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Winter Trip to Australian Kite Surfari Review

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Created by Brogdog > 9 months ago, 15 Jun 2018
Brogdog
VIC, 3 posts
15 Jun 2018 4:41PM
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Just a quick review on Australian Kite Surfari.

My Background: Intermediate Rider. My local beach is Altona in Victoria.
I have been kiting for around 9 years now and during that time I have travelled to Fiji, Aitutaki (Cook Islands), Bora Bora, Mauritius, WA etc.

Review: 10 out of 10
If you are after a pure kite trip where you are pretty much guaranteed awesome wind then this is your best bet. It pretty much blows 20 to 25knots day and night up there for most of our winter in Oz.

I have been for the last 2 years and have kited every day (morning, lunch, afternoon) mostly on my 8m (75kg rider).

The typical day consists of:
1. Wake up and as soon as you get out of your bungalow you are offered a coffee or drug of choice :P
2. After coffee, go for a kite 100m away from your bungalow. This is the only place I have ever kited at 7am before.
3. 9am you are waved in for a bacon/eggs/hashbrowns/mushrooms etc.
4. After breaky, go for another kite or lie around in a food comma
5. Called in for lunch. Pizza or some other marvellous creation that Ant, Paully and their team cook up.
6. Kite again, then dinner (Ribs/lasagna/curry etc)
7. Drinks and fire on the beach
8. Repeat

You seriously do not lift a finger and they make it a real holiday with a family feel to it.

There are certain periods where the main lagoon is too shallow but there are other spots to kite and you can do a 7km downwinder also.
It has a sandy bottom and is perfect for beginners on high tide. I taught a mate to kite there this year and he was up and running holding his line after 3 days. There are always people there to catch and launch your kite.

For me personally this trip is perfect and I aim to do it every year with as many kite mates as possible. I have a wife and 2 kids so can only get away for a short while and this place always delivers.
Like I said, I have been to Aitutaki where I got one kiteable day and had to catch 3 planes and then a boat every day to kite in light wind conditions and only eat hamburgers and Fiji where it was pretty much the same apart from the hamburgers. Mauritius is my second home but it is expensive and the flight and time difference kills me.

My only regret is telling all you punters about it and possibly losing my spot each year :P Nah... they know how much I love it there and after this review I am sure I will get a spot

I thought it would not be fair if I didn't give them a plug since they run such an awesome trip and I hope they continue this trip forever.

Here are some photos from our trip.





























Hybrid_Z
VIC, 381 posts
16 Jun 2018 11:56AM
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AKS is always a flawless experience, such a magic part of the world. Good to see lucky is having no problem finding laps to sleep on . Great photos!

high as a kite
SA, 1312 posts
18 Jun 2018 1:23PM
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Might have to put this one on my list next year.
How far out do you have to walk to be it deep enough to foil?

FormulaNova
WA, 14049 posts
18 Jun 2018 5:01PM
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Select to expand quote
high as a kite said..
Might have to put this one on my list next year.
How far out do you have to walk to be it deep enough to foil?


Can you/do you want to foil in strong winds?

Hybrid_Z
VIC, 381 posts
18 Jun 2018 7:56PM
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Select to expand quote
high as a kite said..
Might have to put this one on my list next year.
How far out do you have to walk to be it deep enough to foil?


Can't imagine why you'd want to there but you'd walk about 100m to be outside the lagoon.

Phoney
NSW, 583 posts
19 Jun 2018 9:35AM
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Outside the lagoon there are rocks / lumps of reefs that, depending on the tide can be only 30cm underwater. If you snagged one of those on a foil you could be in a world of hurt.

Hybrid_Z
VIC, 381 posts
19 Jun 2018 11:40AM
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Select to expand quote
Phoney said..
Outside the lagoon there are rocks / lumps of reefs that, depending on the tide can be only 30cm underwater. If you snagged one of those on a foil you could be in a world of hurt.


Which is why you'd go.....outside the reef.

high as a kite
SA, 1312 posts
19 Jun 2018 12:53PM
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Got the message, not a good spot to foil.
Looks like TT mow'n the grass.
To old for all that boost / twisting thingies.
Cheers.

nikmcc
NSW, 259 posts
20 Jun 2018 5:39AM
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Looks nice!

Is there waves there or just flat water?

Antssurfari
QLD, 4 posts
20 Jun 2018 9:28AM
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A picture speaks a thousand words. To the left of the pic is Surfari camp. You can kite the sheltered sandy bay directly in front of camp or to the North or South are perfect flat water Lagoons. The dark area on the outer of the sandy bay is reef. This give shelter to our bay. The rest is deep blue ocean. We often hear you can only kite here at high tide. I hope this pic clarifies this. We do get foil riders here and we are just learning to foil here The only waves you get inFNQ are ocean swells as the outer reef breaks the waves before they make landfall
please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions
Paully


kemp90
QLD, 1692 posts
20 Jun 2018 3:06PM
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And on the off chance you don't have any wind, don't worry, you still have fun.

When end we were there there was 2 days of no wind. One day ant dropped us off on a small reef at low tide and we caught coral trout after coral trout. Then took us to a secret waterfall in the jungle. Croc spotting up a river.
I had more fun on the no wind days then I did on the windy days.



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"Winter Trip to Australian Kite Surfari Review" started by Brogdog