July 4th family kiting desinations

[ozchrisb]

My wife has awesomely suggested that we take our July 4th week holiday somewhere that she can learn to kite half the day and I can kite the rest of the day. We'll have our 10 month old daughter with us so the idea is that we'd be staying close to the kiting location (like really close, across the street would be ideal) so we can swap, hang out with her on the beach etc. I've searched through the old threads and come up with the Gorge, Maui and Sherman. I'm counting out Sherman as living in an RV for a week probably isn't going to work at this stage, and we'd like to get away. That leaves the Gorge and Maui or can anyone come up with another suggestion?
Questions on the Maui/Gorge option:
What's the Gorge like for learning? Seems like a very windy place? She's had some lessons and got to the "get up for 30 feet before crashing" stage, but she's certainly not riding solo or with a lot fo confidence yet.
What's the Gorge like for not kiting? i.e. hanging out with Munchkin, spending a down day hanging out. My wife's been there and isn't that keen on it for its non kiting time.
What's Maui like for learning? I've seen some video's on youtube and it looks kind of sketch. Small gusty beach etc.
Any other suggestions?

[jjm]

Both the Gorge and Maui can have strong/gusty winds. Managing the kite will be more challenging but after taking lessons there it would be easier to deal with locations with less gusty winds. You'll need to judge if that is something she could deal with or going to scare her off.

I personally think the Gorge (or specifically Hood River sandbar area) has a better setup for learning than Maui. The schools I saw teaching were using the sandbar which is shallow with flat water (and colder as the Hood River joins the Columbia here) or using jetskis to get away from the crowds on the other site of the sandbar in front of the event site. I think in Maui they instructors would be on shore or swimming after their students.

In HR I based myself out at "the spit" and observed http://www.gorgekite.com giving lessons daily. It looked like there is a single owner/operator and was impressed with the lessons I saw Mark(?) giving.

HR has a bunch of restaurants, cafes and breweries in town. Lots of outdoor activities in the area and a bunch of wineries to visit. I would assume the actual 4th of July holiday weekend will be very busy.

[windstoked]

The Gorge could be great for you if the wind cooperates. It's up-and-down there and can be gusty. Hood River is also a fun destination in general, with many beautiful short hikes that are great for doing with a small child in a backpack. August is warmer and the river level lower, which makes the sandbar bigger and better for lessons, but July is good also.
I'd advise against Maui for a beginner. The wind there frequently is too easterly and creates crazy turbulence and dead-zones along the beach. A few hundred yards out the wind smoothes out nicely, but most instructors teach from the shore.
The best place for beginners is Floras Lake along the southern Oregon coast. The disadvantage there is the cool summer temps require a thicker wetsuit. Also, the lake there is too small and crowded for advanced kiters to really let loose. The ocean is good a bit up the coast though.

[Rakky]

ozchrisb - take a few days extra and get a flight to Cabarete. Stay in a hotel on Kite beach. Warm water, warm weather, easy to kite out and overall a cheap location. Lessons are cheap.
I'll be heading there again this June. Good for kiting and some kite surfing on the reef, and regular surfing as well as SUP.
I took my SS TRex and rented from Audrey's Dare2Fly. Was very reasonable for renting the kites, and everything was set up to go out kiting and then taken down when i landed. Can't ask for more. Wind picks up around noon.
I flew United, midnight flight, through New Jersey - and got to Puerto Plata at about 1pm local time - and hotel by 2pm. Went out kiting for a couple of hours that afternoon.
Biggest problem is returning though New Jersey - messy airport and very slow Customs & Immigration. Flight is longer than Maui for sure.

[ozchrisb]

Well thanks for the input. We've ended up booking a trip to Kauai. It doesn't really fit the, "learn to kite" requirement, but we'd heard to many good things about family holiday there that we went for it. I've been looking through the previous threads on trips there and feel like I've got a handle on it. I might take a 12m and a surfboard, although I'm not looking forward to dragging the board around. I might also just take the week off :)