Cape Town Advice

fincollins

Hey all...

Heading on a kite trip for 3 weeks to Cape Town in January :cool:

Anyone got any advice on spots, accomodation, bars...anything?!??

Thanks

fuerte1976

fincollins wrote: »

Hey all...

Heading on a kite trip for 3 weeks to Cape Town in January :cool:

Anyone got any advice on spots, accomodation, bars...anything?!??

Thanks

Howdy dude,

Was in Cape town yeeeeears ago..

1st off if no one is on a beach , its for a reason...(jaws) :eek:
was in the water around camps bay and plenty kiters about there but not a huge amount of beach to launch/land (if i remember right).
Booze & food for nothing there
Lots of gaps to kite from between camps bay & capetown proper with robin island as a nice backdrop..
DO NOT WALK from capetown center to the waterfront area- YOU WILL BE MUGGED ... Get a taxi.
Oh yea, you think the water is cold here- you a'int felt icy water like this liquid in capetown ! Full wetsuit even in Summer...


For now- thats all i remember

trasver

Hey there

Just happened to see your post. I'm an Irish guy living in Cape Town for the past three years!

January is the perfect time to come...almost guaranteed good wind every day.

The best spots around the city are on the west coast which starts at Milnerton and goes the whole way up to Melkbosstrand (and further!).

Here's a cool website that details all the main spots:

http://www.kitespotters.co.za/newkitespots.php

My favourite is to do a downwinder from what we call Meerkat beach (it's just before Dolphin beach) right down to Doodles. It's a very popular downwind spot and there's a shuttle bus that will bring you back to where you parked your car. Although most of the time you'll just be able to hitch a lift back with another kiter.

Also Langebaan is an absolute must if you're into flat water! It's about an hours drive up the R27 (west coast road) but it's a stunning location with a massive lagoon and flat water. Also the water here is relatively warm..I've never worn a wetsuit here but some guys might wear shorties.

You will need a wetsuit in Cape Town....the water is deceptively cold, I wear a 4:3 but no need for booties, gloves or anything like that....just lots of water proof sunscreen (I use island tribe gel (http://www.islandtribe.co.za/) and never really get burnt).

If your sole focus for being here is kiting then I'd look to stay somewhere around Bloubergstrand/Tableview as that's where most of the kiting is. Bear in mind it's summer + Christmas holidays so it's busy and more expensive than the rest of the year. That said the exchange rate is so good at the moment you'll think it's cheap as chips!!

Anyway that's a quick reply but if you've any other questions reply here or PM me.


Simon



Also I wouldn't recommend Camps bay however, very touristy, bad wind and little or no beach for launching. In fact kiting might be banned there in the summer season.

fincollins

trasver wrote: »

Hey there

Just happened to see your post. I'm an Irish guy living in Cape Town for the past three years!

January is the perfect time to come...almost guaranteed good wind every day.

The best spots around the city are on the west coast which starts at Milnerton and goes the whole way up to Melkbosstrand (and further!).

Here's a cool website that details all the main spots:

http://www.kitespotters.co.za/newkitespots.php

My favourite is to do a downwinder from what we call Meerkat beach (it's just before Dolphin beach) right down to Doodles. It's a very popular downwind spot and there's a shuttle bus that will bring you back to where you parked your car. Although most of the time you'll just be able to hitch a lift back with another kiter.

Also Langebaan is an absolute must if you're into flat water! It's about an hours drive up the R27 (west coast road) but it's a stunning location with a massive lagoon and flat water. Also the water here is relatively warm..I've never worn a wetsuit here but some guys might wear shorties.

You will need a wetsuit in Cape Town....the water is deceptively cold, I wear a 4:3 but no need for booties, gloves or anything like that....just lots of water proof sunscreen (I use island tribe gel (http://www.islandtribe.co.za/) and never really get burnt).

If your sole focus for being here is kiting then I'd look to stay somewhere around Bloubergstrand/Tableview as that's where most of the kiting is. Bear in mind it's summer + Christmas holidays so it's busy and more expensive than the rest of the year. That said the exchange rate is so good at the moment you'll think it's cheap as chips!!

Anyway that's a quick reply but if you've any other questions reply here or PM me.


Simon



Also I wouldn't recommend Camps bay however, very touristy, bad wind and little or no beach for launching. In fact kiting might be banned there in the summer season.

Cheers lads,

Simon i was talking to you about it last year on KS.ie i think, but couldnt find the emails anywhere!!

Yeah i think we're gonna stay somewhere in blouberg and kite around those parts for about a week. then maybe head up towards langebaan for another weekish....then maybe wander around the garden route and check out witsands and that general neck of the woods.

get a few visits in to the cablepark too to mix it up abit. cant wait! :D:D

if your going to be about give us a shout

trasver

Ah yes I thought the username was familiar!!

Sounds like a great plan! Langebaan is a cool spot for kiting and is fairly beautiful but apart from kiting there isn't much there...however if all your planning on doing is kiting all day every day then it's paradise!

Accommodation may be a pain in the ass to find there (perhaps everywhere) as it's busy season...all the people from Jo'burg come down for a month or so for their holidays.

Garden route is an amazing spot...if you're planning on going as far as PE then Addo Elephant park should be top of the list...it's amazing! That's kind of at the end of the Garden route and maybe too far to go...there's tonnes of cool spots en route though. Feel free to PM me if you want advice. If you're thinking about staying around wilderness we love this place (http://www.wildernessbushcamp.co.za/).

I may not be about when you're here as we're heading back to Ireland for Christmas and won't get back until Jan 17th. If you're having hassle finding accommodation we may be able to come up with a deal for you to rent our place for the time you're in the Cape Town area. We live on woodbridge island which is 5 minutes drive from dolphin beach (http://goo.gl/maps/5SmlS). We did it for a couple from Ireland/France when they were here a few years ago and they loved it (PM me if interested).


Also make sure you bring your smallest kites! We went to go yesterday and it was completely blown out (my smallest kite is a 7M). That said we live here so there's always another day to head out...there was a few nutjobs out yesterday hanging on for dear life!!

ted1

J-Bay, is well worth a visit. Huge beach with great waves and there's a flat water lagoon aswell