More Secret Location

One of the locals at this spot told me that a few years ago there used to be a lot of guys out at this beach, now there are only a third as many.

Secret Location

This place is amazing...but utterly dangerous. The waves are overhead to double overhead, tons of rocks everwhere, and the reef is exposed in many places, but the water is warm and the wind is steady. 

Introduction to Kiteboarding

I first started kiteboarding in fall of 2001. That was soon after I had first heard about it at Boardsports in San Francisco, which is a funny story.

I went into Boardsports on a Friday during my lunch hour looking for some booties for surfing in Santa Cruz. They had a video playing behind the cash register. As I looked closely at what was playing on the screen I noticed there were guys on boards hooked up to really big kites, doing the most incredible jumps, flips, spins, etc. I was fascinated and had to ask the clerk behind the counter "what is that"?

He looked at me and slowly said in a well practiced California surfer drawl, "...Dude...it's kiteboarding". Well, I had to try it. He sold me a Slingshot 2m trainer kite on the spot.

Kiteboarding South Padre Island

South Padre Island is an awesome place for kiteboarding. It's 7 miles from the island to the mainland. The body of water between the island and the mainland is called Laguna Madre or the "mother lagoon" and offers ideal condititions for kiteboarding. The water is warm, the wind is relatively steady and because the island provides protection, the water is relatively calm. Another really unique aspect of the Laguna Madre is that it is shallow all the way across. You can kite right to the middle of the lagoon, 3.5 miles from the island, drop your kite and stand up on the bottom. It's only about 4 to 5 feet deep all the way across.

Last time I was there, I rented equipment from Phil Money. Phil is a world renowned windsurfer and has a great location right on the water. My friends Dave, Rob, Scott and I rented a condo that was walking distance from Phil's shop. It was a perfect set up. South Padre Island is a definitely a party place and is a major destination for spring break.