Postby StellaBlu » Mon Jan 22, 2024 10:48 pm
Yes, I went last spring. In a week I think I got four sessions in, only one of which was really good wind in a storm, otherwise it was super light (like 10-12 knots) and I was just barely making it work. The sargassum was also a big mess when I was there, which put a damper on foiling. I was staying near St Francois, which has a spot just downwind (west) of the marina with a beach launch and several schools. I was winging and it seemed like wingers were the majority although there were a few kiters. That said, the spot was a kind of strange for winging, you had to tack out through a cut in the reef, and then if you got pushed downwind outside of the reef (which happened a few times, since the wind kept dying), you then had to tack back up to the break in the reef to make it back. I think there is another launch on the farther side of the marina (upwind) which might have been a bit more straightforward. There were some easy waves outside of the reef to keep things interesting.
I also had one session near St Anne, which had a much better wave setup, but was also reefy and tricky to get out. Wish I could have had wind to explore that spot more as it had good potential. Pretty sure there was a kite school at the Club Med in St Anne.
Bottom line - we had a nice vacation, and it was easy to get to, but between the light wind, tricky reefs and sargassum, it wasn't an ideal setup for winging. If it had been blowing harder and the sargassum hadn't been such a mess, I probably would have ventured out to find some other spots, but it wasn't worth it with the wind conditions I had. I think the sargassum generally comes a little later in the spring, so you might not have the same issues I did. I just checked and wind looks a lot better than when I was there. There is a big downwind race there the 27th of Jan (Ze Race).
I highly recommend checking out the west island (Basse Tierre) on your down days. My understanding is that there aren't a lot of good wind spots there, but it was a really beautiful and diverse ecosystem and worth the trip (even dragging two young kids along).