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My experience kiting in Colombia for almost 3 months

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Re: My experience kiting in Colombia for almost 3 months.

Postby Toby » Sat Apr 04, 2020 6:16 pm

It’s the easterly trade wind that blows almost all year.
It follow the coast and becomes NE behind Cabo de la Vela.
Some periods with more, some with less strong wind.

I still prefer Brazil, it’s kinda contrary seasons, so a good combination.

I found the people ver y nice in Colombia too. And also very pretty women.

Cartagena is nicer than Fortaleza for sure. Beautiful colonial old town.

Enjoy !
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Re: My experience kiting in Colombia for almost 3 months.

Postby Flyboy » Sun Apr 05, 2020 12:11 am

I spent January this year in Santa Veronica, Colombia (seems like a long time ago now :( )

I stayed at Kite Eco House - more about that later. I arrived just as the January trades were kicking in. Average day was around 20 knots, using an 8m kite on my SB, people on TT's were mostly using 10m. Often the wind would pick up later in the afternoon & blow hardest up to & after sunset. It was windy pretty much all the time - felt really windy at night. I would say about 30-40% of the days the wind would blow in the mid 20's & higher. I had quite a few sessions powered up on my 7m or 6m & three on my 5m. Looking at the wind maps for the Caribbean, it was clear that this area (& the Venezuelan coast around Adicora) consistently gets the strongest wind in the Caribbean. Winds about 40 - 50 miles offshore were at 30 - 40 knots for days on end.

Santa Veronica is a dry, windswept spot (not very "tropical" at all) with a large shallow bay marked with a high rocky outcrop on the upwind end & a point on the downwind end. The shoreline is littered with logs that come from Magdalena river which is about 60 km up the coast. The beach in Santa Veronica itself is narrow, muddy & lined with run-down looking, deserted restaurants. The town itself is like something out of a spaghetti western - dirt, pot-holed streets with run-down houses. There are a few decent restaurants, one nice hotel, a couple of small stores, no bank or ATM. Getting cash (which you will need) requires a 25 minute tuk tuk ride to the town of Juan De Acosta.
Shoreline.jpg
You can launch anywhere along the shoreline of the bay. The water is generally surprisingly choppy - not really like "open water" at all. Along the shoreline there is usually a modest shore break, allowing for some fun wave kiting but nothing really exceptional. The point - Salinas Del Rey - is where most people kite. Inside the point the water is protected & quite smooth, so TT kiters ride there. Peeling off the point is a nice wave. The wave varies from quite small to moderate (head high) making for decent wave riding most of the time.
Salinas Del Rey.jpg
However ... at times the point "goes off" & the waves can jack up to double overhead. I can't explain "why" or "when" exactly this happens: it certainly happened when the wind picked up to over 25 knots, but according to the locals is also related to the arrival of the full moon. The character of the water changes dramatically: the choppy water offshore turns into big, widely spaced swells that generate a perfect break at the point. These bigger waves can peel off deep into the bay behind the point allowing for long rides on smooth wave faces. Not exactly down-the-line, as the wind is still side-on, but definitely one of the nicest waves I've had the opportunity to ride.
Point.jpg
It should be mentioned that when the wind picks up (& also with a higher tide) there is a lot of wood floating in the water as the logs along miles of coastline are picked up & blown downwind. A bit hazardous - I never had a serious incident, but charging a wave face wondering if there might be a log about to crash down on top of you was a little nerve-wracking at times.

Behind the point at Salinas Del Rey is a muddy/sandy wide beach - often littered with logs - that people launch & land on. There is a shack there selling drinks & food - nice red snapper everyday for a very reasonable price. Local kiter JP runs one of the schools there & is recommended for teaching & local knowledge.



I stayed at Kite Eco House which is a new compound right on the beach just upwind of the Salinas Del Rey point. It's brand new, nicely designed & very charming in a basic, rustic way. Adriana, who owns & runs it is a Venezuelan who has been running kite tours to different parts of the Caribbean & South America for years. Adri & her husband appear to know very kiter in Colombia - a surprising number of whom are beautiful Colombian girls. The day after we arrived, there was downwinder organized from Baranquilla to Salinas Del Rey (about 55 kms) with visiting kiters from Bogota, Medellin & Cali. The beds are comfortable at Kite Eco House, a good breakfast is included, the option to eat lunch & dinner & the vibe is friendly, international & relaxed. The location is ideal, the only downside is it's often windy as hell through the night!
Prep for downwinder.jpg
Kite Eco House.jpg
Kite Eco House 2.jpg

Side trips to Cartagena - about an hours drive away - an exceptionally beautiful old colonial (& modern) city, Minca in the mountains near Santa Marta (quite interesting) & Tayrona Park (pretty, but disappointingly overrun with visitors). Did not make the trip further north to Cabo De La Vela as it's a long trek & wasn't really interested in flat water. There are a lot of other places to visit, but all of them require a fairly major commitment of travel time.

La Boquilla in Cartagena did not really appeal me - less windy, no real waves, urban & a bit run-down feeling - but would suit someone learning, or someone wanting to be close to the night life & activities of a big city. Overall, I would recommend Santa Veronica to someone who's interested only in kiting & particularly wave kiting. It's no Cabarete, as there are few amenities & almost nothing to do after dark. The wind is very reliable - mostly in the 20 - 25 knot range & occasionally windier. There were about 5 days of lighter wind (the whole of the rest of the Caribbean was completely dead at that time) that was good for foiling, or kiting with a 12m. In general though, a 10m kite would be the biggest kite you would need with a TT with ab 8m for windier days & for a SB an 8m with a 6m for windier days (80 kg).
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Re: My experience kiting in Colombia for almost 3 months.

Postby daspi » Fri Dec 31, 2021 9:07 pm

Glad I found this. I'm about the head to Barranquilla mid January. If I read right, I might be OK just bringing my 9m/7m Neo kites? I am 74kg and ride preferably a surfboard. Do I need to bother bringing a 12m??

How good and how big are the waves on average at Salinas del Ray? I have to decide if I bring my Mitu (more wave focus, needs a bit of wind) or the Tomo Vader (small waves OK and low end better). Decisions, decisions.... Please let me know what you think I should bring.

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Re: My experience kiting in Colombia for almost 3 months.

Postby Flyboy » Fri Dec 31, 2021 10:49 pm

daspi wrote:
Fri Dec 31, 2021 9:07 pm
Glad I found this. I'm about the head to Barranquilla mid January. If I read right, I might be OK just bringing my 9m/7m Neo kites? I am 74kg and ride preferably a surfboard. Do I need to bother bringing a 12m??

How good and how big are the waves on average at Salinas del Ray? I have to decide if I bring my Mitu (more wave focus, needs a bit of wind) or the Tomo Vader (small waves OK and low end better). Decisions, decisions.... Please let me know what you think I should bring.
Based on my experience, I wouldn't bother bringing a 12m kite. 9m & 7m sound like good choices. There may be days where you will be overpowered on a 7m & SB at your weight. I had a 6m & used it quite a few times & a couple of sessions on a 5m. I can't really say how good & how big the waves are "on average" at Las Salinas. It seems to me that an average day was 4' - 6' waves & 20 - 25 knots. The waves were a quite clean point break that could peal down the line for two of three hundred metres. But ... there were days when the wind would pick up to 25 - 30 knots & then the character of the break would change fairly dramatically. The water would turn quite flat between swells with much longer periods & the waves would jack up to 6' to 10'.

There is also a point of land near Puerto Valero, about half way between Barranquilla & Santa Veronica. It is apparently always windier there. The one day I went to kite there it was crazy windy - 35 to 40 knots - I was completely overpowered on my 7m. Lots of waves, but chaotic, unlike the point break at Bahia Salinas. Definitely worth a try - but it's a remote, windswept, log covered launch.

I'lll be interested to hear how you get on ... :thumb:
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Re: My experience kiting in Colombia for almost 3 months

Postby mikewang » Sat Jan 01, 2022 11:54 am

Sick report! When is their wind season? Also how's the food and culture (local)? Did you get bored being there for 3 months. Kiting everyday and then what to do when not kiting...?

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Re: My experience kiting in Colombia for almost 3 months

Postby Flyboy » Sat Jan 01, 2022 5:29 pm

Just to make it clear that - unlike the OP - I was only in Colombia for a month, not 3 months. I was an experienced SB rider, so Boquilla (in Cartagena) & locations like Riohatcha, Punta Gallinas etc. were not appealing to me from a kiting perspective. If you look at the Caribbean as a whole on Windy:

https://www.windy.com/?11.900,-75.479,8,m:dYIad1A

you will notice that the windiest area practically all the time is offshore of Baranquilla. It seems to be pretty consistently 30 - 40 knots there. That's the wind that is affecting Santa Veronica & other spots along the coast. It seems to be consistently less windy in Cartagna/Boquilla, which is more sheltered. Windy season seems to be January through to April. I have a friend who was there in February - seems like it was windiest then, as he says he spent most of the time on a 6m. In Santa Veronica there's no reef to generate waves & unlike the windward islands in the Caribbean, it's not really exposed to Atlantic swell. My impression was that the biggest waves came with the biggest wind - wind that was generated in the region offshore.

The coast from Cartagna north through to Santa Marta is dry & a bit glum. There is a lot of poverty ... & it's not "picturesque poverty" either, but urban squalor around the big cities. Colombia is rich in culture & scenery, but to experience it requires a commitment to travel significant distances. The interior mountains/jungle are completely different from the coastal areas. Food is OK - not spectacular. There were quite a few people who seemed to be staying at Santa Veronica for months. It wouldn't be my first choice for an extended stay. The town had something of the feel of a town in a Clint Eastwood western - dusty, dry, unpaved streets with very few amenities. Cartagena, which is only an hour's drive from Santa Veronica, has a beautiful historic colonial area & an affluent modern area also.

I wouldn't want to spend 3 months at Santa Veronica. A longer trip to Colombia, for me, would require visiting other parts of the country away from kiting spots. Colombia is going through another period of political unrest at the minute - not sure how that will play out over the longer term.
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Re: My experience kiting in Colombia for almost 3 months

Postby mikewang » Sun Jan 02, 2022 5:05 am

Flyboy wrote:
Sat Jan 01, 2022 5:29 pm

I wouldn't want to spend 3 months at Santa Veronica. A longer trip to Colombia, for me, would require visiting other parts of the country away from kiting spots. Colombia is going through another period of political unrest at the minute - not sure how that will play out over the longer term.
Thanks for the info, Flyboy!!

Been looking for another kite spot for a while. The issue with me is that I need a kites spot to stay at 4-5 months each year. Assimilating into the local culture is important. For example, I've been visiting Maui frequently and have made friends there. I also leave all my gear in my friend's garage and have no problem buying a car or whatever. It's just like a cottage except accessible by plane. Been spoiled with an abundance of good food there along with some world-class cycling and dive shops. All the best stuff in the world is accessible in Hawaii. *Can't stay on Maui forever since I'm Canadian. Otherwise, I would.

Yea I know I'm being a bitch right now. :cool2:

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Re: My experience kiting in Colombia for almost 3 months

Postby EddietheEagle » Sun Jan 02, 2022 8:45 pm

Thanks for the great info, it sounds like a great trip along the coast and a variety of spots and conditions.

If I have a rental car, can I drive all the way to Cabo and onwards to Punta Gallinas? Or is that not possible / not safe? I would bring my own gear and SB and using public transport / buses seems like a hassle.. any tips or advice is welcome!

Thanks!

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Re: My experience kiting in Colombia for almost 3 months.

Postby daspi » Fri Jan 07, 2022 4:13 pm

Thank you so much flyboy! Your report about wind and waves for Salinas del Ray sounds fabulous. I've just ordered a 6m last minute. Now I pray it will arrive before I leave. I will be sure to report back while there or after I get back. So stoked now.

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Re: My experience kiting in Colombia for almost 3 months

Postby Windigo1 » Fri Jan 07, 2022 7:35 pm

Great report Flyboy this in one of the spot on my list!


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