South Padre Island, Texas
Kiteboarding trip - February 18 - 25, 2007
by Kinsley Wong
- http://XtremeBigAir.com
Many Thanks to Kinsley ThomasWong's sponsors:
Essential Information:
Closest Airports:
BRO (Brownsville - South
Padre International Airport (30
minutes) - Continental 800-525-0280)
HRL (Valley
International Airport Harlingen (50 minutes) Continental
800-525-0280 Southwest 800-435-9792)
MFE ( Miller
International Airport McAllen (1-1/2 hours) American 800-433-7300
Continental 800-525-0280)
Best Months to visit SPI:
Kite Sizes: 9M to 14M
Where to Stay:
If you are going with your
buddies, then rent beach house or stay at Motel 6, Super 8, etc.
If you are traveling with wife, girlfriends, or kids: then stay at
the La Quinta, Travelodge, Holiday Inn, Sheraton, etc.
Places to eat:
These are my favorites place on
SPI:
Daddy's: order like 2 lbs of
crawfish and some cold beer! You will end up eating like 4 or 6
lbs of crawfish. Then come back another night and order "Crawfish
Etoufee"
Dolphin Cove Oyster Bar: order the fish tacos and half shell
Oysters!
Local shops/Schools:
Wind and Surf Forecast Resources:
Ikitesurf.com
ASOS, real-time Cameron County Airport windtalker 956.233.5740
Pictures here from top left to right:
Row 1: Chase S. with his new Fuel
Link at the Jetties. - SPI local riders: Jason Y., Brook, Chase
S., and Jason S. - North Flat
Row 2: Cliff S. riding at the Jetties - North end of the beach -
Chase S. riding at the Jetties
Row3: Unknown rider at North Flat - South End of the beach -
Sunset on the Flat
Sunday - Feb. 18, 2007
Arriving to Harlingen. Enterprise
rental car has the least expensive
rate of all: For $12/day, I got myself a new Chevrolet Cobalt.
Taking the 77 to 100
highway: an hour later I was at South Padre Island. As you travel
through Los Fresnos and SPI, do watch out for your speed as Los Fresnos
and SPI are famous for handing out speeding tickets to tourists.
I got to SPI around 5 p.m., my buddy Chase S.
met up with me and we had a few cold beers. He just got back into SPI
too. We met up with other local riders: Jason Y., Alan D., Raoul,
Darren, and Marcus. According to the SPI locals, they haven't
gotten any wind for a few months. 2007 has been a cold and windless
winter.
Monday - Feb. 19, 2007
I must have brought all the
sunshine and wind from California with me. Chase S. and I was
already in the water at the Jetties by 9 a.m.
There were some nice smooth head high waves on the outside. I was
pretty much lit on my 10m Bullaroo for the whole day. The wind came
straight from the South. Raoul reported that when the wind blows
straight from
the South, the North Flat has cleaner wind and he had a killer day
there.
Chase S., Alan D., Brook, Jason Y and his son Spike, and I did a down
winder from the Jetties to the 5th access (about 8 miles long. I then
kited at the Jetties for the rest of the afternoon while others did
more down winders.
Tuesday - Feb. 20, 2007
By 7 a.m. the wind was already
strong. Chase S. and Cliff S. were
already out at the Jetties this morning at 9 a.m.. The wind was
blowing 25 - 35 kts from South West - Side Offshore. I
decided to try the
South Flat today for a few hours to work on tricks. I was super
lit on 7m Bullaroo at the South Flat. According to Chase S. ,
South Padre doesn't normally get South West wind. The normal wind
is South East which is side on shore at the Jetties. When the
wind is blowing from the South or South West, it is better at the South
and North
Flat. When the wind is blowing from the East, Holly Beach is good
and
also it is good offshore at the North Flat.
The best months in South Padre
are: March, April, May, June, July, and
end of October-November.
After a few hours at the South Flat, I was bored from
practicing tricks
and drove back to the Jetties. The wind has dropped down to below
18 kts around 4 p.m. I went out with Chase to do a downwinder but
ended up walking back as the wind died off completely about 10 minutes
afterward.
Jason Y., his wife Ronna and son Spike, Alan D., and I were treated to
a killer dinner at Chase's house.
Wednesday- Feb. 21, 2007
No wind - Chase, Cliff, and I
celebrated Cliff's birthday at the
Dolphin Cove Oyster Bar. This place servers excellent fresh
oyster on half shell.
I spent the day driving around the island. These are ocean
front
hotels going from South to North from the Jetties:
- Holiday Inn Sun Spree Resort ** 1.800.531.7405 www.Sunspreeresorts.com/southpadreisl
- Sheraton
- Bridgepoint
- La Copa Inn **
- Radisson
- South Padre Hotel **
- Regency
- La Quinta Inn is near the North Flat **
Thursday - Feb. 22, 2007
By noon, Port Isabel was blowing
16. A quick call to Laguna Vista
Airport at 956.455.4585 confirmed that the E wind is blowing around
14kts. Chase drove his Rover as the road to Holly Beach needed a
4x4 today. Mike M. was out on his 18m Vegas. Rob M. was out
on 11m
Fuel. Chase and I was out on 10m. We kited for a few
hours.
Friday - Feb. 23, 2007
It was quite foggy at the Jetties
all day. At 1:30 p.m., I called
the Laguna Vista Airport and it was 150 at 16kts. Perfect.
Could not convince Chase to come with me to Holly Beach as he was
getting ready for tonight BBQ party at his house, I drove the little
rental car out to Holly beach and did my fair share of road grading :-)
I got in the water at Holly beach around 2:30 p.m. and had a great
time
for a few hours on the 13m Waroo.
We chilled out with beers and had some great shrimp, meat ball,
bbq
chicken at Chase's.
SPI young hot riders: Brook, Spike, and Eddy.
Saturday - Feb. 24, 2007
By 8:30 a.m. this morning, Chase
and I were already in the water
at the Jetties with our 10m kites. 30 minutes later we had to
pump up our 7m kites. The wind stayed South West strong 35mph
gusting 50mph all day until 2:30 p.m. then it switched to South
East and dropped quickly. The locals were saying that this strong
SW wind is very unsual. It was quite gusty
today. After 3 hours kiting in this gusty wind, I was
pretty beat up. The North Flat is a better choice for SW wind.
SPI is a great place to ride! If you are a new kiter, you
will definitely love the super smooth and shallow flat water. If
you are into waves riding, the downwinder on the Gulf side will
bring big smiles to your face. All the local riders like Chase
S., Cliff S., Jason Y. and his son Spike, Alan D., Rob, and Mike are
very friendly and super nice. I sure will be coming back to SPI
soon in the normal months when SPI gets normal wind :-)
