Review of Kitesurf Grenadines

As I'm sitting in my office reflecting on my recent trip to Union Island, I am looking at the kitesurfgrenadines website trying to figure out which angle I want to come at for this review.

Honesty is best. If you are planning a kite specific trip, this is not the place to go. If you want a trip to take someone to travel the Caribbean, or you are sailing in the area and need a spot to kite, this could be the place.

Destination

The island is not easy to get to. We chose to fly to Barbados and catch a puddle jumper to Union Island. The jumper wasn't cheap, about 450/person for an hour flight. They did meet us from our plane and transfer us to the jumper while getting out baggage from the international flight. Very smooth procedure. This wasn't the case on the way back as you have to enter Barbados customs and re enter through security to catch your international flight out of Barbados home.

Kite Beach

When we arrive there was no wind. The kiters there said there hadn't been any wind the week before either. The locals told us that March/April is the dry season, no wind, and the best wind is in January/early Feb, or in June when Hurricane season starts.

The Kite beach is small. There's space to launch one or two kites. Its rocky. Theres sea spikes in the water. Not really a sandy beach. Also, there's an entire harbour of sail boats downwind. I watched two beginner kiters drop their kites and float though the sail boats waiting for an accidental relaunch into a boat. We were told that 4 kites have been wrapped around sail masts this year so far. We didn't have this issues as there was no wind to kite. When we did get out, we were experienced in upwind to clear the boats. If i was a beginner i would have been nervous as hell.

If you look at the website, it shows many spots to kite in the area. Unfortunately there are no planned trips by JT. In fact, he didn't actually show up and talk to us till day 4. Luckily after a couple days of waiting for him to show up and give us some info, Linn was able to help us out and arrange a water taxi to take us and our kite gear to the Tobago Cays. Unfortunately there wasn't conditions for us to kite out there either but still a cool trip.

We were not the only kiters disappointed. Two kiters showed up from halfway around the world, only to be so pissed that they grabbed a private charter plane and flew somewhere else for wind. They also found that the website showed a completely different kite vacation as the one we lived throughout our week. There were 6 kiters on vacation there who were also disappointed. A North sponsored catamaran sailed through twice, with no luck like us. One of the guys had told me it was the same as when they sailed through last year. They weren't planning to come back.

Accomodations

The Anchorage Yacht Club that the kite beach is part of is really nice. Our room was right on the kite beach with a great view. Clean and renovated. Linn (AYC Manager) is a sweetheart and tried to help us when we didn't get anywhere with JT. She hooked us up with a water taxi run by Rhonda. It was about 400 EC per afternoon. Rhonda and her driver Khan took us to the cays twice, also providing Lobster lunch on a secluded beach. They took us to swim with sea turtles and stingrays, as well as the island where they filled parts of Pirates of the Caribbean. There is also a wreckage of a Russian Soyuz rocket capsule on the island. Kinda cool to be able to touch something from space.

The food at the AYC is amazing. We also ate at the restaurant in the hotel next door which sells pizza and other food, as well as a Pizza place by the airport. Currency is Eastern Caribbean Currency and is about 2.67 EC to one Amercian dollar. Dinners ranged from 45 to 60 EC at the yacht club.

Things to Do

If you can find someone to help you arrange some trips, you can go to the Tobago Cays and surrounding islands. You can also hike up Fort Hill to see awesome views 400 ft above sea level. We didn't find much of a night life. The town is not very busy and most people come off the boats in the AM to get supplies. Linn arranged for the kite boat to take us to Happy Island which is a bar in the middle of the harbour.

Overview

Its unfortunate that we didn't get wind, but more unfortunate of the poor management by Jeremie. We expected that on no wind days something would be planned considering we were at the centre. On our last day he finally planned a SUP trip but we had already made plans to go back to the Cays. I personally think the centre would be much better run if JT was removed and Linn was in charge of the decisions. I definitely recommend that if you need anything at all, just go straight to Linn instead of waiting for JT to maybe show up and she will help you arrange something. We were told by kiters that had been there previously it used to be well run and trips planned, but he just stopped caring or too lazy to organize anything. We were expecting an opportunity to refine our kite skills with a kiting professional but that wasn't the case.

Would I go back? Only if I was sailing through the area in January and wanted a place to kite when the boat was anchored. I have tried to be as honest as possible and gather the feedback from the kiters I encountered at the centre. There are much better kite spots in the Caribbean, Europe, Africa or North America that we could have gone to for the same price or cheaper. Honestly, my buddy, myself and the other kiters we met there just don't want kiters to feel like they wasted time and money on a kite trip that could have been a lot better elsewhere.

However if you're looking for a secluded beautiful place to take your honey and maybe get a chance to kite, Union Island, Palm Island or Petit St Vincent private islands would be a destination to visit. It really is a scenic and beautiful place to see.

Hi Shawn,
Iabout 15 years ago I went to Barbados in mid February for a windsurfing trip. What we found was not so different from Grenadines. Places are nice but the wind is terrible: it was crazy gusty, we find ourselves to lane for 15 (no more) minutes with a 4.5, then the wind went to zero, then again wind (and sometimes rain) and so on. Also, there were a strong shore break and when the wind was going to zero (suddenly), it was really difficult to come home and not be crunched by the shore break since we was not planing any more. Silver Sands, where we stayed, is a nice place but can't honestly be compared to the really nice places in the Carribeans (Turks&Caicos Providenciales just to begin). The island itself does not offer much also for non kiters/windsurfers, some nice beaches but about the rest just forget it. Maybe the surfer can have fun in Bathsheba but that's all. Overall, Barbados is not the best place you can choose for a vacation, no matter kiting or windsurfing.

Shawn

Thanks very much for the honest review of the JT Pro Centre and Union Island. I almost booked a trip there myself for last month, but I just couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger. Sorry it didn't work out for you as planned, but appreciate you posting your experience there.
Too bad, as the place looks like an amazing location to kite......

Blake

PS you should post this on The Loop as there are a few other locals considering it as a potential location...

I will post it once my account is approved... :S

Great review Shawn.

Good info thanks.

I've been to Barbados, St. Lucia, Turks, Bahamas, Florida over the years during the Jan to Mar time frame. Barbados and St. Lucia certainly had the most consitent wind, and far enough south that is always warm, and I'd go back without hesitation. Turks was really nice but I was skunked and it was cold too. Florida is always questionnable, but lots of other stuff to do.

I've even been skunked in Hatteras during May! Its the nature of wind dependent sport.

I've been to Turks early this January (Long Bay in Provo) and I had reasonable wind (2 days 11m and 3 days 15m)
I also was in Punta Cana (not known as a kite destination) last week of February but I had 7 days of 15 m (10 to 14 knts)
So I don't know if I was simply lucky or if this is normal

thats funny what people consider reasonable wind.

10-14 is skunked to me

Well I like stronger winds too.
But at 10 to 14, I can ride my medium board rather than the ligthwind one and jump. I weigh 72 kg.

Also in Punta Cana there were small waves on a reef about 1/2 mile offshore which could be ridden
So no skunk for me !

Hello,
I rent a Boat for a trip in Grenadines.
The trip will begin from the Martinique.
We start next Saturday. ( Mars 23 )
I'll tell you how it was.
We expect about 12-16 knts for the wind. If the conditions are stronger, it will be a real pleasure.
Our quiver is very large and i guess we gonna ride each day.