Kite south America

green turtle kiter · Since 11 Jul 2009 48 Posts

Looking for a kite vacation over Christmas. I have two non kiter teenagers who needs diversions while I am kiting. Looking to kite waves.

Did some cursory research on brazil - natal and taiba. And Venezuela. And Peru.

Any recommendations?

MasViento · Since 03 Mar 2009 235 Posts 97031 Stoked

-Personally I would say Jeri, in Brazil. The town has some other excursions and beachy activities for the younger crew including buggy rides, horseback riding, and trips to inland lagoons and sand dunes with land board riding. the beach is calm and tranquil on the Jeri side of La Pedra Furhada. Many places to stay and eat in all proce ranges in Jeri.

-Stay away from Cumbuco especially with teenagers, lots of trouble to get into there including : working girls (who will drug and rob you), drugs, petty theft. Locals with beer muscles and huge egos in lagoons on the wknds.

-There is very little if any reliable wind in Natal. I have been there a few times for business and never regretted not having gear.
-Venezuela you have isla margarita, el coche, and los roces but the windy time there is Feb-May.
-La Ventana, Mex. is a good bet for winter wind. However the activities there can be limited for non-kiters. I would suggest the larger town of Los Barilles. More to do there and larger variety of restaurants. You can find mountain bikes and four wheelers to rent, snorkel , spearfish and deep sea fish by charter. Also swimming with the whale sharks in La Paz bay is highly recommended.
-Playa copal in Costa Rica is windy at that time, but not a damn thing to do there if you dont kite. Food is crumby and lots of sea creatures to wreak havoc on you including jelly fish, sea urchins, sting rays all of which I encountered the 9 days I was there.
Hope this helps.

Vaya con Dios, e

The windy list for December on Kiteforum reads like this :

December
Melbourne, Tucus-Brazil, Western Oz, cape town-South Africa, La ventana-mexico, Namibia, Copal-Costa Rica, Mui Ne Bay-Vietnam, Auckland-NZ, Nashiro-Japan, Baja, New Caledonia, Boracay-philipines, Buenos aires-Argentina, Carmelo-Uruguay, Monastir-Tunisia, Hong Kong, Leucate-France, Cape Hatteras-USA, Tarifa, Puclaro-Chile, Yemen-Red Sea, Zanzibar

Chooch · Wed Sep 07, 11 4:57 pm

Chile hands down. The entire country is family friendly, very safe. Amazing waves up and down the coast not to mention some of the most amazing country side in the world.

Nak · Wed Sep 07, 11 6:08 pm

I would avoid Venezuela with your family. Period. If you can fly direct to Porlamor on Isla Margarita, then it would be OK. But there is no way in hell I would ever take kids through Caracas. The Airport Police are more likely to mug you than the regular scumbags. I've flown all over the world, and I've been scared twice. Once when three assholes tried to kidnap me at knifepoint in Malaysia, the other time was spending the night in Caracas.

If you do go through Caracas, there's a guy here on the forum that has a travel agency in Hood River. ( I forget his name... Embarassed

) he set us up with a guard in Caracas; the guy was simply outstanding! DO NOT go through the Caracas airport without a guard unless you don't look American and you do speak fluent Spanish.

Scriffler · Since 03 Jul 2005 581 Posts LYLE Addicted

If you want waves at christmas go to Chile. I was there at Christmas and all the locals kept saying,"wait till Christmas." Sure enough Christmas day it turned on like someone flipped a switch and it was huuuuuuuge! The wind came up and I kited the biggest waves I have ever kited. It ended with a near drowning, but it all makes for a good story. Everyone I talked to there said there is always waves at Christmas. You have literally 100s of world class waves along a 10 hour drive of coast.

As far as the kids, Santiago has everything you could ever want in terms of a cultured city. Mass transit makes it easy to get around and your kids would like it. It is about 3 hours from kiting, but you have unlimited options from Pichilemu to Matanzas, I would also be worth it to rent a car and take the kids south towards Patagonia. It would be a life changing experience. Plus good kiting all the way south.

Put all this together with the favorable exchange rate and cheap cost of living, you have the vacation of a lifetime.

Scriffler · Since 03 Jul 2005 581 Posts LYLE Addicted

Dude, Caracas isn't that bad. I was there as a kid all the time and was fine. Is it extra dangerous now?

Nak · Wed Sep 07, 11 6:48 pm

Yeah, Venezuela used to be the Switzerland of South America. Times have changed. Chavez has REALLY screwed up that country. When we told the LOCALS in Isla De Coche that we had to spend the night in Caracas on our way home, they literally begged us not to spend the night there, or even go through there if we could avoid it. We had no choice, but we really looked forward to that night in Caracas after that! Rolling Eyes

The European and Canadian airlines go direct to Isla Margarita just to avoid Caracas.

If you know your way around you're probably OK, but if you're just a dumb American... It's gone way downhill over the last decade. I feel so sorry for the Venezuelans, because Chavez has simply ruined their economy and their country.

green turtle kiter · Since 11 Jul 2009 48 Posts

A lot of useful information. You guys saved me a ton of potential headache and maybe even danger.

marybear · Since 06 Aug 2007 75 Posts thehood

chile consistent southern hemi swells and safe travels