Hi,

I´m planning a budget kitesurfing trip on the Greek Islands for July.
There are a few topics on this already,
but what I am interested is on

1. Which island (Naxos, Rhodos etc.) has the cheapest restaurants + an option for gorcery store food
2. Least people during July
3. Best wind conditions on July
4. Options for North - South / West - East beaches, depending on the wind
5. Laid back, low population, no kitesurf bans etc.

Thanks a million for your input!
(Going to book a tourist flight + hotel package based on your comments)

BR,

Juhana S.

Hi,

Well….first of all it would be helpful to know your budget for your daily expenses….

1. no matter if it is Rhodes, Naxos, Lemnos or any other kite destination you may choose, you can have a lunch/dinner with around €12-15 (no alcohol)…salad , starter and main…..there is always the alternative of a couple “Souvlaki with gyro” that can be considered as a full meal…€5-6
2. Grocery stores you can find easily ….tasty products usually from local producers
3. usually in July we have good winds coming from North (meltemi wind)…..Paros & Naxos have identical conditions…bring your small kite with you….Rhodes has a superb spot (prasonisi) but is not very convenient to reach (>1h drive from Rhodes city)
4. No bans this year….you can kite pretty much everywhere but I would suggest to always consult locals…we know better our home spots

Check the flight & accommodation costs and revert…

Take care.

Chris
www.albatross.gr
Paros, Greece, Accommodation

Both Rhodes, Naxos, and Paros might become a bit crowded during July.
I went to Limnos some years ago, and for kiting it´s great, but for everything else it kind of in the middle of nowhere...
Not much people and a nice spot! Some friendly people at the kite center, but the best thing was the flat water - se the photos
Here´s a report (again sorry it´s in Norwegian, maybe google translate will work)
http://www.kitebrothers.no/hovedside/blogg/258-bestekitespot

Never bin to Lefkada though, but have heard it´s supporse to be pretty good...

Lefkada is nice, been there. Thermical wind after noon, usually big kite but 4-5 days a month really windy. Chop in the kite beach but there are 2 flat water spots near but they need those more windy days as wind is lighter there. Very beautiful island

@Johna That spot looks awesome, how far from shore is deep? Is there rescue in case of problem? very gusty?

It´s shallow for 30-50 meter maybe... Super flat!
The wind was not the most stable I have experienced since it´s coming a bit over land, but not that bad - so one of the best places I´ve bin. So few people
They have a rescue boat at the kitesenter in the middle of the bay, but since it´s a big bay, you´ll just blow across it and over to the other side... The flat water section is at the north end and a bit away from the kite center.

Thank you all for your informative answers,

John A - Apparently there are no budget charters flying to the island you described (from Finland),
looks damn nice though! (and I understood something written on the page

Chris - Our budget is about 1000-1100€/person (including flights, acommodation and basic food goods). Good to know you can get a good meal from 12€ and up.

No cheap flights to Lefkada either.

We are now turning our attention to Rhodes, and more specifially, Kremasti area.
I wonder if it is OK to launch a kite at the shore (there is a kite location further to the west, but you need a car for that)
+ we were thinking about renting a car for a few days to visit the Prasonisi spot.

In Naxos there is only 1 cheap option (no way to get flight only form here) in a hotel called Argo in Naxos town. I wonder if Naxos town itself is close to the kite beaches.

So just to make sure, you are allowed to launch your kite in any public beach area in Greece (fair judgemnt served of course, if there are a hundred kids per 50m2, then no.) ?

Thanks again.

Reg Naxos

Kiting area is bout 20 mins from town, so u need research a place to stay near kiting area

Max

You might still find some low budget flights to athen and local airline flights to these islands. I found that a lot cheaper to book myself than on some normal sites So if you find some dates that are a bargain to Athen, some of these local airlines are nearly free hehe

I'd recommend Paros, Pounda Beach. There are 2 kite centers (I know the guys from Paros Kite Pro Center, Google it) on the beach and they can both arrange accommodation nearby. There are also a couple of restaurants / taverns in the area. The main town (Parikia) is approx. a 10-15min drive away.

You can get away a lot cheaper than 12 Euros if you lower your standards / expectations. A Gyro is 1 Euro, eat 3 of them and you're gonna be stuffed for the rest of the day. Not exactly health food though

And yeah, unless you go to one of the bigger, more popular islands (Rhodes, Crete), there won't be any direct charter flights simply because the airports / runways are too small for anything larger than the regional airplanes that serve the islands. Cheapest is to fly into Athens and from there take a ship. It's approx. 4-5 hours on a "normal" ship and 3 hours max. on one of the highspeed catamarans. Around 40-50 Euros / person / one-way (flight is around 70-80 Euros one-way).

Have fun.

PS: Paros, like most other kite spots in Greece might be a bit crowded in July. I usually go there in December when I'm the only one on the beach

Disagree a bit: a Gyro is around 2E, it is grilled meat, pork or chicken, not fried, so relatively healthy. The pitta within which it is wrapped is like bread (healthy). The onions and tomatos in it are healthy. The tzatziki in it is made of fresh yoghurt, garlic and cucumber (very healthy). I agree that three gyros are enough food for a day!
Try Kiteloop Mykonos (http://www.kitemykonos.com/?page_id=66), by the way. Nice place, brilliant people, perfect wind in July.