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AFRICAN Kitesurfing!
Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2005 4:58 pm
by CanadianKiter
Hi all,
Off to Africa for some volunteering and kitesurfing! Anyone got any suggestions besides south africa where crime is violent and the sharks are as common as kiters???!!!
Kevin
Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2005 9:59 pm
by Schooled
South Africa!
Not all the areas have high crime and lots of sharks, and the country is so damn beautiful. Go to the east coast, Cape Town is astounding, some of the wine growing regions are good, avoid Durban + Johnesburg and surrounding areas. Stayed in Plettenburg bay, good surfing, winds ?, no kitesurfing at the time. Great Whites took a surfer two weeks after we left but apparently thats unheard of.
Disclaimer: This info is 6 years out of date.
Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2005 11:27 pm
by tempy
Cape Town - no question. The Summer (our winter) has reliable SE winds. Blouberg beach is kitesurfing and windsurfing paradise, but there are so many beaches there - you will have no problem finding places to kite.
As a sidebar, I remember seeing guys dragging themselves across the shorebreak with "powerkites" in the early 90's in capetown - without boards and a long time before I ever saw kiteboarding.
The crime sucks, but the wine, cheap reastaurants and beaches are awesome. Have a blast.
Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 6:37 am
by Gareth
Cape Town/Port Elizabeth. Both have very predictable winds and great kiting spots. PE has warmer water than CT, but CT is by far the better destnation. It is worth a trip up the east coast to PE, with lots of good spots inbetween. Sharks are more of an issue from East London towards Durban. Common sense prevails with sharks. Ask the locals, and if you get any cuts or are bleeding, get out the water imediately. For better information, go to the links section on this site, under kiteboarding, follow the ikiteboarding link. It is a South African online kiteboarding magazine.
http://www.ikiteboarding.com/
This link has lots of info.
thanks
Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2005 4:07 am
by Canadian kiter
thanks for the great information on south africa. that's about what i figured............makes me all the more sure it will be a destination!
anyone been up the east coast of africa???
Kevin
Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2005 3:48 pm
by Schooled
Only as far up as the top of Namibia. Very dry desert coast, few towns and generally just raw surf on the beach. Rough conditions, but beautiful if you like the desert or sand dunes.
Tyler from bosun's went there and kited I heard.
Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2005 4:54 pm
by tempy
Namibia is on the West Coast (as is Cape Town). The East Coast includes Port Elizabeth, East London, Durban, and all the way upt to Mocambique. I lived north of Durban - water is "tropical"; beaches are steeper, sand is coarser, waves more knarly (pound for pound, IMHO).
There is great surf up theWest Coast - Elands Bay has a beautiful point break that peels away for miles. I can never remember whether it is a left or right - when you are on the wave you are surfing left.
The Cape guys sometimes say they won't swim near Durban because there are more sharks, but the Durban guys remind them False Bay is a Great White breeding ground.
Check out this video of a crazy dude swimming with Great Whites in the Cape.
http://www.towsurfingadventures.com/videos.php
It is the "White Sharks" video
