recomendations place on the beach

[Grizwald]

I would appreciate recommendations for February March for a location where one can rent a place on the beach such that one can walk out set up and go kiting on flat water. Optimally someplace where one can get by without renting a car. Bike or walk to grocery store. If there was some interesting snorkeling near by that would definitely be a plus. I am thinking of 6 to 8 weeks.
I am going to assume that I can get my hands on a vaccine by then although this may be just wishful thinking.
I also realize that travel forum may be a more appropriate location for this post but it seems to get very little readership.
thanks in advance
Griz

[rw30]

man, we are in pandemic. Your wishlist would be difficult to satisfy on any normal moment, let alone 2020/21. You not saying where you'd fly from either

I was planning Cabo Verde (Sal) on Feb / March (again, not that it satisfies all your condition, but it's decent anyway), but TAP just cancelled all the flights there from Lisbon till end of Feb, so getting there in February will be hassle (seems like charters from Germany are the only option to get there). So maybe I will go in March for 3-4 weeks max as I want to be back home for Easter.

Vaccine till then? LOLz I'd say ( I might be wrong though)

[Havre]

I have no idea how the situation is in the Philippines, but Bulabog might be as close as you get.

Not many places are great in February/March.

Not sure how the sewage situation is now on Boracay, but I guess it should be better than before considering the reduced travelling.

Langebaan might still got some wind. Reasonably flat. I stayed 200 meters or something from the spot. Not exactly the most exciting place to stay for 6-8 weeks, but that goes for most kitespots. I liked Langebaan. Quiet little place with a good spot and a handful of nice restaurants. Loved the people there. Cape Town obviously better in terms of "life", but hardly flat - and the logistics is a bit more complicated. You can stay at Blouberg without a car though.

[rw30]

@Havre, Philippines are closed at least till summer 2021.

[Hugh2]

In my opinion it would be absurd to go to Cape Town and Langebaan for 6-8 weeks without a car. There will be windless days perfect for car trips all over the place.

[Havre]

In my opinion it would be absurd to go to Cape Town and Langebaan for 6-8 weeks without a car. There will be windless days perfect for car trips all over the place.

Depends on how far you go I guess - and how often. Über takes you a long way in CT.

That said - SA is definitely better with a car.

[Grizwald]

RW30 I am flying from SW Florida which makes the Caribbean pretty accessible, Cape Verde not so much. I may be a bit optimistic re the vaccine but one has to hope especially as Florida is pretty much stupid central for anti-maskers and conspiracy idiots.

Other suggestions that I have received so far include El Cuyo (Mexico), San Andreas (Columbia) and Turks and Caicos. In ascending order of expense. I very much appreciate any opinions on these spots as well as any other other suggestions as eventually this lock-down is going to end and then I would like to get back to my goal of traveling the world to kite.

In am okay with taking public transport to a store and cabbing back if necessary if it will obviate the necessity of a rental car. I concede that a rental car is usually more convenient and often a necessity but they do come with their own set of headaches.

And now for your entertainment I present my anti rental car rant. Feel free to add to this. Many of these issues are not the fault of the companies but rather the problems of not being a local driver. These issues happened either to us or people we know personally.

The number one reason I would like to avoid a rental car is cost. In the tropics in particular the daily cost can be more than on water accommodation. I prefer to support the local economy by patronizing restaurants and bars.
In central America and Miami it would be much more efficient if the rental companies included a bribery fee so the police could dispense with the imaginary offenses and just bill your account (Mexico, Panama, Miami).
Then of course there is the insurance scams. In Ireland they wanted an additional $40 a day for insurance even though we had our own. They admitted that it wasn't worth renting to someone with their own insurance unless things were really slow.
Pre-existing damage. It has become necessary to have an Imax film crew and a signed letter from God's uncle to prove that the 2 angstrom dent in the fender was there when you picked up the car ( France, Mexico)
It is also handy that most rental cars come with nice big logos so the local criminals know which cars to break into. (Hawaii, Trinidad). There are similar logos on cars in Grenada and Martinique but we didn't hear of anyone being broken into.
In Costa Rica the rental company told us in the event of a flat to drive on the rim until you reach a built up area. Local gangs were placing tire cutters on the road and when the unsuspecting tourist stops to change the tire and unloads the luggage to get to the spare, the gangs grab the luggage and scampers. Tourists that resist tend to gain first hand experience with the local medical facilities.
There are also the impromptu road blocks set up to aid the local economy. There is a nearly permanent such tollgate on the road to Holbox in case anyone has plans to visit.
Martinique is well known for its speed cameras. There are several places where an 80 km/hr road suddenly becomes 20 km/hr in the middle of a cane field. Two months later a letter arrives at your door advising you that you must pay the fine and then appeal in person if you wish to contest the fine. The locals tell me that these are easy to fight but hardly worth getting on a plane to take care of it.
To be fair there have been two occasions where car rental people have been excellent. In Spain an Budget agent in Zamora went to considerably more work to extend our contract rather than write a new one, saving us several hundred dollars. B.J. Parkey in Grenada pro-rated our monthly rental rather than charge us the daily rate when we had to leave after a week because of Covid.
That is all that comes to mind at the moment.