Cabarete Info

[Toby]

More infos about kiteboarding in Cabarete, Dom. Rep.

http://www.cabaretekiteboarding.com/

[Guest]

Toby: Did you see the recent report that Cabarete was crowded and not quite as nice a spot to kite as another beach in D.R.? I'll see if I can find the name. Perhaps there's someone here who can confirm?

[Toby]

Punta Cana is the other area with beautiful beaches, some of them untouched. Marina wrote that the wind is more inconsistent than in Cabarete. I can't confirm this, maybe someone can?

[marina]

I'm not saying that Punta Cana is no good. I just wrote asked my friend in the DR about the conditions there and this is what he told me according to HIS friend who runs a windsurfing school there. I AM ONLY PASSING ON INFO, no hidden agenda whatsoever. If you are experienced, you can kitesurf anywhere. IF kitebeach in Cabarete is crowded, just go out and play downwind a bit away fro the beginners. Or go to Yasica River which is great flatwater but can only hold a few experienced people (we brought a friend there last time who had just started going upwind and he ended up in the reeds, not fun), or Encuertro or a number of places that are being discovered with 10 minutes to two hours away. Last time I was there in Oct, I spent 1 week touring the north and south coast looking for new kite spots on the North and South coast. I still like Cabarete although I am also concerned that it may become too popular. By the way, I live in California...

[Toby]

thanks Marina for your info.
I think it always depends on what day you kite anywhere. If you have generally consistent winds and one day of gusts, then for a visitor this spot is gusty, since he or she doesn't know the other days.
The best is to find out by yourself. Travel to the DR and stay one week in Cabarete and one in Punta Cana and maybe you will know for that time of year!

How is kiting in CA? The water is almost the whole year quiet cold, isn't it?
Where is your local spot?
SF Bay? Which I think is a cool palce to go out with a kite. Didn't go by myself but saw it in several videos.

Cheers

[Guest]

Hi Toby
I live halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles in San Luis Obispo County (you may know kinsley from xtremebigair.com). We have one lake that we can kitesurf on IF there are no windsurfers. The ocean is free to all. Water is in the 50's so I wear a 5/3 wetsuit in the spring/winter, 4/3 in the summer.

[Toby]

how about your winds?
I could imagine that they are gusty when riding on the lake? Any thermical winds?

[marina]

winds are generally 15-25knots so my main kites are 5m wipika, 6.4 Booster and 8.6 Booster. Before I had the 7 meter cabrina and 7 meter f-one as my bigger kites. In the summer and fall, winds are about 10-20knots. San Luis Obispo and Ventura offer, IN MY OPINION, the best wind/kite conditions in California (http://www.surfline.com for pictures of Morro Bay, Pismo Beach, Ventura Point). Big long sandy beaches, not crowded, no huge obstacles. The season here is spring/summer. At the lake, I only got to kite there once before the park rangers booted us but it is a popular windsurfing spot (http://www.iwindsurf.com Lake Lopez)

[Toby]

can't you or your local association do something against the ban?

[marina]

We tried to rally support from our local club but nobody would volunteer to lead the effort. Most kiters here prefer to kitesurf in the ocean and we have 3 great local sites so while it was a bummer to lose access to the lake, nobody is really put out.