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Hey guys.

I am looking for a place to start learning waves to go for a 2-weeks trip in first half of January.

The 2 places I have found so far are Barbados and Cape Town, however both of them have their own disadvantages:
1) Barbados:
+ warm water
+ can live right on the spot
+ can do both surfing and kite in one place
+ can combine with union island trip, which was on my bucket list for a long time
- heard the waves are not best to start learning to ride waves as no rescue / waves are far away from the beach
- no flat spots

2) Cape Town
+ variety of spots
+ both flat (langebaan) and wave spots nearby
+ cheaper than Caribbean
+ can also do both kite and surf
+ great vibe
- cold water - need wetsuit
- large distances - definitely need a car
- not sure about it, but heard crime rate is quite high

Wanted to check if there are any other "perfect" alternatives for the trip?
Ideally not in the pacific/Australia, as I will be flying from Europe

Thanks !

Something that helps a lot with learning waves is learning surfboard basics on flat water. How to make S turns following the kite, being good at riding toeside, being able to turn around quickly, gybes, 30ft strapless airs like Ian Alldredge... just kidding on the last one. Anyhow, getting as much time as possible doing those on flat water will give you a huge head start when you ride some actual waves.

January is not the wind session but check out this place

https://vimeo.com/233493968

cleepa wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 13, 2017 5:41 pm

Something that helps a lot with learning waves is learning surfboard basics on flat water. How to make S turns following the kite, being good at riding toeside, being able to turn around quickly, gybes, 30ft strapless airs like Ian Alldredge... just kidding on the last one. Anyhow, getting as much time as possible doing those on flat water will give you a huge head start when you ride some actual waves.

Thanks for advice, it makes sense. Given we will have 2 weeks, I decided to go for a week to a flat water spot first (probably Union island), practice surfboard basics there and then move to Barbados for actual waves and surfing.

Zulik,

Union Island will be great to practice basics and while there u can try small waves at Palm Island. Jeremie can arrange this for u. Barbados is very good but always try to remember there is significant current that takes away realized wind speed.

salvino wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 16, 2017 2:35 pm

Zulik,

Union Island will be great to practice basics and while there u can try small waves at Palm Island. Jeremie can arrange this for u. Barbados is very good but always try to remember there is significant current that takes away realized wind speed.

Yes, heard about it. But my girlfriend really wants to do the surf as well, and I can't think of any other places where you can do both (Cape Town - cold water, Mauritus - no good wind in winter, super expensive during holidays).
So probably will stick to this option

Penghu of Taiwan is a nice place to learn wave riding, wave is constant, wind is guaranteed.