Aruba - Labor Day Weekend

[markkites]

Anyone going or have been? Any suggestions?

[al-kite-ah]

i have been a few times i might have a few suggestions.....call me 813 260 0262...allen

[ricki]

I would plan on renting a car to get around. Last time I was there they had some reasonable rates. Fisherman's Hut near the northern lee of the island is where a lot of the development is, historical windsurfing activity and some kiting schools. Thing is, the wind is offshore there and fairly gusty. You should check it out and be sure to pay to have a recovery boat laid on. What I figured out was to ride the largest board available and a larger kite accepting the launch may be a bit intense. You want to be real careful how you launch as a result. Once you are offshore, the lulls will drop you off plane all too frequently if you are on a smaller kite and/or board.

Boca Grande is a drive down the island and to the windward shore. The bay is pretty tight, wind near onshore at times. Despite that it can be a great place to ride and the best part of the trip, at least in my experience. Touring the island the rest of the time by car is interesting too.

Have a good trip

Here is a "Photo of the Day" post from a while back on the island ...

07-15-2008, 11:30 AM
What's going on down in Aruba, well 3 years ago anyway?


Fisherman's Hut, a picturesque area with a long standing following of windsurfers and kiters in recent years. There are still off hours for kiting during the day in the area of the Huts and south. The water is flat calm with gusty offshore wind. It is an interesting place to learn to kite. No waves to deal with, shallow water and some particularly gusty winds. I am wondering if learning there when you move to more steady winds you might actually be better trained to deal with things? Flat kites have to have helped a lot with managing the gusts for kiters.




Shredding before a wreck. I only went off Fishermans twice while I was there. Near as I can tell the trick, particularly for heavier kiters is to rig as big as you can reasonably manage, use a big board and be real cautious during launch and landing. The lulls while you are out may be pronounced. The larger board will help you continue to plane through lulls while the larger kite will help you eek out more grunt to deal with the holes. Armand is a good guy to hookup with over there for lessons and gear, http://arubakitesurfingschool.com/. Oh, if you ride off Fisherman's Hut be sure to pay for the tender pickup service if you get blown offshore. It happens.




Boca Grande off the SE portion of Aruba is an interesting place to ride. You have windward shore winds near onshore to side onshore and a barrier reef to ease the waves somewhat. The problem is it is a fairly small area probably containing a dozen or so kiters. That assuming the tack offshore away from the beach against the wind. You will want a rental car to access areas outside the resort around Fisherman Hut.




Riding off the south end of the bay. I went outside through the narrow channel through the reef several times. The waves can be big outside, 10 ft. or better. It pays to look behind you as you're heading out to memorize shore points for your return. You don't want to come in over the reef in inches of water with large following breaking waves! You may be able to ride in the shallow bay just north of Boca Grande at high tide. Still, there are lots of rocks to strike and at low tide I wouldn't even bother. I was looking at Google Earth, a few other prospects showed up around the island with pluses and minuses for more advanced riders.




A natural rock bridge along the windward side of the island. No end of interesting rock exposures, tormented trees and arid sights across the island.



Aruba is a scenic place with some interesting haunts to visit and ride at. Some are more challenging than others for more advanced riders looking for something different outside Fisherman's Hut. Then there are those ABC Island latitude winds, mighty fine as a rule.

[markkites]

Thanks Rick, thanks a lot Allen for all the great tips and info...