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Holbox, Playa del Carmen, and holiday destinations problem.

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Morpho
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Holbox, Playa del Carmen, and holiday destinations problem.

Postby Morpho » Tue Feb 19, 2013 6:37 pm

Well, since we started kiting in the Mayan riviera area , over 10 years ago , we have dealt with a lot of issues about banning our sport on the beach, and this is due to the ignorance of the authorities in relation to the sport, but is also a big lack of common sense of kiters.

We , locals, have been dealing with government, letters, meetings, associations, etc, to try to keep our sport at least in designated beaches, finally we established places for teaching were the tourist traffic is not high so we don't have problems with them, in the end here n Mexico is not about the safety of the support, but yes it is about the profit government can do.

Being that said we live in a very risky place, because this is a place whe people come on holidays, such as Cabarete and other destinations.

When you come to our beach or any other beach that supervision and regulations are not enforced, everybody does and behaves whatever they want to do.

I Miami, crandon park, for example you don't see friends teaching Friends, or you don't see people doing stupid shit. Of course, law is there and if something happens , that's the end of it....

So , lets go to 2 nd and 3 R&D world countries where there is no surveillance and f*** up over there, in theend we don't live there......

Please guys use your common sense..... And follow rules and beach etiquette even though there are no signs, or rules , we as responsible kiters , we know what to do and how to behave.

Even if you are not a local at a beach you are traveling or kiting and you see some body doing bad for our sport, or for third parties, please take a minute for you to talk to that person,and lets keep kiting worldwide open for everybody.

I read the HOLBOX banning story. ....sad


Here in playa del Carmen,same thing. We have been struggling with meetings, associations, etc. years and years of work. And it only takes 1 windy day, and 1 selfish person to destroy this.

Yesterday the was 3 Argentinians at our beach, that clearly had no idea of what they were doing... Hot launching, etc. .... They dropped the kite into a Lady. I approached them and talked to them, in good peace you know??? They did understand apologized and asked for advice.

But the bottom line is we are not supposed to be a beach cop..... I guarantee you that if they were in Argentina. They wouldn't have done that.


Anyways. My message here, is not trashing anybody. Just please use common sense, beach etiquette courtesy and safety when you are riding, where ever you are riding. And if you are visiting another country. Please take care of the beaches. You leave, but some of them stay.

Food for thought. . :bye:


David.
morphkiteboarding.com
Mayan Riviera

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Re: HOLBOX , PLAYA DEL CARMEN, and holiday destinations prob

Postby soul19 » Tue Feb 19, 2013 6:57 pm

Hey David that is great advice and as one who travels to mexico, and other warm destinations to kite, it is what we should all do. Loss of beaches hurts the global kiting community and makes for another access point lost. We all need to lend a hand and ensure that our travels don't hurt locals... even if that means losing a session because it may hurt access. Thanks for sharing your concerns and you have beautiful beaches that I would hate to see lost.

James
www.theglobalartist.com

I love playa and it is home to one of my favorite artist Jaime Fierro (his warrior paintings are amazing).

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Re: Holbox, Playa del Carmen, and holiday destinations probl

Postby saildawg » Thu Feb 21, 2013 3:16 pm

Good and true post. The "ugly" kite tourist can be difficult to deal with, here on Holbox a visiting kiter disregarded the previous no fly zones doing a down winder in front of all the hotels boarding through swimmers and crashing his kite onto the beach among people with children relaxing on sun chairs. This was after being advised by local kiters that this was a no fly zone. His response? "I am only here for two days." This happened just prior to the closure of the Isla Holbox beaches to kiting.
My feeling is that Quintana Roo needs a kite association with members from all kite locations in the state.
Though the majority of kiters show respect for wildlife, local fishermen and beach goers, the ugly kite tourist can quickly ruin access privileges for us all.

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Re: Holbox, Playa del Carmen, and holiday destinations probl

Postby JessicaWinkler » Thu Feb 21, 2013 7:41 pm

I absolutely agree. We do not have problems here yet in Progreso but it doesn't mean it won't start once more and more people know about our place. We all need to be respectful and if you don't know what you are doing...... TAKE MORE LESSONS!! All of the kite school owners are happy to help people learn to be a more responsible kiter!!

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Re: Holbox, Playa del Carmen, and holiday destinations probl

Postby fernmanus » Fri Feb 22, 2013 4:37 am

The problem with jerks is that you can't teach them, train them, or expect them to behave responsibly. They only care about themselves and do not consider others.

I am starting to understand the mentality of surfers towards outsiders. The Aloha spirit goes out the window when people to do not respect the local rules. If visitors continue to dis-respect the local rules and regulations, they might find there kite suddenly deflated or their board missing. Bad things happen to obnoxious people. Of course, I think we give every visitor a friendly welcome, but if they are not willing to listen...

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Re: Holbox, Playa del Carmen, and holiday destinations probl

Postby Jbrook » Fri Feb 22, 2013 10:24 am

Its funny people spend alot of money on their kite gear and then a bunch more to travel to kite, they think this gives them the right to act like assholes. Then when they come in a group like the Argentine guys in Morph's example they act how they act at home or worse. Problem is each kite spot is different with rules but not the common sense rules. I am not a fan of violence but many times that is the only thing that works or to hit them in the wallet. Problem is as David Morph said there are no kite cops. I lived in Cancun for 12 years and know exactly what he is talking about. If you want the Aloha vibe come respectful act like a gentlemen and all is cool. When in doubt if something is cool or not it is probably not ehhh???? Problem with kiters is they are so different than surfers, many kiters I think are doing their first water sport. They have very little respect for beach goers and other water users. Don't compare sufers to kiters doesn't work, many surfers have soul and most kiters well nowadays seems like are ex golfers, nothing wrong with golf, I think these people just have a lot to learn about water safety and who has right of way. Kinda like someone riding a motorcycle should yield to a pedestrian who is walking not just run them down or drop their motorcycle on a innocent bystander who knows nothing about motorcycles. Respect is a 2 way street in life people use your head! :thumb:

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Re: Holbox, Playa del Carmen, and holiday destinations probl

Postby orwell » Sun Feb 24, 2013 12:21 am

Sorry to hear that David, i'm argentinian.
Here it's a caos too, nobody think on the other. there is an argentinian association trying to work on the safe practice.

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Re: Holbox, Playa del Carmen, and holiday destinations probl

Postby Jbrook » Sun Feb 24, 2013 10:20 pm

Everywhere I think is more chaos the spot I live in Brasil gets worse every year as kite and safety equipment gets better. I do not think Argentine are any worse than anywhere else just to clarify. :cool2:

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Re: Holbox, Playa del Carmen, and holiday destinations probl

Postby Kitesurf Vacation » Tue Feb 26, 2013 8:10 pm

As you said, there is a lot of lack of common sense of kiters. We have seen many tourist kiteboarders that doesn’t have any idea about safety rules. I’m one of the locals that have been trying to support the sport on Playa del Carmen and keep some designated beaches.

Unfortunately, the beach in Playa del Carmen is getting more crowded, many families, kids, tourist, women pregnant, etc. I usually kitesurf in Playa del Carmen, every time that I go to the beach I see a new irresponsable kiteboarder, we cannot be cops all the time.

Now days, I’ ve change my mind and I think the best thing is to banned the sport on tourist & crowded beaches such as Playa del Carmen if the authorities, locals and kite associations don’t set up some rules, signs and regulations.

First of all, the safety for the people on the beach or non kiters. Is sad to say, but is just matter of one windy day and one irresponsible kiter to have an accident that will banned the sport forever in Playa del Carmen.

Jaime

Kitesurf Vacation Mexico

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Re: Holbox, Playa del Carmen, and holiday destinations probl

Postby Flysurf77 » Wed Feb 27, 2013 12:13 am

Well well well...I was trying not to get into this topic but......REALLY??
Blamming it on the tourists???
Are you guys really serious?
The reason this specific spot you guys are talking about is getting constant problems is cause of the LOCALS, not the tourists, who kept for years now not following the basic rules WE had installed with the authorities.
I first don t remember seeing any of you at the multiple meeting we had with the AKQR?
I don t remember either seeing any of you waiting hours in the offices to have a meeting with the authorities?
I don t remember counting any of your money to pay for the signs?

Image

Image

I don t remember any of you helping to build and install any of those signs during your free time?
Let me think.....oh yeah... I do remember few of you telling me¨Thanks Mickey, we ll be taking care of the spot and will follow the rules so we can keep riding here¨
How long did it last? few weeks, and then the locals where the first one to keep riding a meter from shore between the swimmers and kids giving them attitute! Jumping right on the shore break and even crashing on the beach where people were trying to have a quiet time in family(yes, this is a very busy beach, and family oriented)! To keep landing and parking their kite right on shore when the rule was to park it 30m behind to keep the ZOFEMAT free! And so and so and so....
Obviously you cannot read the rules anymore cause locals have broken them so many time that the authorities had to say STOP!!
The problem never came from the tourist, they just arrive so obviously don t know the rules and just do what they see the LOCALS doing! Very simple!
This is all about being a role model!!
Not thinking that cause your are a LOCAL you can do whatever you want but tourist have to follow special rules!
CHANGE YOUR BEHAVIOUR AS A LOCAL, BE A ROLE MODEL, AND YOU LL SEE THAT OTHERS WILL FOLLOW IT AS WELL!
Have a good day, enjoy the wind!
:mosh:


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