Aruba, Fisherman's Hut!
When:
Wed, 05/19/2010 - Sun, 05/23/2010
MASSkiting Username:
Wind Speeds:
Light <20
First off let me say any opportunity to kite board in pristine beautiful waters and weather like Aruba is totally worth it.
With that said since I was a beginner, I think Aruba might not be the best spot for beginners. First there are two sides of the island. The east side of the island blows completely onshore with nice chop. I didn't get a chance to go there. I chose to stay on the west side of the island for my session. This side was blowing completely offshore with a lot of gust.
My session begins at Fishermens' Hut. This is pretty much the most popular beach on the island for kite boarding. There are at least two schools side by side there , they offer rentals, lessons and some support with launching and landing.
Also its fairly close to the hotel I was staying at, Divi Phoenix, but there are at least a dozen hotels on the strip south of the beach.
Session:
I got there around noon and the wind was very light and extremely gusty (10mph - 18mph), I was actually surprised since on the website it is supposedly blowing 20+ constant. I proceeded to pump up my 12M Ocean Rodeo (I also brought a 8M liquid, and a 135x35 MAKO board)
The weird thing was there was no one out there on a 12Meter, some were on 10's the girls were on 7's and 8's. But the instructor recommended the 12M especially since I was on a small board.
Anyhow, trouble hit right away, got a flat on the center strut on the 12M. SO I ended up having to pump up the 8M Liquid Force and rent a Light wind board from the shop for $20. Then I was off...
It was tough on the 8, I could barely keep the kite in the air, it kept dropping out of the sky. This happened probably 5-6 times for my session. A few times I was able to recover right when the kite was about the hit the water , other times it happened and the kite proceeded to roll over itself. Not a great session I guess.
I did manage to get up on the board a handful of times and ride, however it was short lived, as soon as I got up the wind would die and I would sink. I drifted downwind and off to sea pretty fast. End of story...
Here are some things to note about this beach:
1. its offshore, so YOU NEED A RESCUE BOAT. Even if you are very good I would still say get a rescue boat. Its $20 bucks if you need it , and you don't have to pay anything if they don't have to come get you. I definitely needed it so I was glad I got it.
2. Its really really gusty. I would stay as far north of the beach if possible, the southern side of the beat is closer to the high rise hotels so you will get additional wind shadow from that.
3. You probably don't even need to bring your own gear, they have lessons and rentals right there. In fact if you are a beginner or intermediate and want to kite board at this beach you should probably take a lesson. The instructor was telling me that a lot of good kite boarders from Venezuela come here and have to take lessons because they don't know how to kite board in gusty conditions. They are so used to constant wind. AND there is definitely a technique, because while I was doing horrible there were plenty of people kiting on 7-9m's staying upwind even! Amazing.
4. NO wet suit required, but bring tons of sunblock. The sun is very powerful.
Hopefully I get the chance to go back and redeem myself.
ET
Session Pictures:
Sun, 05/30/2010 - 23:33
#1
nice
Nice man I completely forgot you went there!!
My email guyba@orbotech.com
Guy
Tue, 06/01/2010 - 00:04
#2
the pictures look amazing!! i
the pictures look amazing!! i wanna kite there one day
Mon, 06/07/2010 - 16:21
#3
you gotta check out boca grande
That spot on the other side of the island where it blows onshore is called Boca Grandi, and it is, in my opinion, the best spot to go to in Aruba. I tried going out at Fisherman's Huts with my 12m, and I could barely get upwind, and the kite would be falling out of the sky one second, then be overpowered the next--it was quite the struggle because it was so gusty. I pretty much had the same experience as elvistam. I even went as far as renting a smaller kite, which just fell out of the sky even more.
Boca Grandi is the place to go because A) the wind is constant B) there are waves, but there's also a nice flat section between waves and C) no one really goes there during the week. The only time it's busy is like on a Saturday or Sunday when all the local guys show up, but otherwise not many people will be there, and you won't have to deal with tons of beginners crashing kites or windsurfers everywhere like at Fisherman's Huts.
It blows alllll day there too--I met up with a group of kiters who also weren't impressed with Fishmans Huts, and ended up going out at 8am and kited till I couldn't kite anymore, and there was pretty much no one else there besides me and these 4 other guys, for the entire day, 4 days in a row.
The only downsides to the spot are that it is a little bit of a drive from the big hotels, about 45 mins give or take, and there are no facilities right at the beach, but there is a town a short drive away. I hope to make it back there myself someday, but I don't know if I'd even bother with Fisherman's Huts. Flat water is nice and all, but it takes a lot to get used to the gusts.