When is it windy in Cabarete? This is the question we get asked most. The short answer: It’s pretty much always windy here in Cabarete. If you landed on this page, you are probably planning some sort of vacation that includes some sort of wind sport—because that is what our town is now known for. We decided to write this article so you can plan your trip accordingly.
A Little History
Since the mid 80s, Cabarete has been touted as one of the best destinations for anything with a sail. It all began when a windsurfer from Canada named Jean Laporte was introduced to the Dominican Republic by his travel agent. At the time, Jean was on the hunt for the ideal conditions for windsurfing and originally landed in Boca Chica. After being disappointed with those conditions, he decided to explore the island to see if he could find anything better. Eventually he ended up on the North Coast of the island in a little town called Cabarete. As it turns out, this “virgin” location was perfect for windsurfing (at this time, kitesurfing was pretty much unknown) because of it’s “progressive winds, coral protected beach, light current that pushed you back in the bay, and no large fish in the bay to nibble on your ankles.” In 1985 Laporte returned to Cabarete and opened the very first windusurfing school called “Les Alizees” (French for tradewinds). And the rest is history! Read Jean Laporte’s personal account on how he came to discover the epic winds of Cabarete on ActiveCabarete.com.
So, why is Cabarete so windy anyways?
The trade winds, the coral reef, and the mountains in the background, come together to create a unique and perfect thermal effect—which is a formula for strong and consistent winds. Additionally, the wind blows easterly, blessing Cabarete with a side-onshore wind direction. And to top it all off, the the water temperature is always about 26°C (79°F), which means, even in the winter, you can get in the water without a wetsuit.
And now we finally answer the question: When is it windy in Cabarete?
Before we start breaking it down, we have to say that it is important to take this information with a grain of salt. Just because it has statistically been windy during a certain time period does not mean it will definitely be windy. We are not Mother Nature and we cannot guarantee any of this. We can only compile and report the averages.
And it goes a little something like this:
January-April: 14-24 knots
May-August: 16-30 knots
September-December: 10-20 knots
December and January is “tourist season” and June through August is “kiteboarding/windsurfing season”. Tourist Season is when Cabarete see the most tourists. Kiteboarding/Windsurfing Season is the months we have the most consistent winds thanks to the thermal effect.
Stefan from Kitexcite over on Kite Beach has been keeping track of the wind himself for at least the past 8 years. We made the chart above from information gathered from the Kitexcite website, which is pretty comprehensive.
NOTE: There are several wind meters in the area, but it seems they are usually off by a couple of knots. This has to do with location and calibration presumably. That being said, here are a few resources you can check out:
Cabarete Kite Beach Webcam http://www.cabaretekitebeachwebcam.com/
WindGURU http://www.windguru.cz/int/?sc=139
Windfinder http://www.windfinder.com/forecast/cabarete
http://cabaretecondos.com/cabarete-wind/
