Thinking about going to Aitutaki in July this year, any body been there at that time of year ? (Always a gamble but who cares the place looks amazing).
Any hints, tips etc.?
Looking at going with Kiteboardaitutaki.com out of the shaky islands
Worlds most beautiful Kiteboarding destination
Be good to have you along;....We have some wind stats u can check at http://kiteboardaitutaki.com/wind-weather.html...
Having said that, this year, 2017 was really good in parts and not so hot in others...we lucked in as the down periods were between our trip dates....
the 'season' started soft, ran true to form in the middle and then blew its head off for all of august after our season (supposedly) finished. (wouldn't ya know!)
You have to remember its the Pacific...its relies on frontal or high pressure systems providing nice SE on the top edge during winter; its not like Africa or Brasil where you have thermal winds generated by big land masses.....you have to take what you get in the pacific...it DOES come and go... generally in cycles.
As u say, other stuff to do on down days....we managed 7 -8.5 sailing days out of 10 on this year's trips.....some of it on 15m, some of it on 7s.......quite a range....pretty normal.
FYREF trip 2 sold out, deadlines (airline) looming from early January for bookings for others....check the www
BrianM/kiteboardaitutaki.com
Select to expand quotewishy said..
Capetown would be 20x better than grovelling around the tropics in 15 knots.
Have you ever been to Cape Town in July. It's just as bad as Perth at that time of year if not worse.
Hey cansyd If you get that time travel sorted and can go back to July this year look at the winds for Mauritius I think they had a good season
Spoke with a bunch of people who'd been there
They described the place as beautiful
The wind as ordinary
Getting there and getting around once there as a pain in the arse
And the tour guides as price gouging
Go for a holiday with kiting as a second need as the winds are not that supper reliable and you need to get a boat out to the good spots. If you fly fish like I do then its world class but yes the lagoon is beautiful. If you want to just go kiting then much better places, Kitesurfari Australia comes to mind and winds in July are epic providing your not after waves.
Google top 10 places to kitesurf. Aitutaki is in the list from the top sailors. I went last September. Was on the water 4/5 days. Was epic. Need booties due to lots of coral as well as sea cucumbers. Water was an amazing colour, locals friendly and like an untouched paradise. Highly recommend. Si
all the south pacific islands trade winds are exactly that trade winds. great if your in a spanish fleet. basicly ****house if your on a kite or windsurer. the locals all use 13m kites (think about that)
15 knots is GOOD like EPIC
honestly you can get a week with below 10 knots.
i know all this from personal experience. have poorly decided to spend 2 whole winters there.
if i was you guys id just be a bogan jump in ya hilux and camp up north qld or north wa for the winter. miles cheaper same wind if not better and you can live on a budget of woolies and coles.
Just back from 2 weeks in the Cooks at Aitutaki, lucky to have scored 11 days of wind out of the 14, most days it was on th 12m but it was windier on about 5 days were I could use the 10. Most days we were out at Honeymoon with the other crews but after a lot of trips there we stumbled across a nice sand bar of the bottom of the main island with cross shore winds which provided some great kiting and only 5 minutes from our accommodation, there was an old building there so for our benefit we named in 'The Shack'. Worth checking out if you are on the island and couldn't be stuffed taking the boat to the outer motu's for a kite.
Give the team at Kite Republic in St Kilda Melbourne a call as they are doing these trips each year, in fact they are there at the moment. They could advise on beaches, conditions etc.
Just back from trip 2, 11/11 kite days, everything from 15m to 7m + foil.....not bad at all....everyone got out, no crazy conditions at either end....understand there is a wind hole right now and hope it goes away before we get there next sunday!
Lots of folks overcook this place, but if its good, its great...if not, its like anywhere that isn't windy enough......
The Kite Republic Aitutaki tour I did in Aug last year was awesome, and really well run. So was Quinton's family at Aitutaki water sports. Seven and a half windy days out of ten was plenty for us, and ultimately happy for the rest days to kick around the island.
Only thing is how do you top perfect. Will be going back for sure...
Select to expand quotefanfare said..
all the south pacific islands trade winds are exactly that trade winds. great if your in a spanish fleet. basicly ****house if your on a kite or windsurer. the locals all use 13m kites (think about that)
15 knots is GOOD like EPIC
honestly you can get a week with below 10 knots.
i know all this from personal experience. have poorly decided to spend 2 whole winters there.
if i was you guys id just be a bogan jump in ya hilux and camp up north qld or north wa for the winter. miles cheaper same wind if not better and you can live on a budget of woolies and coles.
So when I sail through with my fleet of Spanish manowars it should be great ?
