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New winter destination: Sao Vicente (Cape Verde island)

 
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mvandijk

Since 29 Sep 2011
1 Posts
Sao Vicente, Cape Verde
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PostThu Sep 29, 11 7:50 am    New winter destination: Sao Vicente (Cape Verde island) Reply with quote

We (I'm from Holland, Ola is from Poland) set up a kitesurf centre on Sao Vicente (one of the Cape Verde islands).

Wind is super consistent. The orientation of the beaches is such that with the trade winds coming from N-NE early and late in the windy season and NE in the middle of the windy season, we have a long period of useable wind from the start of October to beyond the end of June. The statistics from windguru 2008 & 2009 (confirmed in the 2010/2011season when we measure on the beach) are very impressive.
We measure useable wind as % of time during the day (not night) with 11-25 knots in a good direction (cross-shore or cross-onshore). Here they are:
October 92%
November 99%
December 96%
January 87%
February 96%
March 85%
April 97%
May 99%
June 95%
The exception to these statistics is when we have a global weather change that affects the trade winds. The one that impacts Sao Vicente is La Nina during the fall/winter/spring (this happened in the October 2009 – February 2010 but is not predicted to come back soon).

There are more than 6 kitesurf spots all within a max of 30min drive of eachother with varying conditions (wind from left/right, waves smaller/bigger, waves breaking left/right). Although we do have small areas with flat water (including one where you can stand), the only limitation of Sao Vicente is that we do not have a very large area with flat water without swell where you can stand knee to waist deep. We have our center on Salamansa which is a large bay with sandy beach, no coral, no beach break, al little flat water area upwind and a point break at the far (upwind) end of the bay.

What’s also worth mentioning: Cape Verde is a catholic country. Sao Vicente (and the island close to it: Santo Antao) are beautiful and unspoilt with genuine Capeverdian culture (morabeza). The city of Mindelo in Sao Vicente is super fun and famous for its musicians and other artists.


Sao Vicente can be reached from Portland and Seattle connecting with a wednesday flight from Amsterdam to Sao Vicente with TACV, an airline from Cape Verde (Tel: 617-472-2431, e-mail: dboston@tacv.aero)

If you want more information, please contact us or visit our website on: http://www.kitesurfnow.us

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wydahokiter

Since 12 Jul 2011
25 Posts

 



PostWed Jan 17, 18 2:06 pm    Cape Verde Reply with quote

Thank you for your replys.Sounds like Cape Verde is the better option for wind and waves in April. Which island is best? Seems like Sal gets the most publicity because of Mitu.

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