Harbour Island Bahamas

[bmcfiv]

Going at the end of February. I've scoured the internet and can't find any advice on kiteboarding there.

Has anyone ridden there?
Any advice?
Any flat water?
Any waves?
Wer be da treasure at!

[bmcfiv]

Was able to find this article!!! Link and some text below. Thank you Jake Hoefler!

http://www.nlwatersports.com/kiteboardi ... d-bahamas/
pdf https://goo.gl/hFtFgo


PINK SANDS BEACH
Head to the northern portion of the beach where you will find less people and more room to rig. This beach is one of the most beautiful in the Bahamas with sand that has a subtle pink glow. Use extreme caution when launching to avoid beach goers and stay clear of swimmers in the water. I scored a session on 12m Pivot and Lift foilboard with a 41” mast. The wind was coming from the SE which allowed me to make a 2 mile tack along the coast of Pink Sands Beach. It was an incredible feeling flying for miles up and down the beach.

Be extremely careful when riding to the outside – The reef is a minefield that gets shallow in spots and can damage your board. Depending on the lighting, it can be hard to see the paths to get through the reefs. There are bigger openings to the north so, if you are an advanced foiler and want to get to the outside, head north and shoot the gap! The water drops off about twenty yards out and you will not be able to touch the bottom. You can ride a twintip, hydrofoil and surfboard at this spot. The best wind directions are NE, E or SE. Any wind direction with W should be avoided as it has offshore exposure.

Hazards
There is an outer reef that is exposed at certain spots during low tide. Use caution when foiling through the reef to get to the outside. Only advanced foilers should attempt shooting the gaps through the reef. Stay away from swimmers and respect beach goers with distance.


GIRL’S BANK
Drive your cart down Bay Street and park at the bottom of the hill on the side of the road. During high tide the rigging area is small so it is best to set your gear up on the small beach near the road and then walk your kite into the water past the wind shadow to launch. The water is extremely shallow for hundreds of yards out so you will only be able to ride a twin tip here. This is an extremely beginner friendly spot with minimal chop. The bottom is all sand and the best wind directions are N, NW, W, S or SW. Any wind direction with E should be avoided as it has offshore exposure.

This beach is stunning and is the site of numerous photo shoots from the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition to Land’s End catalogues and more. While we were there we watched numerous models running around in the middle of a photo shoot. When you get there and witness its beauty you will know why it is so famous

Hazards
At high tide the launch can be very small. Best to rig on the beach by the road and walk out past the wind shadow to launch in clean wind


GRANDFATHER’S BEACH
This is launch private and can only be accessed if you are renting or own a house in the South Bar Club. The beach has plenty of room to rig and boasts some of the most beautiful water that I have ever seen. The water near shore is shin deep and drops off to waist deep about a hundred yards out. You will not be able to ride a hydrofoil here unless it has a short mast. I scored a session on a 9m Pivot and Lift foilboard with a 41” mast, but had to ride the board upside-down for a quarter mile downwind until it was deep enough to get out. This is an extremely beginner friendly spot with minimal chop. Most of the bottom is clean sand with a few spots to the north that have seagrass on the bottom. The best wind directions for this spot are N, NW, W, S or SW. Any wind direction with E should be avoided as it has offshore exposure.

Hazards
There is a channel cut through that feeds into the ocean on the south side. This is where the fishing boats enter and exit to the ocean. The water is very deep with a lot of current. Be sure to stay clear north this area so you don’t get caught in the tide.

[RickI]

I have kited there a couple of times. You may see another kiter there perhaps as I have in the past. There are a ton of dead shallow coral heads just off the beach east of the island. So, I would use something with short fins and try to avoid low tide or at least hitting the heads. I would avoid the ends of the island where tidal currents can become quite strong. The pink sand beach along the eastern shore works for N to E to S more or less. Most of the area off the eastern shore of the island might be termed flat water although there may be a break on some reef areas in the right winds offshore. In February you may have more westerly winds. Depending on where from exactly, you might take the ferry over to Spanish Wells and setup off the north shore in all that white sand which should work from W to N to NE or so. Also, if you can get over to the SW area of Harbour Island, you should be able to land and land along a narrow sand verge based on Google Earth. I have never been there myself so take this with a grain of salt. No matter how tempting checking out the cliffs to the south of Harbour Island in the area of Glass Window Bridge might be, I would suggest not doing it. Some photos and background appear at http://www.fksa.org/showthread.php?t=12555

Going at the end of February. I've scoured the internet and can't find any advice on kiteboarding there.

Has anyone ridden there?
Any advice?
Any flat water?
Any waves?
Wer be da treasure at!

[bmcfiv]

I have kited there a couple of times. You may see another kiter there perhaps as I have in the past. There are a ton of dead shallow coral heads just off the beach east of the island. So, I would use something with short fins and try to avoid low tide or at least hitting the heads. I would avoid the ends of the island where tidal currents can become quite strong. The pink sand beach along the eastern shore works for N to E to S more or less. Most of the area off the eastern shore of the island might be termed flat water although there may be a break on some reef areas in the right winds offshore. In February you may have more westerly winds. Depending on where from exactly, you might take the ferry over to Spanish Wells and setup off the north shore in all that white sand which should work from W to N to NE or so. Also, if you can get over to the SW area of Harbour Island, you should be able to land and land along a narrow sand verge based on Google Earth. I have never been there myself so take this with a grain of salt. No matter how tempting checking out the cliffs to the south of Harbour Island in the area of Glass Window Bridge might be, I would suggest not doing it. Some photos and background appear at http://www.fksa.org/showthread.php?t=12555

Thx for advice...

WHOA!!! Incredible story!!!

[RickI]

If you can make it all the way to the south end of the island and there is favorable wind from the NNE to E to S to WNW, Lighthouse Beach is incredible. It is a trek from Harbour Island to be sure and even once you are down there getting in can be difficult with the poor road. http://www.eleutheratours.com/ can facilitate a lot of adventures around the south end of the island if you head down that way. There is a great deal to do and see on-island as well, so be sure to check it out.

Still more photos from a few visits to the north and south ends of Eleuthera at https://www.facebook.com/rick.iossi/med ... 198&type=3

[bmcfiv]

@ricki whoa that pic is incredible! spots looks so pristine, i will try to get down there!!!! i'm not that good nor can jump that high, but if i'm feeling insane, maybe i'll try to jump and land on the patch of grass on top of the coral and have lunch. if i do i'll take a pic and send it to you. i will definitely carve my initials into something. how high are is coral do you think?

[Wind Runner]

Maybe you can arrange a boat trip to the Schooner Cays which would be south of you, to the west [EDIT: more like north and west] of Lighthouse Point... https://youtu.be/3wNm2VEXjAU
This looks dreamy!

Is this one near you too? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDn9BHTMBl4

[bmcfiv]

Quick and dirty post about my experience... basically, in search of some protection from the chop... east side probably incredible with waves, check out post above for better details

Was only able to find time to go at the north end. Overall not great but potential if I could have been able to prioritize searching for spots. Wind was out of the NE.

1) sweet little beach, water flat and shallow a ways out, plenty of room to launch, don't bring anything valuable

2) just open chop, house we visited required ridiculous dock launch with a bunch of lushes fumbling around with my kite and spilling their beer. I tried to go about a mile out and north to get in the lew of an outcropping, but if i had a failure it would have been at least and hour of floating downwind.

3) sandbar so somewhat flat, relatively small, lots of coral

4) IT WOULD HAVE BEEN INCREDIBLE ON THE EAST SIDE, but my wife wanted to "talk" when the wind was good that day, DAMIT. Beautiful.
There was a small sandbar on the very north slightly east that provided some flat water, and if you can stand you could save your kite.

5) That's the island I tried to make it to, got close, brutal

6) May be good up there

Here are pics

https://www.screencast.com/t/v0g1UdGPw
https://www.screencast.com/t/OE1XBlGvqWID
https://www.screencast.com/t/mcPNJbmz

[MKM]

Check out this little piece on Eleuthera from a while back. Great spots at Harbour Island, but even better ones a bit to the south. This was a pretty cool trip with Andre P. Damo, Jason P., Pete C., and a few more. If you catch it right it's probably hard to beat. Good luck!

Kent

https://blog.adventuresportsusa.com/fea ... f-freedom/