kitesurf Fort Lauderdale

[yzbob]

Hi All,

where is the best place to kite in Fort Lauderdale?

I'll be there for the next few Sundays so hoping if the wind cooperates i might get out for a few hours.

I'm competent so i'm fine with intermediate/advanced spots. But would prefer a spot where there is most likely to be other kiters around as i will be on my own.

From what i have read the place seems pretty locked down and strict on staying outside the swim areas etc so I'm aware of that.

Thanks for any guidance.

Bob

[Topaz]

Most popular is Fort Lauderdale Beach, one block south of A1A @ Las Olas Blvd. There is a boat ramp to load/unload, and there is a big parking lot just south of the spot.
Get in and out of the water through the corridor marked by the two buoys in front of the boat ramp, and kite anywhere beyond the line of buoys that mark the swimming area.

You can also kite north of Sunrise Blvd, one mile north. The beach is narrower and the line of trees is closer. Almost nobody kites there, but kiting is allowed. Always check with the lifeguard.
In this spot there is no corridor to get in and out, but you must still kite outside of the line of buoys.

Further north, you can kite in Commercial Blvd, I don't know if it's north or south of the Peer.
And south of FLL there is a spot in Dania Beach. Don't know much about that one.

Be safe!
Cheers

[RickI]

I would recommend going to Lauderdale By-The-Sea, just north of Ft. Lauderdale at Pine Avenue. Once you rig up head out beyond 150 yards to ride until time to come in. Things seem to be better run in this area at the moment.

There are some serious problems with the south Ft. Lauderdale area (aka Tiki Beach). Guys riding inside the buoys within 150 yards of shore and showing disrespect to the lifeguards may well shut down the entire city to kiting. Some locals, tourists and crew off yachts in Bahia Mar have been contributing to the problem.

Some information on how to try to keep Ft. Lauderdale and Pompano Beach for that matter, open show up below.

[Toby]

very important to follow the rules in Ft. Lauderdale...it is about to get banned completely!
Talk to the locals before you hit the water, or visit the local shop Adventure Sports! They know the deal.
Better to make friends instead of enemies.

Enjoy!

[Kitego]

Is there an area near Fort-Lauderdale that it is friendly to beginners that can't always go upwind?

[RickI]

Yes, but usually there are few other kiters there. New kiters often go where they see other riders to kite even if the location is totally unsuited to their experience. The south Ft. Lauderdale site is advanced intermediate or stronger. Also there are times that it simply isn't kiteable without violating the out of bounds swim zones (i.e. don't ride there at such times and go somewhere else).

One such learning area, as long as you don't annoy or threaten other beach goers would be south of the Marriott hotel to the south of Bahia Mar and well north of Port Everglades.

Is there an area near Fort-Lauderdale that it is friendly to beginners that can't always go upwind?

[yzbob]

which is most accurate for wind forecasting in Fort Lauderdale?

windfinder forecast,
windfinder superforecast
windguru

or

something else?


thanks

[dyyylan]

They're all about the same. Personally I like windalert's "quick look" forecast, just pick one of the wind meters on the beach. the wind is usually pretty similar from miami almost up to jupiter, if you find a good wind meter somewhere in between there

[RickI]

I have had the best performance out of NWS. They don't give you hourly values which may be bogus on some sites anyway, but they do have a human meteo checking and smoothing the model predictions. Garbage in, garbage out. http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.ph ... mx=1&zmy=1