Postby Stinky » Tue Nov 27, 2012 5:00 am
I'm going back to Aruba last week of December for the third time in 12 months. I love it there because when I'm off for a week, I want to fly a small kite as much as I can everyday to work on my thing, and the chances of doing that are good in Aruba. If I had a month, or even two weeks, I could stand to ride less, but when I go for a week I want to ride everyday. I know you can get skunked there too, so I hope I'm not jixing... You can rig in Boca or the Huts within 30 minutes of arrival. I prefer Boca because I kite waves strapless 95% of the time, there are super clean winds there (onshore, no hotels). The prison is downwind. Hahaha...
The Huts are gusty and are more so now with the Ritz. But you can kite shallow, butter flat water right in front of your hotel. Buy the peeps at the kite huts some beers and ask them to watch for your kite. Introduce yourself and tell them exactly where you're at. I'm a Great Lakes guy too and ride in fairly gusty conditions, like last Friday on Lake Erie. So it's not unbearable, but they say some days are worse than others, don't recall why. I'm always more interested in hanging out at Boca anyway. If you want to hang there, rent a cheap car and enjoy the ride. As far as crowds go, it's not that bad. It gets busier after 3pm and on weekends. Good practice to ride in crowds anyway. Smile!
You can book a guided downwinder with Fernando from Extreme Winds that's pretty cool, you can find him on Facebook or through his site. I've done two with him, one from Barcadera to the Huts, and one from Barcadera to Arashi. Good times.
Is Aruba a perfect kite destination? Maybe not for everyone. But it has some of the most consistently strong wind in the Caribbean, the island is beautiful and so are the people. It's also really safe, but bad things can happen to good people everywhere.