Punta San Carlos kite camp October 26th?

[davey_k]

Anyone been on the fancy trip to Punta San Carlos? I am looking at the October 26th Kite camp with Billy Ackerman from F-One. Is late October a good time to go? Anyone want to go too?

http://solosports.net/schedule/

[nanmoo]

I think Tempy might be on that one.

PSC is amazing. Changes your life kinda spot. It's good if you are into surf/sup/mountain biking in case there are no wind days. The camp is awesome. Care free living. Bag a surf in the morning and you come in and coffee and breakfast is ready. I could go on.

Anyways, it's a proper down-the-line side off wave, so be prepared to learn a lot if you've never really "wave" kited. It's actually heaps easier than side onshore slop like Columbia beach, but totally different as you leave the kite alone and let the wave do the work as the kite drifts along for the entire ride.

Just go, you'll not regret it.

[KUS]

...easier than side onshore slop like Columbia beach....

wow, dissing our own beloved winter spot...really? are there not worse spots than CB as for October in PSC, I think September might be a better time frame, October is Maui weeks

[juandesooka]

Do you have to stay with solo sport or can you DIY it?

[nanmoo]

You can camp on your own. It's like $10.

Joey tells me it's windy all year. October is popular with the warmest water still around and more chance at wave.

I didn't say CB was awful Kus, it is what it is. People pay thousands for a chance at PSC. They are entirely different creatures.

[tempy]

I have gone to PSC a few times in recent years - all in the 2nd or 3rd week of October. I am going again this year and am doing the Reed Brady kite camp.

I have always wanted to kite there and this way I have to do it.

It is amazing. No need to dis any spot - they are all good in their own way.

October is warm and you can get epic swell - South and North. The wind is just fine. I am typically windsurfing 4.5 to 5.7 sails. There may be a day or two of light stuff - but then you can SUP surf / SUP sail or bike on the 100 miles of singletrack.

yes, you pay, but the all inclusive cost - gear, meals, booze and the fly in from San Diego compare favourably to any other place in the world cost wise.

You can drive in and camp but have to be totally self sufficient. The camp is the way to go. If you pay before Dec 31 each year you get 10% off.

PM me any more specific questions.

Cheers

[firstonlastoff]

I drove in a few years ago. Did it after speaking with others who had. My ride was a mini-van, loaded down with water, more liquids, gear, and some food.

I would drive again, as the whole drive from here to there, and back again, has tremendous exploration options, but I would not ever do it again in a mini-van, only because of the off-asphalt section - I would take a high clearance vehicle with solar, and tire repair equipment. It is fully self-sufficient, clean-site camping, directly exposed 24/7 to high winds. You need everything. I didn't need to do it, but likely a 6-7 hour resupply round-trip to El Rosario or San Quintin, on the following road;

On the 60 km off-asphalt section of the 3k km one-way commute - Dried up mud holes seemed to have no bottom. There was no end to the dust, in fact it rained dust at times, seal everything. Took a long time for me to drive that 60 km, some of the climbs up over arroyos seemed like my two-wheel drive would not make it. But, the locals who drove in regularly said the road was in the best shape ever due to flat-bed transports coming in for river rocks for San Diego-ians! Lots of large rocks that threatened to take my oil pan out. The worst section is the last two km once on Solo-Sports property as there was zero road maintenance and deep ruts. No joke, but the locals from the San Carlos fishing village, who didn't understand driving velocities below 80 km/hr, regularly had axles separated from vehicles ( yes, I saw several examples ) ! Having said all that, every week, Solo-Sports employee Joey, takes a high-clearance passenger van and trailer for a re-supply trip back to San Diego.

The routes around/adjacent to construction zones on Highway 1 in Mexico, which locals jokingly suggested are permanent construction sites, had some of the worst driving surfaces, and sizes of rocks. Oh, and everyone says don't drive at night. Don't. Just don't. Sometimes the road can have zero paint and couple that with 3 cm wide shoulders after which there is ~1 m or higher near-vertical shoulders, and oncoming headlights blinding you.

Read everything online about entering & exiting, border crossings, vehicle insurance, and driving in general in Baja California. Also read about driving characteristics in Baja (wow), stops signs, and for sure don't assume, rather acknowledge, the fact that the transport trucks have poor braking capacity regarding corners and in the mountain sections.

Tempy is right, if you have 1 or 2 weeks only, then flying is the way to go. ( Kus and others also put down votes for Maui in the fall ! ) If you have >1 month, consider driving. One other person from this area who regularly drove down said, "the optimum time period is >1 month while parked on the point, you'll see and get everything". Beyond that, if there is a South Swell forecasted, expect 8-10 vehicles to arrive from S.Cal. Mountain biking and SUP were very good.

PM me if you have specific questions.

[juandesooka]

Thanks for the added info. I last drove to Baja in 1992, hopefully the road's a little better now, though sounds like maybe not that much. ;-)

We're looking to extend the road trip a little further next summer, get the van life thing going. If we are considering going down to San Diego, heck, may as well keep on to where the surfing and kiting are epic.

Fly in and all day catering sounds awesome ... but depends on price. I may have read site wrong, but thought it said $2700US per person for a week, plus airfare? Quite a bit of ouch there. Gotta pay to play I guess.

[davey_k]

Thanks for all the input everyone. I am looking at flying in. I also want the coaching on offer as I have never tried Kitesurfing in waves but really want to try it. PSC is supposedly very newbie friendly even for a guy like me who doesn't nail all his gybes and foot changes. (And can't even tack yet!).

It is pricey but it is sort of a 'once in a lifetime' trip and, at 54, I need to get on with it.

[juandesooka]

Thanks for all the input everyone. I am looking at flying in. I also want the coaching on offer as I have never tried Kitesurfing in waves but really want to try it. PSC is supposedly very newbie friendly even for a guy like me who doesn't nail all his gybes and foot changes. (And can't even tack yet!).

It is pricey but it is sort of a 'once in a lifetime' trip and, at 54, I need to get on with it.

Sounds good! Tacking with a kite surfboard is "nice to have" not "need to have". It looks cool, but functionally you just gain 5-10 feet of extra upwind distance. IMHO.

Once in a lifetime / dream trip: I so very much want to get back to Namotu Fiji, I am on their FB/IG feeds, the all-day next-level fun makes me crazy. But it's even more $$$ than PSC....just can't justify spending that much on a week there, if the same $ equals a month of more in other rads spots elsewhere. But that logic only works if you're actually going to spend that month in the other spots! If not, spend the $ while your body is young enough to enjoy it, use it or lose it.

[JL]

Juandesooka makes some good points. The younger you are the more durable you are. I've been thrown a few curves in the last 10 years & am grateful that I was a rabid Nitinaht camper/windsurfer in the 80's & 90's & a regular kiter @ Gordons since. Snooze you loose

[nanmoo]

I'll offer a contrary view as far as the the road goes than what Tsawwassen has provided. I've driven down twice, both times in a 2WD Ford ranger with no A/C (awful when the windows needed to be shut). I averaged 80-90 km/h on the road and did it in well under an hour. The dust is awful that is for sure, but the road is better than the road to Nitinat with round stones and soft sand instead of sharp, tire eating rocks. It is less well marked but these days with google maps you can just boost a track from someone who has been and its easy peazy.

It's expensive to stay in the camp, a complete obstacle and non-starter for many. If your option is to go on your own vs not go at all because you can't afford $2000+ USD a week, go and camp, you won't regret it.

Both times I took a week to drive down, stayed a week and then a week to drive home. That pace worked well, though I wouldn't have minded two weeks at PSC.

[tempy]

Remember, Nanmoo also gets from Youbou to NN along the logging road in 30 min ....

[juandesooka]

Been a while, but my recollection was that if you just go a little faster, you can skim above the washboard, kind of like planing speed with a boat. Which works great, until it doesn't.

[more force 4]

Remember, Nanmoo also gets from Youbou to NN along the logging road in 30 min ....

really? i've never done it faster than about 45 minutes, and that was when the Sprinter was new.

Been a while, but my recollection was that if you just go a little faster, you can skim above the washboard, kind of like planing speed with a boat. Which works great, until it doesn't.

That definitely works (and is really good with electronic stability controls NOT turned off, I have never had an issue with a skid or fishtail in the Sprinter) but yeah once in a while there is a big surprise... A lot of northern resource roads are horrible at 30-50- kmph, but seemingly smooth at 90+. They are straight though not like Nitinat so you have time to slow down for the oncoming logging truck or bear/moose (though frost heave sand traps always seem to get me); and I'd never try that in Baja.

I could afford the PSC trip now, even with the fly-in and camp options - but at 66 it really seems a bit late/waste as I'll never be charging waves like they deserve. If you are still in your 40s or 50s: DO IT!!!!!

Hmmmm - Oct. 5-12 -Wyatt Miller/Tyson Poor Instructional Wavecamp still has openings.....