USA best kiteboarding places

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flakes
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USA best kiteboarding places

Post by flakes » Wed Jul 23, 2014 5:23 am

Hello folks,

First of all, sorry for probably duplicating post (though hard to find among the thousands of posts) or articles.

This is probably an already discussed topic, though I've to say I've no idea what to trust and I've never been kiting in US so far, so i'd like to take advice from local people.

I'm new here, from Switzerland and currently living in Shanghai, I'm kiting for about 8 years but more intensively the last two years. Kiteboarding has become my passion.

I'll have the opportunity to move to US next year and having quite flexible location, I'd like to have your advice guys of where the best wind is.

When i'm talking about wind, I'm talking about 15 knots at least and nothing bigger than a 12m kite.

So on the bay area, how many days per month or how many weekends can you kite each month ? Location, season, .. Is there any stable thermal wind ?

Do you usually do weekend trips to some places by car / airplane ?

What about Los Angeles and around Miami ?

Also any advice what's also the best place considering personal life.


Thanks for your advices !

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kitenaked
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Re: USA best kiteboarding places

Post by kitenaked » Wed Jul 23, 2014 8:18 am

SF Bay Area is a great place. Regular season April to September or October. Should fit what you are looking for.
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le noun
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Re: USA best kiteboarding places

Post by le noun » Wed Jul 23, 2014 9:56 am

The bay area is awesome like Chris just said. We have a good season going from march/April to September/October with a mix of strong clearing winds from the northwest which lights up the coast and 3 avenue. Or thermal winds which takes place at Sherman (takes me an hour driving from downtown SF) during the summer months.
The good thing is : when our season ends, your are 3 hours away by plane from Cabo (Baja California) so you can get your fix there as the season is the opposite as ours.
September and October you can also jump on an hour flight and get up north to the gorge.
Winter isn't bad for us in the bay area either: when rain storms hit you can kite the front of the storm (south winds, so spots usually not rideable become useable) but you have to be ON IT as the wind will blow all of a sudden and then die pretty quickly.

Best thing to do though is what I started this year: kite in the spring and summer and surf in the fall and winter. :)

On the east coast, I've heard that cap Hatteras has a good amount of wind all year long too.
Hawaii could be an option as well.

Hope this helps!
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Re: USA best kiteboarding places

Post by Thor29 » Wed Jul 23, 2014 10:17 am

I don't have personal experience outside the Bay Area, but my understanding is that Cape Hatteras, the Hood River in Oregon, and maybe South Padre Island in Texas are the main competitors to the Bay Area for good kiteboarding. Other locations might have wind, but not nearly so much or so consistent (although this year has been unusually weak inside the Bay). The other locations can't compare to the Bay Area for non-kiteboarding urban activities but I bet the cost of living is a lot lower. On the other hand, there's more to life than kiteboarding (blasphemy!) and you might want to visit Texas or Florida before you make the horrible mistake of relocating there.

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Re: USA best kiteboarding places

Post by ozreiuosn » Wed Jul 23, 2014 10:18 am

It might be important to note that to fully embrace all the sites the Bay Area has to offer, you'll need a car.

No "what bus can I take? anyone want to carpool?" nonsense

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Re: USA best kiteboarding places

Post by ozchrisb » Wed Jul 23, 2014 10:28 am

Thor29 wrote:although this year has been unusually weak inside the Bay
Really? The last two weeks have been lightish at Crissy, but up until then it's been insanely windy! Even the poleboarders agree.

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Re: USA best kiteboarding places

Post by drroc » Wed Jul 23, 2014 10:58 am

The coast for the past two weeks seems to be less windy than last two seasons.

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Re: USA best kiteboarding places

Post by victor » Fri Jul 25, 2014 11:16 am

no personal experience but for LA area I understand you need to go big if you want to ride regularly.

SF bay area is great if you have a car. during the season there's usually some place within an hour or less you can ride with at least a 12M. 10M is my go-to kite around here and there are plenty of 8M days. not to mention the area has a lot more to offer than most kite destinations, although cost of living may not be as affordable.

i spent a week in St.Petersburg, FL and it looked like a pretty good place for kiting. i got 4 out of 7 days in february. i understand that more kites are sold in florida than anywhere else.

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Re: USA best kiteboarding places

Post by dwaynej » Fri Jul 25, 2014 12:47 pm

Belmont Shores pretty much dominates the local scene in Los Angeles with many days blowing 18kts+ so good for 10/12/14 depending on your body size. There are other spots such as Seal Beach, Malibu, and a little further way Lake Isabela. Northern California is pretty good.

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Re: USA best kiteboarding places

Post by NCKite_Ryder » Fri Jul 25, 2014 3:31 pm

I rank the states as follows:

1. Maui
2. Hatteras
3. Waddell (I don't consider this the bay)
4. Oregon Coast
5. The Gorge (would be higher but has a small season)
6. SF Bay
8. South Padre
7. Florida
8. Seattle and The Sound
9. *Wyoming (Jackson Hole)
10. *Camas Valley (Idaho)

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