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have you been there kiteboarding? and what was your experience? there are a couple of companies who organise trips, wondering which one is recomended
how is the wind, and whats the best time of year to go.
also is it expensive?
thanks
dave
august and september are the months to go for the most reliable winds. it blew non-stop 20 knots or more for 8 of the 10 days i was there. small land mass has no effect on winds, so it just blows and blows all day and night, no slacking off at sunset or anything.
visit rarotonga for the tourism and island life, but visit aitutaki for the kiting. flatwater heaven. hold on i'll upload some photos and post them here.
awesome been looking at booking tickets for Rarotonga for June - staying at the rarotongan - it even has a wave nearby although the island from what I can gather isnt that good for sure but would like to know more...
seems a flatwater kiting heaven though... especially Aitutaki!!!
There are no rideable waves that i found, no. the pacific swell basically breaks upon 15cm of reef, there are 2 breaks on rarotonga that i know some locals surf occasionally, but generally speaking there is nowhere to kite the waves. the flat water is incredible though, especially aitutaki.
Went twice last year, August typical up/down/southern hemisphere trade wind cycle...not constant but darn nice for 3 days on the trot with 10M...either side 12m for another couple of days...so all in all around 5 days out of 8..
In late September we hit a flat spot of 8 days with NO wind...on top of a week that was the same....15 days, flat calm!
Its not like WA, Maui or Egypt where you have 'on-time' wind.....it varies.
You can see some wind data on a tour operators site at www.kiteboardaitutaki.com.
If you want flat warm water, its heaven...papaya & tuna ain't bad either and only 3.5 hours ex Auckland!
Hi Neill, Iam heading over to the Cooks in August 
and plan to stay at Raratonga for 4 days then Aitutaki for 3 days, I know Aitutaki is THE place but is Raratonga also good for kiting 
Iam so stoked to be going over there just hope that the wind co operates while there. Also what gear did you take, ie kites, boards, wetties etc and is the weather good at this time of the year as I really want to pack minimum clothes.
Thanks
Wayne
Hi wayne. you can kite at rarotonga, yes. the winds will be south or south east trades usually, so you can kite anywhere from the very southern tip of the island round (anti clockwise) to the north east tip. the best spots are muri lagoon (where the sailing club is) or down on the southern tip where the lagoon is a bit bigger. watch out for the brain coral which is just under the surface! honestly it's not the best spot in the world but the scenery makes up for it.
don't bother taking a wetsuit, just boardies and a rash shirt. i only took a single 11m kite but i would have been happier with a 9. it was pretty solid wind when i was there, but experiences vary. the weather will be just a matter of luck - i had 7 out of 10 sunny days and temperatures go from 24 to 27 degrees, little variation at night. very nice temps.
enjoy!
Hi Wayne...here's some info I passed on to someone else recently....might be useful...
about Aitutaki
See the wind rose data on the site at http://kiteboardaitutaki.com/aitutaki-wind-weather.htm
There is a 'windier' period from late April to end of September..
Statistically, Aitutaki gets more wind than Raro but..
It's not like some parts of the world where there is a "doctor' - type wind that arrives at a certain time each day as a big hunk of land heats up nearby..
The south pacific trades tend to go in cycles and generally they start to build and you get a day or two on your 14m, then you shift to the twelve for a day or so then you have 3 ripping 20Kt days on a 10m and then it declines in reverse order...so you get these 5-8 day cycles of rise and fall..
And the Big Rule..there is no rule!
In August last year we had exactly that cycle, in Late September it went 16 days flat calm!
So, no guarantees but from our investigations with the Cooks MetService and evaluating the AIT airport Metar data, anytime from May to end September is bankable.
As for strength, the wind rose gives you the monthly data..
(can't get the graphic to load)
It shows main direction to be ESE,
20% of days over 22kt,
5 % from 17-21kt
and you need to add that to the
17% from the east at 17-21kt
+ the 19% from the ene at 11-17kt to get the full picture.
Complicated? Seems so initially but what it shows is in June is on around 60% of the days, the wind is over 11kt and of that 60% around a third are 20kt+
... there are plenty of stronger days as well
I haven't found any Gorge or Freemantle or Hurdigah type conditions anywhere in the South Pacific.the closest you might get would be Maui~or maybe the Cocos
When is it windiest?
Data shows End July, through August, September to be most reliable..but even January when it's hot & sticky has windy periods from the North!
Is gear available for hire?
Not from us, but there will be IKO instructors up there from June and they were planning to have gear available; I'm waiting to hear what their final position and pricing is...want me to let u know when I find out?
How much?
Not fixed, see above.
As for Muri, agree with previous post; its really the only spot if you don't want to dodge bommies all the time or sail outside the reef!
But its nice, warm and generally 10-12m kites...
(Ditto for Aitutaki...and if you had an 8 or 9 for cranking days, I'd take it too!)
There are waves on Raro. Have a look at the maps and sus out where the reef passes are!!!. They can turn on on different tides. There are also a couple of other waves around. Without giving away specifics, there is a heavy left where planes are just over head. Another that is no secret is the Rarotongan. All breaks are HEAVY and break in very shallow water. its not world class and as a surfing destination, there are better options for the money. But saying that, its a fun place and worth a visit. I had to surf alone most of the time, i.e crouds should not be an issue.
Thanks for the info guys, I guess Ill take both 11m and 9m Revs and one board ( Litewave Rasta ), great news not needing a wetty.
Cheers
Wayne
