Hi All,

I'm heading over to Port Douglas with a group of mates late July. We were hoping to head up to the Kite Surfari but left our run late and the week we had holidays the Surfari was already booked out. :( Our bad for leaving it so late.

So now we are going to base ourselves in the Town and rent a car, and hope to kite the week away.

Would really appreciate any suggestions as to how to maximise the kiting experience, places to go, what kites to bring, anything to consider (stingers, how to avoid floaty things that chomp etc)

We plan to rent a car, and if it helps get to the best spots can rent a 4wd.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Michael.

I think you will love the trip regardless of wind or not. But you will find windy areas no doubt. 4-mile beach on a good day is probably one of the best kite spots in the world - shallow waist high water, heaps of room and a kite shop right on the beach - WindSwell.
In terms of stingers, crocs, etc... you won't have to worry. Stinger season is mostly from late Sep/Oct to Apr/May at the most. Crocs, well they should be sleeping over winter anyway. Sharks, meh... far more your way in WA than up here.
Kites? I would take three for most winds - 9m, 12m and your biggest preferably over 15m. A wet-suit may also help as the waters up here do get cold, but then again not as cold as down south (4/3mm should be fine). Oh and don't forget a basic kite repair kit.
Enjoy

Thanks Everyone, super excited now. 9 12 and 14 with extensions will be the quiver.

Re the drive to Point Archer, or anywhere else, is it worth renting a 4wd or is a 2wd sufficient.

Thanks
Michael

Last year I was up at kitesurfari, and it was blowing 25 to over 30 knots every day. I'm only a beginner, so for me it was too much.

The following week I went back to Cairns and ended up going to Port Douglas for a week. The location there is beautiful and certainly closer to civilisation, but the wind was completely different. Up at Kitesurfari I went from needing a 9m some days to needing more than a 17m in Port Douglas.

In Port Douglas it seemed almost everyone was on really big kites and only the lighter people were on 12m kites.

I was surprised about how different the wind was. It goes from blowing intensely all the time to a much lighter breeze. Make sure you take your larger kites.

I don't know if the weather conditions were that different that week, but the typical green arrows was still showing for Cairns, but it really didn't come in there at all. It was strange though as in Cairns it even rained during the week which seemed to keep the wind away.

Kit3kat said..
yeah its weird. Something to do with the thermals and the tablelands probably. The forecast is never accurate either. I.e. today the forecast was 10 knots but it was more like 20 which we havn't had in months. There is no stingers up here in July.
17m is probably overkill. I find my 16m never gives me an advantage over a 12.

17m is overkill? How much do you weigh, 60kgs? When I was up there a lot of people were on the bigger kites and only the lightest people were getting away with a 12m.

Kit3kat said..
80kg and I definitely have the largest kite. You see the odd person on a 14m but most are on a 12m.

I must have been there for a bad week then. Which is good to hear. It was very cool and wet weather in Cairns as well, so maybe the weather pattern was an unusual one.

That said, it was still blowing a gale up at Cape Flattery.