I'm heading up to Port Douglas for a week at the start of July. Just wondering what the conditions have been like. I'm 90kg and was planning on taking my 9 and 12 with my twin tip. Am I correct in assuming it's a waste of time taking a surfboard?
cheers for any tips.
Not a waste of time. Take it if you have the room. You can do a small down winder from the rigging area to the surf club (just land well upwind of the swimming area). The waves are not the surfing variety but good enough to hack at. Give Bretto from Windswell a call for other locations as well. Have fun.
I would only consider taking it if you don't have a big kite to take. I'II be there the same week, I take a 14m each year and find I can generally get out most days with this size. I weigh 88kg.
Might have fluked it but has been quite windy and after a day or 2 off looks to be crankin again- take everything seems good advice to me- dont have high expectations- brown water And trick landing wavelength chop no super reliable trades but it for sure can crank..... Warm tho - loads of plates with "victoria the place to be" on them.
Was there last week for 5 days. Wind was variable.
One guy on a 17 was able to be out the whole time.
Everyone was pumped on the beach.
I flew everything from a 10 - 17.
66kgs... twin
going the 29th of june to cairns also then port douglas fromt he 4th.. can. not. wait.
It was good up there today after 2pm. Good breeze, mid tide, lots of friendly faces. Great place to kite, much better than Yorkeys Knob. 7m for the ladies, 9-11m for the men.
Yep. That is right on the money. 7m or 8 mt for the ladies and above for the blokes. The winds there are generally 5 to 10 knots higher (not gustier) than Yorkys. I was at PD last week and the winds were a tad over my limit. Drove back to Yorkys and they were perfect 18 to 20 knots, for my 10mt kite. Be prepared to drive around for the right winds and don't ignore Elise beach. That place is a kite mecca waiting to be fully discovered IMO.
Another option if the wind dosn't come in at Port Douglas is Cooktown. It's about 3 and a half hours drive on sealed roads from Port Douglas, but can be well worth it. The wind comes in at Cooktown alot more reliably than Port. Point Archer is 20 minutes drive south of town and has an awesome lagoon with flattsih water at mid to high tide and breaking swell/waves behind the reef. Loads of turtles, dugongs, fish and 1 small shark spotted. You dont need a 4wd to get there unlike some of the other spots around cooktown. I was there about 2 months ago and the wind blew at around 30 knots for 5 days straight, day and night. Port is great, but cooktown is way better for consistant wind, if you want to kite everyday.
Kiting at Cooktown: 5 stars
Thanks for sharing, how would you compare this spot to Annan river in terms of sheltered camping and kiting ?
We didnt get down to Annan River as we had no 4wd. We drove down the track at the golf couse entrance a couple of kms but it was too sandy. Definately need a 4wd to get there. We also tried to walk through the golf course to the beach but theres too much thick forest and a creek to cross. Could have kited up wind to Annan River if we got through the golf course. Apparently its a great kiting area. The beaches on the northern side of the river in town looked good too, but they needed a 4wd to get there.
