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I am thinking of going to Cabarete in April for a vacation and I'd like to learn kitesurfing. I know it's a mecca for kitesurfing, but my friend (who's an instructor) told me it's not ideal for learning because there are lots of waves and it gets deep quick.

If I go, I'd like to stay at the Viva Wyndham Tangerine.

Any feedback would be helpful.

its ok but deep in parts and there are waves. For a true beginner better to be had. However the wind is pretty reliable!

Cabarete, and the north coast of the DR is a very big area. There are good spots and bad spots for beginners, wave spots and flat spots, beginner and advanced places and everything in between.

Kite Beach, for example, has a reef that protects an inside area where hundreds of beginner kitesurfers come every season to learn - and leave as better kiteboarders.

Came back a few weeks ago and rented an incredible 2 bedroom house near the Windham hotel for a little bit more than an all inclusive and I don't regret it at all. The food is cheap and there lot's of good restaurants.
I'm starting at kitesurfing and was not able to go far before going to Cabarete. I took a lesson and with a little supervision I have progressed so much that I'm now able to go upwind. Yes the waves makes it harder but at the end I liked it, it was fun and I'm sure now that on a lake it will be so much easier for me. Kitebeach might be more flat but it is too small to my taste (I need lots of space, I don't want to be in a more crowed area).

Go ahead, don't worry about the water conditions you are for sure going to progress a lot and the Dominicans are friendly and patient teachers.

I tried to learn how to kitesurf in Cabarete at kite beach. Couldn't do it, the waves made it hard, also crowded and not shallow enough near shore, so The instructor could not stay close to me. I gave up, tried again in Aruba, where the water is flat and shallow enough near shore. This time it clicked and now i'm a kiter. Only problem with Aruba is the wind is offshore so its hard to get back to the beach but they come out in a boat and pick you up.

windrider99 wrote:I tried to learn how to kitesurf in Cabarete at kite beach. Couldn't do it, the waves made it hard, also crowded and not shallow enough near shore, so The instructor could not stay close to me. I gave up, tried again in Aruba, where the water is flat and shallow enough near shore. This time it clicked and now i'm a kiter. Only problem with Aruba is the wind is offshore so its hard to get back to the beach but they come out in a boat and pick you up.

You are in the minority if you can't learn to kitesurf on Kite Beach, Cabarete. There are 5 of the bigger kitesurfing schools in the Caribbean on Kite Beach. I would even guess that more people learned the sport in Cabarete last season than in Aruba's history.

Unfortunate that you had a bad experience, most of the schools on Kite Beach have very high success rates at creating kiters. The ideal conditions make it fairly straight forward, which is why so many people come here to learn.

eXtreme Cabarete
www.extremehotels.com

Kitego wrote:...The food is cheap and there lot's of good restaurants...

Hi,

Have prices dropped since 2008/2009? The last time I was there meals cost the same as in an average European restaurant.

Regarding kiting- in my opinion it is good to learn there if you look for a school at a not so crowded spot. Kite Beach will give you ample of space to learn without interfering with some of the crazy kiters out there.

Cheers
Caesar

The beach remains medium expensive, especially if have to pay the sales tax. There are however a bunch of new cheaper options, including a Tex Mex restaurant and an Indian restaurant both int the $5 /meal range.

There is also the famous chicken shack 1/4 chicken for $5, as well as some Dominican food options in the same range.

extreme cabarete
www.extremehotels.com

Hola
como esta ? jajajaja
i was there for 3 wks at kitebeach hotel and i noticed that dominica local kiters doesnt respect what learner's way so they usually block them ... What ashamed on local kiters always think of own kitebeach is belong to hotels ... one local kiter got jump up air and almost hit me , also i saw learner's way where i stop and let her go but other kiter didnt get heed what i done then hit me and my kite got tangled with his kite then i released it and swam quickly toward beach to get kite but how nice kid got my kite then i got it ....... what heavy traffic there by domonica kiters ,who should go other beach to kiting ! yes good food at extremekiting cafe booth
i think there should establish new policy for it dont allow local kiters get kiting at kitebeach for tourist and vacation kiters

Galeltic wrote:Hola
como esta ? jajajaja
i was there for 3 wks at kitebeach hotel and i noticed that dominica local kiters doesnt respect what learner's way so they usually block them ... What ashamed on local kiters always think of own kitebeach is belong to hotels ... one local kiter got jump up air and almost hit me , also i saw learner's way where i stop and let her go but other kiter didnt get heed what i done then hit me and my kite got tangled with his kite then i released it and swam quickly toward beach to get kite but how nice kid got my kite then i got it ....... what heavy traffic there by domonica kiters ,who should go other beach to kiting ! yes good food at extremekiting cafe booth

Mate, wherever you go in the world, it is (almost) everywhere the same: 'F**k off- I'm living here and this is my kite spot...'


Let's start another tread- "Most offensive kiters"
On top of my list is: El Yaque-Venezuela

Cheers
Caesar