The weather is awesome in Aug/Sep. So far light winds only on day 1, temps around 28 in day, 22 evening, and cooler at night. Not much humidity, stby for more info on Nin, Brac, Split and other spots, they have a lot of competition with Terrifa still ontop of my list by a mile.
Keen to hear how it works out for you.
Croatia is definitely on my list of places to visit and kite, party and do touristy sh!t.
I have a house on Pelješac, near Viganj :)
So I am biased, being Croatian, however, would trade any EU spot for Cocos Island, not by a mile, but a light year :)
http://www.livecamcroatia.com/en/sportska-dogadanja-live-streaming/opuzen-neretva-kiteboarding-web-streaming/
Timelapse sometimes works. Flat water @Neretva river mouth, comparable with Swan River, WA.
To be fair, 2 weeks in August 2 years ago in Viganj, kited 2 days only. Two weeks on Cocos kited all days, morning and afternoon, 11m, 9m and 6. Epic. Just got back last week.
This is on a day when kited in Cro. Full of windsurfers from Slovenia, learners, like 100 of them, for a whole week (school holidays).
Notice how we launch in Viganj. There is no room for error.
Korcula Island in the background and Viganj below.
Viganj kiting beach:
And this is how we roll them at Croatia, town Korcula:) And no, we do not make a sandwiches with chopped meat....
Missed that on Cocos :)
So I made it to Nin yesterday near Zadar, bummer the wind was only 5 to 10 kts. Spot reminds me of a larger version of Point Walter Perth, no rocks, and knee / waist deep for a long way out. Storm coming tomorrow and local warned of 40 kts with 70 kt winds. The most wind they have had is 120 kts, due to lifting over nearby mountain range.
Woke up sore this morning after finally having 3 days of descent wind at BOL on the island of Brac.
This ain't your typical kite spot, with tourists, water parks, swimmers, pubs, parasailers, windsurfers, charter boats everywhere during the daylight hours. Launching is done by the yellowcat ktesurf school, on a 10 meter by 4 meter piece of astroturf laid over the beach pebbles. As far as I can see, there is no sand on this entire island, and the school has the only available launch area - there are trees everywhere and 6000 foot mountains all around the kitesurf spot, so you have to keep your kite over the water at all times, and just tow yourself in ( no shallow areas either ) Due to the wind needing to be a " seabreeze" to kite, your limited to afternoon sessions only, but the good news is there is a spit that you can fly downwind of if you want a little flat water, or just want an area to launch your big air from.
I was told by a local who had been to Nin, and this place, that the Nerevta was the best spot to be ( up to 400 - 500 kites here in peak season as a result ) So probably give that a crack on my way through, although it's off season now, the wind was good for the 12 meter, but I took the 9 meter hadlow with the 6 line wakestyle setup and it was great, I had no issues kiting about 2km upwind to the spit for some big airs.
Def try Neretva, almost predictable on/off wind. Alot of kiters, smooth water. Sand.
And yes, not much shallow water/sand in whole country, imagine north winds gusting down that mountains ;D (often 60kts+)
There is also spot near Trogir (2 km from Split airport) called "Pantana" (13-19 kts or 0kts). If u in Split or near, take a visit, from 12h to 18h, nice NW wind most of the days over summer and part of the beach is reserved for kiters so not much problems with tourists. Shallow too, unlike Bol.
This year very weird wind, we had A LOT of no wind days this season :|
I left Croatia just under a week ago, after spending approx 10 days there: Dubrovnik, Mljet island, Split, then Rovinj. Didnt see any decent wind in that time, but spoke to a few yachties who were lementing the lack of wind for sailing their crafts this summer. They were saying they were lucky to get 5kts on most afternoons. I freakin love Croatia, up there in my top 3 countries in the world, but as much as I love it, sorry, as a kiting destination, its not on my list at all.
To be honest, after nearly 3 months in Europe now, the place I would go back to armed with a quiver of kites is Provence in the south of France. They have the mistral wind that blows over the camarge - far stronger and more reliable than anything I had witnessed in Spain, Portugal or let alone Croatia. According to the locals the mistral either lasts for 3, 6 or 9 days. Then returns after a short break. Plus there is heaps to see and do when the wind is off.
Select to expand quotePhoney said..
I left Croatia just under a week ago, after spending approx 10 days there: Dubrovnik, Mljet island, Split, then Rovinj. Didnt see any decent wind in that time, but spoke to a few yachties who were lementing the lack of wind for sailing their crafts this summer. They were saying they were lucky to get 5kts on most afternoons. I freakin love Croatia, up there in my top 3 countries in the world, but as much as I love it, sorry, as a kiting destination, its not on my list at all.
To be honest, after nearly 3 months in Europe now, the place I would go back to armed with a quiver of kites is Provence in the south of France. They have the mistral wind that blows over the camarge - far stronger and more reliable than anything I had witnessed in Spain, Portugal or let alone Croatia. According to the locals the mistral either lasts for 3, 6 or 9 days. Then returns after a short break. Plus there is heaps to see and do when the wind is off.
Hey mate, would there be issues with lots of people in summer on the beach in Provence?
I heard that in summer in the med coast in France that the wind is pretty light.
Where did you check in spain/portugal?
I reckon you cant really go wrong with the countries on the north sea in western europe. Kited Netherlands this year and it was lots of fun.
"Hey mate, would there be issues with lots of people in summer on the beach in Provence? "
Not on some beaches eg: Beauduc beach. Otherwise the Camargue is a giant river delta / salt marshes. Miles and miles of flat water with no humans, only pink flamingoes. You can kite in several locations there too. But, you need a car.
"I heard that in summer in the med coast in France that the wind is pretty light. Where did you check in spain/portugal?"
Well its the first time Ive really spend much time there, but from that experience Provence was definitely the windiest I'd experienced. A friend of mine who is a local said that the mistral NE winds are regular every summer.
As for Spain/Portugal, I drove for 4200 kms from Barcelona to San Sebastian, along the the north coast into the north of Portugal to Algarve, then out to the south of Spain and up and middle to Madrid. The only decent wind I saw was in Algarve in Portugal on one day. At Rio Alvor at the river mouth were 30 - 40 kiters. I paid 85 euro to hire gear for 4 hours. I got my fix :) There were kiters on the beach too but it was cross offshore. Oh, there was also OK wind and a few kiters out at Cascais near Lisbon. 35C day and the water was bloody freezing! Like bone chilling cold.
"I reckon you cant really go wrong with the countries on the north sea in western europe. Kited Netherlands this year and it was lots of fun."
How was the water temp? (I'm a big wuss when it comes to the cold)
Select to expand quotePhoney said..
"Hey mate, would there be issues with lots of people in summer on the beach in Provence? "
Not on some beaches eg: Beauduc beach. Otherwise the Camargue is a giant river delta / salt marshes. Miles and miles of flat water with no humans, only pink flamingoes. You can kite in several locations there too. But, you need a car.
"I heard that in summer in the med coast in France that the wind is pretty light. Where did you check in spain/portugal?"
Well its the first time Ive really spend much time there, but from that experience Provence was definitely the windiest I'd experienced. A friend of mine who is a local said that the mistral NE winds are regular every summer.
As for Spain/Portugal, I drove for 4200 kms from Barcelona to San Sebastian, along the the north coast into the north of Portugal to Algarve, then out to the south of Spain and up and middle to Madrid. The only decent wind I saw was in Algarve in Portugal on one day. At Rio Alvor at the river mouth were 30 - 40 kiters. I paid 85 euro to hire gear for 4 hours. I got my fix :) There were kiters on the beach too but it was cross offshore. Oh, there was also OK wind and a few kiters out at Cascais near Lisbon. 35C day and the water was bloody freezing! Like bone chilling cold.
"I reckon you cant really go wrong with the countries on the north sea in western europe. Kited Netherlands this year and it was lots of fun."
How was the water temp? (I'm a big wuss when it comes to the cold)
Cool, good to know. Provence sounds sweet.
Water temp in netherlands in July was good! Probably 20 degrees some days during the day air temp but water was probably around 17. Likewise in denmark. I heard that portugal has really cold water for some reason.
Oh thats not bad at all!
Yeah west and north coasts of Portugal get deep water cold currents get swept up from the Atlantic. So I was told. Good for seafood, no good for swimming. South coast Algarve region is closer to the med so much warmer though.
