Report -- West Caribbean San Andres Isla

[gilana]

San Andres is an island belonging to Colombia just off the coast of Nicaragua in the West Caribbean.

My wife and I are well into our 50's and we live on our sailboat. We are mad about kiting and we sail to where the winds are good.

We have been in San Andres now for nearly 5 months and have had about 50 awesome sessions here. The winds are best in January, we hear, but we arrived in April, and the winds really only kicked in about June. There is flat water, acres of shallow water for learners, clear cobalt blue water, some wave action and long downwinders. This is a kiting island for sure, there is a Cabrinha dealer here. Ricci Leccesse, a ranked racer lives here. Chamey Nautica and others offer lessons with transport by jet-ski or dinghy to the shallows. Very good instructors. Many hotels and hostels to choose from, food and restaurants are cheap. eg. A Pizza is $5.00, Coffee $1.00, 2 course meal with a drink $8.00. If you are looking for a reasonably priced kiting getaway, look seriously at San Andres. Smiley happy people all around. Totally safe to walk around at night, lots of nightlife. If you want to party and kite, this is the place.

We have to leave here in about a month as our 180 day tourist visa is about to expire. We will be sailing our boat down to the San Blas islands of Panama, where the kiting is also superb, having spent the last 3 years there. Mid December to April are the best months. While there, we do offer charters like many other operators, but we can only take two at a time, stretching to 3 if we have to. We would prefer older kiters, or ladies who want to feel safe. The other kite-charter operators are more into parties and are a professional commercial operation and have up to 20 people on board at a time. (we could not cook quality meals for that many people) There are lots of photos on our blog, and lots of videos on youtube. If you need to know more info, or if you want to come and spend a week or more in paradise, and kite every day please get in touch. Our blog has a feedback button. It is gilana dot org

We can put you in touch with the commercial operators without any commission if you like, but if you are a couple, or two friends and would prefer a more private and comfortable experience, give us a shout.

Hope this is useful to you! Mike and Laura

[gilana]

https://www.google.com/maps/@12.5526517 ... a=!3m1!1e3[/googlemap]

Some more info:

https://www.google.com/maps/@12.5526517 ... a=!3m1!1e3
The airport code here is ADZ
Flights into here via Guatemala City, Panama City (PTY) and Bogota
Prevailing winds are NE
WIndguru page here
https://beta.windguru.cz/125792