Best flat shallow spots in florida in feb ?

[coolhari2000]

All,

Looking for flat shallow waters in Florida for this February 5-10 days. It seems like a lot of places are regulated for kiting.

Here's my situation.

4 people, 3 newbies & 1 PASA level-1 instructor.

Looking for best options.
Would love to include cable park for day-1.

Thanks for your inputs & sharing your experiences. appreciate it very much

Hari

[BigR]

Only one option fits your criteria

Miami has some flat spots @ Matheson or @ Crandon on east wind directions

Key West has many flat spots, only 1 or 2 tight spots accessible w/o a boat

Cocoa has one spot on the intercoastal

none of these have a cable park, nearest is in Ft. Lauderdale , ski rixen

Tampa has the cable park near
http://www.skimccormick.com/

and 4 places for flat water, depending on how flat you want it and the tides
Skyway North, South and West
and East Beach which charges an entry fee
The combo basically works in all wind directions

www.fksa.org has more info

[coolhari2000]

Thanks for the detailed info BigR

Will dig around more on FKSA.

Crandon seems like a beautiful location, would you know if it's cool for the PASA instructor to teach newbies without being associated to one of the florida schools.

[sailaway]

Uh, sorry to disappoint, but your beginner friends will not be able to ride at Matheson. There is a kite school van there that only allows IKO3 to kite with a ribbon. Beginners have to take a class with the school. Same story at North Beach in Key Biscayne, IKO3 or school.

you can check with schools if they will let you teach at "their" beach:
http://miamikitesurf.com/kiteboarding-r ... n-hammock/
http://www.southfloridakiteboarding.com ... fault.aspx

You can rent a boat and go to the flats, but you cannot launch from the beach in Miami area, at least I was not able to find a good spot.

I recommend the Keys. Curry Hammock Park near Marathon is nice, shallow and flat. Casa Del Sol has some nice 2 BR suites with kitchen.

[Rando1994]

Tampa is the spot. McCormicks Cable park is awesome. One of the few clockwise running cable parks.
Tampa has flat water spots on any wind direction. East Beach is now $5 a car, not a big deal for the amazing launch there, and plenty roomy enough for instruction.

East and West Skyway can be too crowded for instruction as you intend. Check out the FKSA.org site and do your research.

Love Tampa Kiting!

[coolhari2000]

Thanks Sailaway & Rando

Appreciate the info.

Will def look into it

Am trying to find more info about cocoa beach.
how hard/easy is it to rent a boat/dinghy cheap in miami or orlando ?

[Rando1994]

Rental shouldn't be too hard. Craigslist is your friend. Cocoa is nice. Waves are awesome. Arguably better than Tampa area for waves.

But if you are looking for flat water kiting with great launches?

Tampa rules!

[coolhari2000]

Rando You're damn right about Tampa, it's now at the top of my preference.

1) Tampa (has the most flat water spots)
2) Orlando (a couple of boat accessible spots in cocoa & melbourne)
3) Keys

Found some info on spots here:
http://www.destinationkiteboarding.com/ ... rding.html


Can't seem to find tampa locations on FKSA (it's probably in a very obvious place......)

Are tampa & orlando flooded with mindless trampling co-eds during spring break that crowd the beach (read provide scenery) & drive the hotel prices up.

[noel]

I recommend the Keys. Curry Hammock Park near Marathon is nice, shallow and flat. Casa Del Sol has some nice 2 BR suites with kitchen.

Curry Hammock is a state park And does not allow commercial activities. You could rent a boat and go to the sand bar in Islamorada or just off Curry Hammock State Park. If the park is owned by the town (Anne's Beach, Coco Plum Beach and Sumbrero Beach) a business license or permit in that town is needed.

Plus there is no cable here for now. Rando has the best advise. Pm him and make sure you follow the rules.

[coolhari2000]

Thanks Noel

I am leaning more & more towards Tampa.