Lake Garda

[Alysum]

Heading to near the south of Lake Garda next week for a week with some family Is it worth taking my gear with me ? What's the wind and water temperature like this time of the year ?

Looks like there's not many beaches and I read that some go out by boat ? Would appreciate some tips. I have a 9m and 13m.

Cheers

[Frank82]

I think there's only wind in the north of lake garda and there's few launch spots.

[kooma]

The launch and landing spots are horrible, it's best to do what practically everybody does: get a boat ride out there. The kitesurfers seem to be mostly in the center part of the lake, whereas north is very populated with windsurfers. I liked it a lot, was there two years ago. Most of the towns in the north have an operator that can get you out there with a boat, and they are used to setting you up for the boat launch. I wasn't in the south so don't know what the situation is there.

[sindarlotodo]

Check out Campione del Garda.

Its by far the best spot in the area.

[Alysum]

Thanks for the responses. Not sure I'll take my gear as it seems tricky to find space to launch and I'm not madly keen on having to go out on a boat !

[piccio]

you came from australia to kite in garda lake launching from a boat?
leave stuff home ....get a car and visit places ...alps...venice ...florence ...treviso etc
expect traffic everywhere you go
ciao

[pmaggie]

Garda lake is under the authority of two different italian regions, Veneto (southern part) and Trentino (northern part). Kiting in northern Garda lake (and in all the Trentino region) is forbidden, so you can kite only in the southern part. As Piccio says, you have to launch from a boat since there is (almost, with the exception of 2 horrible spots) no beach you can launch from. Anyway, the wind is very very good, especially in the early morning (called Pelèr) and I think it really deserves a go. The only thing I can tell you is to "prepare" the kite day: contact a school and book your seat on the boat. Normally it's not very expensive. They will ask for sure a float vest (mandatory by law on all the northern Italia lakes, also in my home spot in Como lake) and an insurance for damages against others (you can buy it directly at the school if you don't have one). Also, they will for sure ask for an IKO or similar certificate to be sure you're confident with your kite.
This is one school's link but there are many, just check the web.

http://www.mks-kite.com/

[Flyboy]

I'm considering the possibility of buying a place near Lake Garda. Beautiful scenery, hiking, biking, skiing & amazing Italian towns to visit, as well as proximity to Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, France etc. How good is the kiting on Lake Garda? I would still make trips to wave spots in the winter & would probably be more focused on foiling on Lake Garda. How consistent is the wind in the area you can kite in? Also ... how is kiting in Sicily?