South Padre Island Update

[Steve-O]

In SPI until next Thursday.

In a word, kiteboarding paradise.

-miles and miles of shallow, clear, flat, warm water
-miles and miles of coastline with great waves
-free bus to get you back
-consistent winds like you would expect in the Carribean
-cheap lodging with some hotels on the beach for 40 bucks a night
-great camping weather

Why haven't you been here???

More to come......

[Danimal8199]

From our earlier conversation this sounds like it has so far, exceeded your expectations, would you say?

Or was this what you expected?

Did you drive or fly and if you flew, what airport did you fly into?

[Tony]

Steve - O -

Love to hear how the wind is blowing. I am from Dallas, TX and have been to SPI several times before I was a kiter. I have heard Corpus is great as well. Danny - you fly into Harlingen TX on Southwest Airlines. Very close drive.

[jim]

went to corpus last august. wind comes up every day about 1 pm and blows till sunset. SE15-20. easy flight on sw from tampa

[Steve-O]

Dream session today.

Rode all day on a 6m and my surfboard. The waves are like nothing I have seen, clean, and organized even with that much wind on it.

Amazing and yes Danny it far exceeds my expectations. I have only rode here a day and it blows away any session I had in Hatteras both years I went.

There is no end in sight.

[Steve-O]

Haven't checked in lately cuz it's freakin blowin all the time here.

Ok the bad stuff. There is always bad stuff.

The beach is nasty compared to home. Lots of garbage and almost a muddy feel. Sand is blowing every where and sticks to everything. Very damp here.

The flats are huge but very gusty. On lighter winds of 15-20 it is more noticeable. When it fills in it's not too bad. It is also very crowded. I will post some picks but no lie on the weekend there are a few hundred cars out there.

On the flats no one knows what there doing. Take 30-40 people, give them 0-2 hours in lessons, add some 30 -35knot winds, throw in another 30 newbies, and you have what is known as the SPI flats. Sadler would have a heart attack. That is no joke.

The good news is you can find places away from the crazyness. There is alot of space out here. I have spent all my sessions in the gulf. At it's peak the wave faces on the outside were 12-15 feet. Spent 4 days out there with a surfboard and a 6 or 9m. The downwind run is about 6 miles and there are taxi vans waiting for you at the finish. $3.00 per person. Beats waiting for the trolley.

Wind records show that May is the best month with at least 15 days it blows 25 or more.

With all that said, will be back next year. It's a very inexpensive trip and I can see why kiters from all over come here in droves. It's like a ski town for kiters.

Over and out.

Tony, thought I would add that people around here say it's alot prettier than corpus. Can't imagine it getting much worse.

[conchxpress]

This was my view last June on the beach side. But it was before the hurricanes. Hardly saw anybody on the flats. I went with Air Padre and maybe they had some "secret" spots. My biggest disappointment was that I expected the Mexican food to be a lot better. I did find that the Padre Island Brewing Company had good food and great craft beers. I was there for four days and it blew 20-25 everyday. Sounds like things have changed. I definitely would go back. Although, if you're with a non-kiter, there's not much for them to do, besides hang out on the beach.

[RM3001]

Can anyone recommend a decent hotel on the beach that you ride from?

Thanks!

[Steve-O]

We stayed at La Quinta on the north end. Close to the flats and a great place to end a downwinder. Pack up your stuff and hop in the hot tub. Call a taxi and do it all over again.

I think this place is the busiest in the spring. Talking to most kiters they are from places up north where they are still waiting for the snow to melt. By June they are good to go all over the place. That probably explains the lack of kiters in June.

I would not bring your significant other unless she is up for adventure.

I find the beach dirty, the town dirty, and the restaurants are average to below.

Bottom line is once again I really appreciate what we have. We may not get it everyday but we sure have beautiful places to ride and so many choices.

[KenBrackins]

I think RM3001 was asking if there are any "gay friendly" hotels he can stay at. I will be going for the Kiter Roundup and would like info on the opposite.