Turks & Caicos
When:
Sun, 02/17/2013 - Fri, 02/22/2013
MASSkiting Username:
Wind Speeds:
Light <20
A short but awesome getaway to the Long Bay Beach area of Provo, in the Turks & Caicos.
Stayed 5 nights at the recently opened Windhaven Beach Villas. Check it out at:
http://www.windhavenvillas.com/
Brand new, beautiful, amazing property, on the beach, built with kiters in mind. Compressed air and launching/landing posts on the beach, board and gear storage.
Terri, who manages the property, and Mike, have been kite instructors at Kiteprovo for many years. They are terrific and more than helpful in many ways. One of the property owners, Jim and his family, who were there during our stay, are kiters and extremely friendly and welcoming.
The week started with cool, overcast and at some point rainy weather, before turning warm and sunny during the last 3-4 days of our stay.
Winds were in the low 20's on Monday, then mostly light, fluctuating in the 10 to 20 range.
I rode my 11 one day, but with no big board (wouldn't fit in my deceiver bag), I was glad to have brought my Taboo 15m which saved many sessions. With line extensions (Mike urged me to put them on), the 15 paired with my Cab Rival TT 134 offered great riding.
Unfortunately, I have only a few lousy pictures to share.
One piece of advice: If you're heading to Long Bay Beach, bring water shoes or booties. While the beach is made of beautiful fine white sand, there are enough conch shells, corals and other natural hazards on the beach and in the water, to warrant some protection. Stepping on one of them can half-ruin your day or even your vacation, as I unfortunately found out.
I know many of you have kited there. For those of you who haven't, this is an amazing kiting spot, with mostly on shore/side on winds, and flat shallow water half a mile out. Great for beginners and experts alike. I highly recommend Windhaven Beach Villas. Fantastic amenities, great people, and awesome kiting spot.
Tip: Make a reservation and go for before dinner drinks (or dinner if you can afford it) at sunset at Amanyara's (voted top resort in the Caribbean), or go horseback riding in the water, as we did. Fun times.
Session Pictures:
Mon, 03/04/2013 - 22:08
#1
cool
Nice report!! Were you hurt badly?
Mon, 03/04/2013 - 22:53
#3
sounds
Sounds like a great family trip. Hope to see you on the water in the near future.
Tue, 03/05/2013 - 20:24
#4
Yes Joe, looking forward to
Yes Joe, looking forward to sharing some sessions with you again this season.
Mon, 03/04/2013 - 23:11
#5
It's not a real vacation
It's not a real vacation unless you beat the crap out of your body
Tue, 03/05/2013 - 20:26
#6
Then this was a sabbatical
Then this was a sabbatical 
Tue, 03/05/2013 - 13:46
#7
If I had only known...
Your photographer caught me and my 14M Switch in #6. Would have shared a beer or two had I known it was another Masskiter. I looked at Windhaven with Terri the morning before you arrived. 
Tue, 03/05/2013 - 20:22
#8
Too funny! My wife or
Too funny! My wife or daughter took the picture.
Wish I had known, too! Would've been fun to chat about Masskiting over a beer.
Where do you kite around here?
Christophe
Tue, 03/05/2013 - 22:54
#9
Met a Masskiter in Virgin
Met a Masskiter in Virgin Gorda once. Turned out he lived 3 miles from my house!
Tue, 03/05/2013 - 23:00
#10
BVI
Jean how was the kiting in Virgin Gorda? Where on the island did you try? Been a few times and always wondered how the wind would line up.
Fri, 03/22/2013 - 08:19
#11
January 2014
I just booked this place for a week next Jan 18th-25th. Going to bring my wife and four kids. Was at Villa Essencia last year, right on Long Bay with my wife. We loved it. Looking forward to staying at this new place. Hope to bump into some Masskiters. FYI, Non-Stop from Boston, Sat-Sat airfare (USAir) for next Jan is very reasonable right now.
I hope this place will eventually offer a selection of big boards for guest to use on light wind days. Right now they don't. Villa Essencia did and I was able to get an extra light-wind session in the morning we flew out. That's a great amenity for kiters...
Chuck
Fri, 03/22/2013 - 09:39
#12
FYI Jet Blue
has been running non stops from BOS starting in the late Fall on Saturdays. Took it last year. Heading down again for two weeks in December for 7th year in a row. Stay on the Grace Bay side and make the 5 minute commute to Long Bay when the wind is not in favor of Grace Bay which is most of the time.
No. Just ripped a thick chunk of skin off the bottom of my heel, about the size of a quarter. But that's not really fun when you're trying to edge a kiteboard
So I practiced toe side riding a lot 
But then, I also hurt my back pretty badly when trying to give my daughter a piggy back ride. I learned that doing this with a big kite and a small board in very shallow water is not the smartest thing to do. Duh!