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LA to la ventana for a long weekend, is it possible?

Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2013 4:36 am
by superpedro
Getting a bit desperate for a kite trip but I cannot take a full week off because work.

So my plan is to leave on thursday night after work to la Paz or Los cabos and come back on Monday night so I get 4 days kitting.

Has anybody done this? Or does anybody has a better kite destination leaving from Los Angeles

Suggestion are welcome!

Thanks

Re: LA to la ventana for a long weekend, is it possible?

Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2013 7:47 am
by silvesterr
Where do you ride in LA? West Malibu / Ventura has been pretty windy lately.

La Ventana you need 2 to 3 days to get there... and from what i've heard and seen it's choppy Tarifa-like conditions.

Check out Bahia de Santa Maria in Northern Baja. It's only 4 hours away, flatwater lagoon. But you need Santa Ana winds. And Santa Ana's are hitting this Sunday and will be blowing till Thursday if Windguru is right: http://www.windguru.cz/int/index.php?sc=206926

I might hit the road this Sunday.

Cheers

Re: LA to la ventana for a long weekend, is it possible?

Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2013 4:01 pm
by superpedro
Thanks silvesterr for the Santa Ana tip, I will keep an eye on the forecast for the next few weeks. The tricky part is that I can only make it work over the weekend taking Friday and Monday off...

I live in venice so i usually go to Belmont or seal beach and I have missed the last few windy days cause work!

Re: LA to la ventana for a long weekend, is it possible?

Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2013 6:51 pm
by juandesooka
Relatively new to kiting, I've surfed the LA to Cabo stretch, but haven't chased wind that way yet. Looking forward to it sometime sooner than later I hope.

Anyways, my 1st thought was that surely in those 1000 miles there must be other windy places, to not have to go all the way to LV. So, looks like you have one good lead.

I have a bunch of friends in LV this year and it sounds like it's been a weird wind season so far ... inconsistent, low winds, gusty/holey ... not getting skunked, but not the epic daily wind machine either....lots of down days in between. That would be my concern on a 1 week or less trip....you get those few down days, and it could be a disaster.

My 2nd thought ... LAX is a major hub, surely there are super discount fares to all sorts of nearby places that are good wind spots. Maybe for not too much more than the price of the gas you'd use to get to LV, you can fly somewhere good? Up here you can get from Bellingham (near Seattle) to LA for $160 return on a last minute trip ... with $200-300 where could you go from LA? Might cost you an extra $100, but you gain 2 more solid kiting days by saved travel....and that's a good investment IMHO.

Re: LA to la ventana for a long weekend, is it possible?

Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2013 7:12 pm
by Dustfarter
You're much better off just flying to South Padre Island, TX. Wind is usually great this time of year and you can fly on Southwest right into Harligen, TX.....travel and kite same day.

Re: LA to la ventana for a long weekend, is it possible?

Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 7:55 pm
by superpedro
SPI sounds like a good idea! Thanks Dustfarter

Re: LA to la ventana for a long weekend, is it possible?

Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 8:50 pm
by SSK
You're much better off just flying to South Padre Island
I am not convinced that is a slam dunk. The travel and arrival time seems about the same based on doing some "Expedia" and cost could possibly be cheaper to go to Mexico. The Southwest flights seem to be better than what is on the travel sites. I think this will really depend on the type of flight you can actually get. But from a quick look I found on average

LAX to Cabo (La Paz would be a much shorter drive, but did not see any direct flights)
380.00 @ 2.5 hours flight time + 2.5 hours drive, flight arrival around 2:00 pm
In water by 5:00pm

LAX to Harlingen
500.00 @ 5 hours flight time + 40 minutes drive, flight arrival around 3:00 pm
In water by 4:00 pm

The 6am out of LAX to Harlingen gets you there early around (11:00 am), but was close to 580.00.