bertoldi called Kitesurfing Center & School and Stefan works with him as an instructor. Between the two schools both offering lodging and instruction there’s usually a few kiters around and most everyone tends to converge most evenings at the only restaurant which is a short walk up the hill from the beach. Ulf, an Austrian, runs the restaurant and offers good food with full dinners usually around $7-10 including a few beers, which are available self-serve from the refrigerator in the corner.

Here’s a pic of the Kitehouse backyard and patio and the resident iguana.

Here’s (from left to right) Scott Cox, Kent Graininger and John Fox chilling on the back patio in between sessions. All the gear is usually stored on the patio during the day, but there’s no sense in leaving it all out at night, so in the house it goes. The iguana took a liking to one of john’s kites, maybe for nesting purposes.

One day brought some light winds in the morning, which was actually a welcome break from riding our smaller kites for a few days straight, so we decided to load up the car and John and I were going to do a downwinder frm the top of the bay. The tide was super low and the launch was a bit tricky, being done on somewhat slippery, barnacle covered rocks. After we set out, the wind was good for a few minutes, but dropped a bit forcing us to head straight downwind. It picked up a bit again, and dropped again. At one point, it was a bit sketchy as I was working my kite all I could and had to head downwind in between a gap in the reef sailing in about a foot of water. It was all good though and I managed to make it all the way back down and landed at the Kitehouse. The wind popped back up again a little later and we all had a killer session on 14’s.

Here’s a pic of the “Secret Spot”, awesome kiting, but a tricky launch (!) and Scott chilling on the patio. He’s there for two months, which is probably why he’s always smiling!

The local rum is great and cheap, but you gotta have something to mix it with. Here we set out to harvest some coconut juice from the backyard trees. It wasn’t easy, but in our best caveman imitations, we got what we were after and were rewarded with tasty cocktails. Yum!

Overall, it was an awesome trip. I got in an insane amount of kiting in warm winds and waters, I had a great time and a lot of laughs hanging out with everyone in the Kitehouse and at the restaurant and my only wish is that I would have been able to stay longer. Thanks to Jeff and Emily at the kitehouse for being such great and accomodating hosts and especially to Emily for feeding us great food for breakfast and lunch everyday! If you go, you will definitely be in good hands with them.

Here are some links with more info about the area and a final photo of the view over the bay taken early on the morning of my departure.

I just got back from 3 weeks in Prea, near Jericoacoara, NE Brasil. It was BY FAR the most fun and most epic riding (i.e., massive downwind action) I’ve ever experienced. Brazil is so much more than we expected, and we expected it to be spectacular. We have recovered from the initial shock/insult of being misinformed by Vela that the kiting in Jericoacora was excellent and easily accessed—-it is,in fact, banned in Jericoacora; the best kite beach nearby is in Prea, 12 km ($50 fare each way!) towards Fortaleza. Usually, when one plans a trip w/Vela, they make it totally easy for you to enter a completely foreign country and be safe, do the sport you came to do, etc. So, it is with great emphasis that I warn all kiters: Don’t use expect Vela to know what is up for kiters going to NE Brazil. 

In Jericoacoara, the general populace make you feel like a leper for being a kiter vs a windesurfer! Holy snowboard vs. skier, Batman! It’s weird, a leap backwards in time. The motto of most windsurfers there seems to be: HOW DARE U FLY. 

We moved our whole Brazillian fantasy to Vila Prea in the village of Prea and it has been dreamy since then……the beach is deserted, they take us on a FAT downwinder every day, they hover discreetly in the background and land the kite/launch the kite/squeeze your fresh guava & o.j. drink, get the most amazing masseuse/make world class fresh fresh fresh food (better than anywhere I’ve been, I swear) and generally spoil the bejesus out of us. I mean, in my dreams, I can’t fantasize the luxurious treatment we’ve been given. ALL for very reasonable prices, WAY less than what VELA charges for room/breakfasst/discrimination. I’m hella impressed. 

Other than that, the people here are also….lovely. In every way. Happy, smiling, seemingly always in a good mood, helpful. I kept trying to tip the helper staff for, say, picking up all my kite gear from the room every morning, taking it to the beach, and then collecting it all up at the end of the day and returning it to the room. But NO. The helper folk semi-scolded me, like, we as upright Brazilian men feel odd not helping you kite-girls, so don’t offend us by plying us with cash. Whoa. 

HOWEVER. Not all of Brazil is so lovely: Do not think it’s safe to fly into a major Brazilian city and wing it. Sao Paulo is drive-with-your-doors-locked, windows rolled up DANGEROUS. The best program is to suck up the expense (like, a couple hundred dollars) of having your hotel/driver pick you up at the Fortaleza airport and beat it to the kite location of your choice in NE Brazil. 

Allegedly, you can fly directly from Miami to Fortaleza using American Airlines in concert with TAM, a Brazillian airline, but I have yet to locate this mystery flight. The most expeditious route seems to be SFO to MIA to Sau Paulo or Rio, then to Fortaleza. WHY this is a downer, multi-connections aside, is that you have to hit Brazilian customs once you get on Brazilian dirt. If you go MIA through Sao Paulo, you can look forward to a New Dehli style mad crush of humanity and hours of waiting to claim your luggage, load it up, schlep it through the airport to the TAM check in, re-check it in, and all that takes hours….in addition to well-being lost. 

THE KITING IS TO DIE FOR. If you’re kiting near Jericoacora, i.e., Prea, none of us have needed anything bigger than a flat/bow 9m kite. I’ve only used my flat 7m flat kite the whole time. When we first got to Prea, it was so windy I was scared, like: Is it going to be survival kiting like this the whole time? Can I buy a 5m somewhere? Mark Doyle(Thanks for the good times, Amigo, see ya’ll when ya get back) lives here part of the time, and he came to visit us which was RICH, to say the least…… HE said something like, dang, it’s too windy here, I’m on a 5 every day, I don’t know if I can take it much longer. Whoa again. 

After the initial shock of being sandblasted when stepping outdoors, one gets used to the small kite, and out comes the courage, and out come the tricks. It’s only sandblasting when it’s 40+, and we still went kiting on those day, albeit with trembling hands on the bar and hyper-vigilance. 

The other thing is, I somehow thought we would have a chance to ride point-break style waves (i.e., like in Santa Cruz, or C-St. in Ventura; the kind of wave that is firm and peels forever). It is all shore break here, like Ocean Beach or Silverstrand in Oxnard. 

Fred & Rob at VilaPrea hooked us up with our favorite righteous Brazilian champion motocross dude, Daniele, to do the epic downwinder from Taiba till we couldn’t kite anymore after days of downwinding. Literally. I had to come in on day 2 or 3, as in, I just cannot go on anymore. I forget in the blur of ecstacy from all the riding. Daniele has been on the NE coast for decades and knows everything: tides, best wave/wind combo spots, best posada to use,what’s dangerous/not, etc…..plus he’s hysterically funny. 

Summary: If it’s your first time to Brazil, spend the money on having a babysitter, i.e. a KNOWLEDGABLE dependable outfit that will steer you around. I thought I could count on Vela for that, but they dropped the ball. If I had not stumbled on the good folks at Vila Prea, who totally stepped up and impressed us, it may have been a bad trip. BUT NO! It was epic. 

Tarifa, south of spain, this was my first time, as a kite surfer rider i have heard many times about tarifa, because of is all year wind conditions, and is true, i and my friends arrive tarifa by car, normal condition road and easy to find spots, its hard to miss tarifa because when you approach the view is something unreal, there are giant wind mill everywhere, i took great photos of them just imagine all horizon full of them, it was about 10 am when we arrived and of course the first thing we wanted do to, was to see the famous beach “vale vaqueiros”, the view was again beautiful now just the beach, but the sea full of kitesurfers and windsurfers, imagine all the coolers mixed with the blue sky and green water, water temperature was not hot, but not to cool also, of course windy. Has we mounted our kites we realize that was people from every part of the globe there, maybe because there was a international kite championship happening, but every week there is a championship there so…. 

For those that don’t ride kites or windsurf, there is another thing to do at this beautiful beach other than taking sun bath, there is the mud bath, yes on the end of this beach, near the beautiful dunes, there is a stone mud were people look like aliens, and its really good, we tried and our skin is softer now:). Another thing you should be prepared to see on the beach on tarifa is topless, about 90% of women’s, and on some zones nude also, like a selvage beach. 

A must to see and get some shooting session is on the dunes, just go on the top and see the scenary, its like a desert with dead trees, unreal….. 

5 PM time to go to the city and get the key for our small house, a choice made after hours of shearching on the web, but we had lucky with our choice, why? well in spain good accomodation is hard to find… 

We arrived at the main avenue, “calle de la batalha del salado”, here was located the shop to get the key and we found thousands kite shops, all brands are represented here, from slingshot to custom tarifa made, you rip your material no problem they fix, need to learn kite… no worry almost every shop there is a instructor! 

Has all spain tarifa also make the siesta (big lunch break for rest) so dont get surprised if you don’t see anyone or shops open, tarifa time is 9 to 12 and 17 to 22, at night all streets get crowed, but contrary with the rest of spain after 22 is hard to find a open restaurant, except pizza, yes is easy to find a pizza restaurant on the centre, i can recommend PIZZA N1 ITALIA, the pizza is a bit too thin but they are tasty. 

After we got the key, we when to our little house, it was about 500 meters from the beach of “Los Lances”, nice one and the locals say that when the wind is not poente is the best one to practice sports, we found very nice also but preferred the vale vaqueiros , the nice thing we found at that beach was a beach bar named Aqua , not cheap but nice decoration, beds in place of chairs and good music, all that with a view of the beach. 

About 6pm we reach the house, easy to find, and for our surprise, very good garden space, for material and party, big walls, the house was small but clean and enough for us (3 persons), all equipped with machine wash, tv, etc. 

I don’t recommend for people who want to practice kite or windsurf to stay on the city, why?, because on the city beaches you can t practice sports, so you have from “los lances” to vale vaqueiros about 7km of beach for sports. You can imagine all days have to go from the city to the first spot…. Waste of fuel and time, because you have many accommodation by the beach, from hotels to camping parks, I counted at least 4 camping parks, all with bungalows and tent zone, I can recommend CAMPING PALOMA or CAMP SITE RIO JARA all in vale vaqueiros beach. 

For sun lovers that don’t won’t to get sand all over the body because of the wind I recommend the dunes and the back of the dunes at vale vaqueiros, because for some reason the wind changes direction and don’t get there. 

My experience at tarifa has been good, especially for kite surf, one thing i forget to say is that the rescue team is well organized, this is very importand….if you dont whant to lose your wing. 

You don’t have to be a sports lover, because you have some monuments to visit, horse ridding, wale and bird watch , but it helps, because there is always wind 

I just got back from an ‘Extreme Holidays’ trip there. Stayed in ‘Las Olas’ hotel in corralejo - decent sized appartments but no air conditioning. As far as bars and clubs go there are hundreds, mostly fairly tacky but I would highly recommend ‘Rock Island’ which is a great little bar just off the main street with live music every night and is good for meeting people. The only nightclub I went to was Wikiki which was ok. The restarants in the old town seem the best for food. The resort is expensive though, very expensive for spain… The extreme holidays crewe will probably recommend Corkys Surf Bar and Oink but I thought they were pretty ****e and always totally empty apart from us lot. I would recommend extreme holidays though. Very friendly and professional tuition and very organised. Beware though that they don’t farm you out to another outfit because if they don’t have enough people for a full group they will farm you out and you could get kinda dumped on your own like one guy there who ended up stuck at one beach with no transport, tuition or people to help him. Alexi is the guy who sorted us out. We had a great week. Not too much wind though.  There were kitesurfers, windsurfers and surfers all in the hotel, great laugh every night too!! .

Yep they have huge Nissan Patrols full of goodies. Moving from land to water we did an intermediate course, 5 days instruction. North of the island is good, Flag beach is good and El Cotillo (?sp) just over the other side. The other good place we heard of was Sotavento down at the south. I am itching to go again. I came away with my IKO2 card so I am a happy boy. The instructors were first class and a real good laugh, Tams tan is ridiculous, looks like he has been dipped in cuprinol. I am going to book with them again for sure.

Pauline and myself were staying for 3 weeks at hurgarda and staying at the sofitel hotel next door to colana watersports, on one of the few windless days we splashed out and hired a brand new Mitsubishi with a smart as you like driver who was told not to drive over 90 k/ph, we were charged a lot as we asked to be driven all over the place all day,, £28 felt like a lot of money but when he showed us the car we said ok, the main purpose was to visit the intercontinental hotel at the new find location- soma bay, 39 k south of the colana set up, 

The hotel is new and is set on the beach in a massive horse shoe bay (aprox 2 miles across),there is one other hotel on the opposite side of the bay, a quality operation; (Sheraton 5 star hotel) the bay is very shallow in places, coral free but a few muscle beds scattered around, with sand banks way out in the bay, a truly beautiful location, the hotel itself is so ornate, so opulent, so disgustingly posh, the guy who built it has far too much money, his yacht is in it’s own marina next to the hotel, it’s a complex that has had money thrown at it , gold leaf, marble, coy carp, rich furniture, 2 gold lifts in the massive fountain laden reception glide up to the floors in full view of the gob smacked guests, there is a swimming pool that starts at the edge of reception and you swim through well lit caverns with carved rock roofs out into the blinding sun and a gorgeous pool bar, under a massive rope bridge and into a larger ornate pool, it is unbelievable, winding our way through the spaced out sun beds to the soft sand beach we view the luxurious hotel rooms which all look out to sea, all have big patio’s, full length sliding windows and sun beds, we found a water ski / wake board, centre, then a dart catamaran centre, with new 16 ft darts (a top class racing cat) (I had one), then a dingy cte with canoes and laser dinghy’s, then round the bay to the windsurfing centre, further round is the kite surfing cte, we realised by then this was a Mark Warner run water sports beach, and when we asked for a full run down of the deal, it turns out that when you book with mark Warner then all the sports are free, apart from kitesurf tuition, and waterskiing, but then the bombshell. 

Due to kite surfing being a risky sort of sport, they run you out on a boat to a jetty in shallow water half a mile out and it’s there you blow up your kite and set off, shiit, not good, it put a right damper on things, but then what was that big building on the beach 300 yards away?? 

Bingo!! its an independent kitesurf /windsurf/kite buggy, activity centre, and it’s superb, German owned and run, www.surfmotion.com or peter@surfmotion.com the exact spot is called Abu soma-Egypt (the cte has been open for one year) 

Peter speaks perfect English and showed us round his superb set up, café, changing rooms, sun bed rest area, covered bubble pipe rest area, equipment wash off area, private gear storage area with full time 24 hr security guard with a side arm, showers, loos, storage rooms, rigging area with air line, north hire equipment, buggy things, massive windsurf range, and the sailing area, the wind is cross off , but the sailing area is 2 ft deep on average and massive, the wind being off shore leaves the surface flat, speed sailing and boosting heaven, the windsurf area is further out in the deeper water, so kiters get the best conditions, half way across the windsurf area is a sand bar, so if you get blown away you end up on this, windsurfers have to dismount to walk across it to deeper water, it’s a true kiters dream, heaven in the dessert, 

remember this, the Intercontinental hotel next door makes the movinpick at el gouna look like a dusty shoe box, and the Magawish look like a condemned rubbish tip, I have a full memory card with the images of this paradise, 

But this luxury comes at a cost! Food and drink are outrageous, by Egyptian prices, but still cheaper than an English city cte café, cappichino-£1.50. beer is £2.50 -500cl, 12% service and 2%city tax goes on every thing, the hotel itself is trying to build business, it has over 600 garden rooms and there were only 150 guests in house, so to us it looked like the hotel was empty, the Warner staff said you can book for late deals on the web and get silly deals outside kids holidays, 

you have to try this level of luxury once in your life, you could only afford it in Egypt, a 

It’s a 40 min drive from hurgarda airport, or 12 us dollars one way taxi, a bus to hurgarda town goes twice a day from the hotel but a taxi can be booked at any time for not much money, 

Think of a new Marriott hotel then gold plate it, this would be only good enough to be the beach restaurant, it’s that mind-blowing, 

Anyways back to reality, from there we went to hurgarda for late lunch, picked the best seafood restaurant ordered the dearest seafood grill £3.50, and premium Stella beer 6,4% £1.40, fresh orange juice 70 pence, 

Then we called in at the duty free for 2 bottles of gin and a litre of whisky, total cost £15, Inc city tax, 

A holiday can be made a lot cheaper by mixing what you buy from the hotel with what you can get from the town, your room mini bar is around 4x the cost of town price’s, beach price’s are around twice the price of town price’s 

apart from the taxi fares we spent around £14 a day, compare that to the £120 a day we were spending in south Africa ,we were only b+b there and half board here in Egypt, 

This is a review of a place i spent 2 weeks in May 2006. Thought i’d share the info

Flights:

Flights operate out of Gatwick to Sharm-el-Sheik with Excel Airways or British Airways. It is also possible to fly to Cairo which is a bit closer to the resort but more expensive.

Baggage:

My personal experience with BA Gatwick to Sharm was good (I must have had 30kg +), they didn’t seem to bother much about the size my bag or excess weight. One trick is to phone the airline in advance, they give you a reference number and when you get to check-in is say that you have sorted it out with BA; a friendly attitude and a big smile can’t do any harm.
At sharm airport on the way back they didn’t even bother weighting my bag, they sent it straight to the oversize luggage area.
However experiences seem to vary greatly in that respect, I’ve heard of some people who had to pay extra.

Transfer to resort:

from sharm, it’s about 3-5 hours drive; and about 2 hours from Cairo. Brace yourself for a bumpy ride…
On arrival in Sharm I was met with a great welcome by the holiday rep, he was literally running around the airport sorting everything out for me; I just handed my money for the visa (about £10) and I went straight through immigration overtaking a long queue of tourist, nice one.

The hotel: Paradise hotel

I got there at about 2am and was greeted by about 4 staff offering drinks and carrying my luggage to my room where a plate of sandwiches and various snacks was waiting for me.
The hotel is good, rooms are big with air con and cleaned every day. There is also a fridge which they restock every day with beer, wine and water.
The staff was extremely helpful, the catering manager, a comedian in the making, and his well earned name of “Mr pleasure” is intent on making your stay as pleasant as possible.
There is a bar and shisha hut where you can lounge about on cushion passing around the shisha.
It is possible to access the internet but you must have your own laptop and you have to pay for it, and forget broadband! Going online is definitely a slow process.
The only residents at the hotel were kiters, as this is the only thing to do beside lying on the beach or near the pool.

food:

It’s buffet style in the morning, and if you don’t see it you can ask and they will do their best to satisfy your wishes. Generally the food was good: a mix of Egyptian speciality with European style food.
Once a week they do an egyptian food evening in the shisha hut which is very nice.
Also once a week they do a barbie down on the beach with everybody from the kite center and the hotel, very laid back.
For lunch it is possible to order sandwiches and have them brought to the beach, they have staff who keep going back and forth from the hotel to the kite center. For hot food you’ll need to go to the pool bar which is a good….. 2mn walk.

distance from beach:

the beach is easy to get to, its a 5-10 min walk from the hotel, however they have golf carts going back and forth so only a 2 min drive. If you play your cards right with the driver you might even be able to drive the buggy for a laugh.
Its no problem getting a buggy to get back and forth from the hotel to the beach, any time and very quickly.

drink:

Apart from the hotel bar there is no pub or other place to get drink, but again the staff will bring you whatever you order even to the beach; beer is limited to the local Stella I’m afraid, not the best beer but it’s cheap. Otherwise they are very enthusiastic with experimenting on you with cocktails, with various degrees of success.
Overall food and drink are very cheap, you don’t pay as you go along, whatever you consume is put on your tab and you pay when you check out. And you can pay in euros or British £

kite club:

Stephanie and Sylvain run the place, and as native French speaking, but with perfectly fluent English. They both have been living in Egypt for some years, so they understand the culture and speak the language, very helpful at times. Also Liv a german girl with fluent French and English, can provide you with a yoga session before and after kiting. There is plenty of room and places to crash out after or in between sessions.
The storage facility is great, plenty of space to keep all your kites pumped up for the duration of your stay! Plenty of helpers help you pump your kites and attach your lines. You don’t need to ask, as soon as they see you getting ready to pump your kite, they literally rush to you and grab the pump from your hand and do all the work for you. They also launch you land you (even if you go too far downwind).
They have kite repair facilities with a sewing machine for on-the-spot repairs if necessary.
Officially, the kite centre opens 9 to 6.30-7pm but in reality they stay open until the last kite comes in, or the final beer has been polished off; definitely heaven.
The whole atmosphere at the centre is very laid back friendly and fun but professional, I haven’t had lessons myself but was told they were of a high standard and I have seen beginners progressing very quickly.
They have a rescue boat and every morning everyone helps out to move the boat to the water edge.

summary : top set up.

kitesurfing spot:

There is plenty of room on the sandy beach. There is a launching spot and a landing one so it’s well organised. The water has a sandy bottom for first 50m, then a small sandbar with sharp rocks and shells; so be careful there; I got cut under my foot on the first day there and walking on hot sand was agony for the rest of the 2 weeks I spent there, the cut wouldn’t close as I was in the water all the time. Luckily all pain went away when I was kiting. After the sandbank it’s about 500m of shallow clear warm water and further it’s the big blue…
The water is generally flat, a wee bit choppy on a very windy day but nothing that qualifies as waves, so a great place to learn and progress. If you ditch your kite then the boat comes within a few minutes to either help you to relaunch or give you “the lift of shame” back to the beach… so as far as safety goes you it can’t get better than that.
There is also possibility to go to a day trip to a lagoon next door to the Moon Beach resort…. Very flat and shallow water, total bliss if you like that sort of thing.

wind:

The wind is generally cross, cross on from the North and very steady. I was there for 2 weeks in may 2006 and the first week we had a constant 28-30 knots. Because it’s very hot, the wind is very light so bigger kite than expected are needed (I was using my 9m diesel all the time). Unfortunately the second week we were unlucky and got very light winds, even if they kept telling us that no wind periods never last more than 3 days. I guess it’s part of the sport.
Generally the winds were strongest with the coming tide. It is tidal but the tide direction isn’t an issue at all, it’s kitable all day long, some days we kited with the sun setting on the sea… total bliss.
Investment in some serious waterproof sunscreen is a must!

Social scene:

no clubs or pubs, the entire social scene revolves around the hotel and kite centre, not such a bad thing as so you end up mixing with all the guests from the hotel and kite centre and you get to meet more kiters than you would if you had the opportunity to go out into town with your group. Nonetheless there is always the possibility of a bit of boogying action in the shisha tent or a the centre on the beach. When I was there there was only a handful of guests at the hotel so we tended to have a big table at night and it was very easy to mingle and stay late….. too easy in fact.
Don’t expect to spend much money while you’re there on night outs, because there’s nothing much to spend it on and everything’s so cheap anyway (1 Egptian £ is about about 10p)

Getting around:

Town is a 15 mins mad drive by a the local taxis, and they cram up as many people as can possibly fit in the car, I’ll never forget the 15mn drive, 7 of us + the driver in an old Peugeot 505, 2 were sitting on the passenger sit and 5 in the back… a perilous experience not for the faint hearted and I’m still not sure which is the legal side of the road to drive on… But on a positive note it is dead cheap and against all odds we did make it back to the hotel in 1 piece.
There are no shops for miles … so don’t forget that.
The kite centre can organise trips to a local Bedouin market, where you can find local food products and some Bedouin clothing, don’t expect to find curios or any form of souvenir, this market is by local people for local people and at the time a small group of tourist there was an attraction for them. They loved it and were extremely welcoming. They don’t speak any English so communication can be difficult and that is when Stephanie and Sylvain local language skill came extremely useful.
It is also possible to spend the day visiting Cairo and the pyramids (it’s a 2 hours drive by taxi and again can be organised by the centre). I think I remember It came to £50 for the day so a bit pricey perhaps but well worth it. Several other excursions can be organised, some lasting a few days in the Sinai.
In brief a great spot for learning and progressing and if you just intend to focus your holiday onto kiting without being too bothered about the night life.

The only negative thing about the place I can think of if those damn shells and sharp rocks that cut my feet ;-(

We stayed in room 8512 back of the kite beach in a lagoon approx 2 minutes walk to the kite beach, they are mini villas 4 separate rooms + bathroom with a common central area & terrace, we thought it was bit weird at first but we ended up good friends with the couple opposite.

Friends of ours were stuck down at the other end of the hotel, so they asked to move & were put in room 1120, which was on the kite beach ground floor, behind the kite centre, so it would be worth asking for a room around there. I used the kite storage £30 at the centre save carting it back to our room, you also get free water, tea & coffee, Airline etc. But if you get a room on the beach then no need.

Wind Reports & webcam this is at Mangroovy approx 2 miles upwind from Movenpik but same conditions:

http://www.kitepower-elgouna.com/en/…ther_data.html

Beach is tidal:

http://www.kitepower-elgouna.com/en/…_calendar.html

However we found that in our week even at low tide although shallow you could still get out (back in July it dried up I walked out to the deep water first day but I wouldn’t recommend it, how I got across the reef without shredding my feet I don’t know, it’s full of sea urchins as well).

This time we had really good winds for the first 4 days, mainly 12m (bow kites) but one day 9m which was awesome, kited upwind to the Marina & then back twice. The next bay upwind is nice only 1 other kite in there & the water on the corner near the big house was super flat going into some waves on the reef. I got some massive jumps, my biggest ever I reckon heading in on the flat water, as high as the house roof, watch the water depth though. The second half of the week the winds were mainly in the morning & at dusk, so if it looks like this pattern is in then you have to get out of bed or grab a late session as the sun goes down which was pretty amazing scenery as the sun drops behind the mountains.

Seems to be an increasing number of Russians beginners & just getting the hang of it, they don’t seem to have much common sense & drink on the beach so keep well clear.

Used a shorty wetsuit, might have got away without it on the hottest days, temp went from low 20’s to high 20’s toward the end.

At night there are 2 areas to go Down Town which is 10 mins walking distance and the Marina which you need a taxi or a Tuc Tuc, £1 each way. Down Town is cheaper area to eat, we ate in the Oriental Grill which is Egyptian food – good & a fish place begins with H something? up some stairs of the main square excellent serves all type of food super cheap, there is a Supermarket underneath that sells Wine that is ok for £5 to £7.50, Sakara lager is good too.

In the Marina there is a curry house on the right of where the taxi’s stop – excellent & cheap. We found the Captains Inn was good. Good Bar at the end of the Marina, Moods. There is disco at Mangroovy Beach upwind from the Marina on Wed worth a look. We also ate in the Thai in the hotel which is ok.

At night we found you need jumper, jeans + hat if you want to keep warm sitting outside.