Anthony
Since 07 Oct 2008
362 Posts
Salem
Obsessed
CGKA Member
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 Sun Dec 18, 11 5:44 pm Viva La Ventana |
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This is my first trip to La Ventana and definitely not my last.
Arrived in La Paz at about 4:30. Sunset is before 6:00. Got out of airport by 5:30. Rented a car($110 for the car VW Jet, 330+ for the insurance and taxes). Get the max insurance, you do not want to deal with the police if you are not full covered. If you are not going to drive, there are several shuttles available. About a mile out of the airport the federal police pulled over that Ford F-250 right in front of me for speeding. Lucky me, bad day for him. It is easy to speed here, with the lower speed limits and speeds in kph. Go slow!! Stocked up on food at Walmart and got Pecos. Dollars are not used much here. If you just skip Walmart and go to the next big food store (Sorianas) on the right, they have a much better selection. Driving in Mexico in is challenging, especially at night. The road from La Paz to La Ventana is narrow and dark with lots of open range animals. I just got behind a Mexican driver for most of the journey. It took about 40+ minutes. Most of the places to stay are on a dirt street toward the beach. There are lot of road drop offs, so beware. Think of it as driving on rural county roads in Eastern Oregon / Washington. No shoulders!!!
Do the math before traveling down here, you could easily save time by driving from Cabo and not need that transfer in LAX. What a miserable airport, LAX! (Missed flight back and day late for work). Sadly, there are no shuttles from Cabo yet, I know of.
I came here to have consistent wind and safe beach to learn kiteboarding. It has been a long time coming, most of my coastal windsurfing friends (LC and Newport) switched to kites about 8 to 10 years ago. I was waiting until technology to make it safer. I should state that I have taken kiteboarding lessons before by differing instructors who are good to oh god they actually let you teach. From my experiences, I choose Newwinds Kiteboarding, Jim Bison. Being a windsurfer for 30 years, I have to state that bar skills to boom skills have no relationship. Needed to break that pull on the bar reaction from windsurfing. I had five days straight of kiteboarding! On the last day, I was getting water starts and short rides. Yea!!! There is a fairly consistent thermal wind from 11:00 to 4:30.
I started kiting with wetsuit top and board shorts. By the end of the week I was using a 3/2 mm suit. I would suggest a 4/3 suit, if you get cold. Weared booties for the sharp rock and urchins. There are several restaurants to eat out. Most of the local grocery stores are called Mini-Supers with beer / chips/ soda. The best grocery store in the area is on the north end of the strip, you need to drive past the pavement on to the dirt road.
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