Since winter is coming fast to Sweden I decidec to pack up my kites and find a warm windy place to kitesurf. With so many different option it was really hard to choose. I ended up choosing between Philippines (been there already), Brasil(really expensive plane tickets), South Africa(not really into sharks ) and Vietnam. The last option won.

I really like Asia and their food. Also plane tickets from Sweden are pretty decent price. On top of that Vietnam is the new big thing in kitesurfing world.

Some facts I was able to dig out so far (with help of this guys):

Kitesurfing in Mui Ne

Mui Ne, located in the South of Vietnam, is quickly building a reputation as one of the best destinations for kitesurfing worldwide, especially for wave riders. It is blessed with the most consistent winds in all of SE Asia, which is side-onshore at most spots and accelerated by the sand dunes in the region, and it has the lowest rainfall in the country. Since the 1990s, when Vietnam opened its borders for tourism, the facilities have been upgraded as well, so you will have no problem finding a good hotel, restaurant or one of the many kitesurf centres.

Kitesurfing hotspot: Bay of Phan Thiet

When kitesurfers talk about Mui Ne, they usually mean the Bay of Phan Thiet. This bay features 17km of wide sandy beach, with predominantly choppy water and several great beach breaks to be found along the coast, allowing for excellent wave riding and downwind kitesurfing. There are several flat water spots as well for beginners and freeriders, for example near the harbour wall at the edge of Phan Thiet.

Kitespots east of Mui Ne

On the east side of the Mui Ne peninsula, there are several further great spots, although these are for the more experienced kitesurfers only. These spots are fully open to windswell from the Northeast, fuelling the big waves at ‘the Graveyard’ and in front of the hotels Pandanus and Malibu. Further east, waves are equally high at Suoi Nuoc Bay and at Bac Binh, which are both relatively quiet. In between of these two spots, conditions are more easygoing at Turtle Island (at the right wind and tide), where you will find a sand bar and relatively flat water conditions. If you have the skills, we recommend doing a downwinder from here all the way to ‘the Graveyard’.

When to go

The main season for kitesurfing in South Vietnam is November to April, when wind speed is around 25 knots most of the time. Due to the venturi effect of the sand dunes, the wind can be accelerated to even 35 knots though at several spots! Small kites will therefor usually be the preferred choice. The first months of the season, November and December, are the best for big swell. After January, the higher waves are replaced by better odds for sunshine. Water temperature hover around 28°C (82°F) all year.

With all that in mind and a act that I was able to find a kitesurfing job instructor in no time with great guys from C2Skykitecenter there was really not to hard to choose where to go.

I will be there 1 week from today and staying for 4 months. Woo hoo. I will escape most of Swedish darkness and cold. And change my working clothes to flip flops, board shorts and sun cream.

Will keep you posted on how its going. And one picture for the end ….

Popularity: 13% [?]

Here is a guide to windy kiteboarding months – it is difficult to accumulate a full list, as this is compiled from many sources, so use this as a guide. Obviously you can get wind at other times than shown here and you also can get left hanging windless in the bar.

All Year:
Maui, Tarifa – Spain, Egypt, Hatteras- North Carolina, Cabarete – DR

January
Western Oz, Cape Town-South Africa, La Ventana-Mexico, Boracay-Philipines, Namibia, St. Louis-Senegal, Copal-Costa Rica, Mui Ne Bay-Vietnam, Auckland-NZ, Nashiro-Japan, Baja, Barbados, Kenya-Mombasa, BVIs, Carmelo-Uruguay, Buenos aires-Argentina, Hong Kong, Puclaro-Chile, Yemen-Red Sea

February
Margarita- Western Oz, St. Louis- Senegal, Cape Verde Is, Melbourne, Hua Hin – Thailand, South Africa, La ventana-mexico, Boracay-philipines, Cap Chevalier-Martinique, Zanzibar-Tanzania, Copal-Costa Rica, Mui Ne Bay-Vietnam, Belize, Florida-USA, Nashiro-Japan, Baja, Barbados, South Padre Island-(TX)USA, Esbjerg-Denmark, Cabarete, Bonaire-Carib, St. Lucia-Carib, Whitehaven-Whitsunday Islands, BVIs, Noordwijk ann Zee-Netherlands, Puclaro-Chile, Yemen-Red Sea

March
El gouna-Egypt, cape verde, St. Louis-Senegal, Cabarete, margarita, Western Oz, Hua Hin – Thailand, South Africa, La Ventana-Mexico, Esbjerg-Denmark, Antigua, Goa, Cap Chevalier-Martinique, Zanzibar-Tanzania, Copal-Costa Rica, Mui Ne Bay-Vietnam, Belize, Florida-USA, Barbados, South Padre Island-(TX)USA, Bonaire-Carib, St. Lucia-Carib, Negombo-Sri Lanka, BVIs, Ibiza-Spain, Rosslare-Ireland, Watergate-UK, Cape Hatteras-USA, Puclaro-Chile, Yemen-Red Sea

April
Cape Verde, Maui, Margarita, Western Oz, Hua Hin – Thailand, Antigua, Cap Chevalier-Martinique, Belize, Banff-Canada, Barbados, South Padre Island-(TX)USA, Safaga-Egypt, Bonaire-Carib, St. Lucia-Carib, Whitehaven-Whitsunday Islands, Negombo-Sri Lanka**, Ibiza-spain, Rosslare-Ireland, Watergate-UK, Cape Hatteras-USA, Puclaro-Chile

May
Cape Verde, Margarita, Antigua, Cape Hatteras-USA, Leucate-France, Essaouira-Morocco, Iraq, El yaque-venezuela, ras sudr-egypt, Rhodes-Greece, porto pollo-Sardinia, Fuerteventura, cabarete, Bonaire-Carib, St. Lucia-Carib, Whitehaven-Whitsunday Islands, Ibiza-spain, Aruba-Carib, Tarifa, Puclaro-Chile, Mancora-Peru

June
Fuerteventura, Tenerife, Cape Verde, Cabarete, Raratonga, The Gorge Or-USA, Bol-Croatia, Foddini-Italy, Ponto de Oura-Mozambique, Seychelles*, Maui-USA, fiji, Essaouira-Morocco, Guincho-Portugal, el yaque-venezuela, Rhodes-Greece, Levkada-Greece, dakhla-morocco , Corsica, Rhodes-Greece, Pirlanta-Turkey, Paramali-Cyprus, porto pollo-Sardinia, Lanzarote, Bonaire-Carib, St. Lucia-Carib, Sri Lanka**, Aruba-Carib, Puclaro-Chile, Mancora-Peru

July
Cabarete, Fuerteventura, Tenerife, Mauritius, Naxos-Greece, Raratonga, Leucate-France, The Gorge Or-USA, Pirlanta-Turkey, Bol-Croatia, Foddini-Italy, Seychelles*, solomon Islands, Maui-USA, fiji, Tahiti, Essaouira-Morocco, Guincho-Portugal, el yaque-venezuela, Rhodes-greece, levkada-greece, dakhla – morocco, Corsica, paros-Greece, porto pollo-Sardinia, Lanzarote, El Gouna-Egypt, Safaga-Egypt, Sinai, eilat-Israel, Paramali-Cyprus, Sri Lanka**, Maui-USA, Aruba-Carib, Puclaro-Chile, Mancora-Peru

August
Cabarete, El Gouna-Egypt, Fuerteventura, Tenerife, Brazil, Mauritius, cape verde, Naxos-Greece, Raratonga, The gorge-USA, Bol-Croatia, Pirlanta-Turkey, Foddini-Italy, Zanzibar-Tanzania, Guincho-Portugal, Seychelles*, solomon Islands, Rangiroa-F.polynesia, Maui-USA, Fiji, Tahiti, Essaouira-Morocco, Corsica, Rhodes-Greece, Paramali-Cyprus paros-Greece, Lanzarote, Safaga-Egypt, Eilat-Israel, Sinai, Sri Lanka**, Maui-USA, Aruba-Carib, Puclaro-Chile, Mancora-Peru

September
El Gouna-Egypt, Tucus-Brazil, Mauritius, Pirlanta-Turkey, Zanzibar-Tanzania, Seychelles*, solomon Islands, Rangiroa-F.polynesia, Sumbawa-indonesia, Maui-USA, Madagascar, UK, Corsica, rosslare-Ireland, Canada, Germany, Israel, Sinai-Egypt, Noordwijk ann Zee-Netherlands, Puclaro-Chile, Mancora-Peru, Cumbuco Brazil

October
Tucus-Brazil, Western Oz, Sumbawa-indonesia, Madagascar, New Caledonia, Chile, Watergate-UK, Esbjerg-Denmark, rosslare-Ireland, Buenos Aires-Argentina, Carmelo-Uruguay, Noordwijk ann Zee-Netherlands, Cape Hatteras-USA, Tarifa, Puclaro-Chile, Mancora-Peru, Cumbuco Brazil

November
Melbourne, Tucus-Brazil, Western Oz, Namibia, cape town-South Africa, Sumbawa-indonesia, Auckland-NZ, Madagascar, New Caledonia, Buenos aires-Argentina, Carmelo-Uruguay, Hong Kong, Leucate-France, Noordwijk ann Zee-Netherlands, Tarifa, Puclaro-Chile, Cumbuco Brazil

December
Melbourne, Tucus-Brazil, Western Oz, cape town-South Africa La ventana-mexico, Namibia, Copal-Costa Rica, Mui Ne Bay-Vietnam, Auckland-NZ, Nashiro-Japan, Baja, New Caledonia, Boracay-philipines, Buenos aires-Argentina, Carmelo-Uruguay, Monastir-Tunisia, Hong Kong, Leucate-France, Cape Hatteras-USA, Tarifa, Puclaro-Chile, Yemen-Red Sea

Popularity: 26% [?]

Just got back from what I can only say was a perfect surfing related trip from Algarve, Portugal.

First day was really depressing with wind prediction of less then 5 knts for the whole trip . So we went out and partied all night and enjoying cheap wine and beer (must love alcohol prices in Portugal, specially coming from Sweden ).

So second day everybody was pretty much hangover, but towards end of the day we still managed to do a really nice SUP session in the waves after couple of  guys at local surf shop in Lagos have recommended it … so thank  you Stand Up Portugal

Day 2 …. still no wind so we booked a surfing session with Jesus ( no really that was our guides name ). And enjoyed every bit of it …

And on day 3 the wind finally came and a really good one as well … picked up around 12:00 from 12 knts to 18 knts at around 15:00 and with high tide coming the nice little lagoon was getting bigger by the minute … and offered a really nice down-winder at the end of the day

28 – 30 temperatures through the whole trip plus warm enough water you could swim in for half an hour or so …. so Portugal in May is definitely seeing me again !

Tired after all the action and cheap drinks we had to go home on day five and were actually able to sleep over 3 sits on a half empty Ryanair flight

Popularity: 36% [?]

One glance at  windguru was enough to bring a huge grin over my face. All orange/red for the next 6 days – meaning 20-24 knts winds . Super happy.

After some research I found this sweet ass lagoon with flat water to play in. And the guy working in the near by kite center was almost my fellow country man ( this cool Croatian dude … ). But once you are so far away from home, everyone speaking “your language” is your country man!

And so the fun started.

And yes water was warm enough to wear just shorts woo hoo … just what I needed after -25 degrees C.

Temperature from my wind meter shows -> Hot hot hot …. sweet!

On the day that wind went down a bit … and when one of my tubes decided to start leaking me and Daniel ( the cool Croating dude ) did a  Kiteboarding Assistant Instructor course in the best office in the world … Thanks again Daniel ( and for fixing my tube )

So to sum up … been riding 5 and a half  out of 6 days, all inclusive bar, 30-34 degrees C and amazing beaches and waters …. Will definitely return to Boa Vista ….

Popularity: 62% [?]