BayAreaKiteboarding.com

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the west coast, been kiting in san diego for the past year and I've been dying to get up to SF to kite in real wind.

Planning to have 4 days of kiting in the bay area at the end of the month. So far I know for sure I have to ride Crissy and Sherman. I'm an advanced level rider with full quiver of ram air/tube kites with a foil board and a twin tip.

If you had to pack it into 4 days, what spots would you hit? I have a place to stay near crissy but also wouldn't mind camping anywhere.

Chrissy & sherman
The coast if windy enough..

GOfast wrote:been kiting in san diego for the past year

Whoa, can you kite in San Diego? I'm heading there next week and the forecasts are always super light - baby blues, greens, and maybe some yellow. I'll be in Oceanside and my biggest kite is a 9M wave kite - should I not even bother? Thanks!

mighty wrote:

GOfast wrote:been kiting in san diego for the past year

Whoa, can you kite in San Diego? I'm heading there next week and the forecasts are always super light - baby blues, greens, and maybe some yellow. I'll be in Oceanside and my biggest kite is a 9M wave kite - should I not even bother? Thanks!

Not worth it. Yesterday was the best it's been in awhile at it was only 15mph for an hour. Only reason I can ride here is I have a hydrofoil and 15m race kite. I go to long beach typically for wind

Cosmicocean wrote:Chrissy & sherman
The coast if windy enough..

Any tips for great oceanside spots?

GOfast wrote:

Cosmicocean wrote:Chrissy & sherman
The coast if windy enough..

Any tips for great oceanside spots?

Waddell

3 mile if you know what you are doing...magical

JimmyJack wrote:3 mile if you know what you are doing...magical

Couldnt find anything off google for 3 mile, where's it at?

Also about Waddell, where's the break? Deep or shallow water. I would love to find a nice deep break so I can foil in the surf

3 mile is generally regarded as a surfing spot, and in many ways not very friendly for kiting. There's a rocky bluff on the inside that makes the wind swirly, and some very gnarly rocks that are the end destination of side shore currents, especially if there's much swell going. If you lose your board, it's pretty much toast, and a good chance you'll drop your kite in the rocks if you go in very far. And....no good places to land if you get blown downwind, pretty rocky coast immediately south.

If you go surfing there, you will notice that there's almost always broken glass on the parking spots on the highway. It's not uncommon for people to have their car broken into while surfing. Since it's a bit of a hike down to the bluff, it is not possible to keep your eye on the car while you're out.

With the way the place is set up, one single kite out there can totally blow it for the guys surfing, and they get kind of huffy when somebody kites there even if the kiter is minding his manners.

It's one of those spots that has some protection from the wind on the inside, so guys are still surfing even when it's pretty windy. Because of the hazards and the fact that it's traditionally mainly a surfing spot, would not suggest promoting this as a kiting spot.

Oh, and there is a GIANT kelp bed there, which helps to keep the chop down for the surfers but it can wreak havoc on a foil.

Waddell is a much better choice, especially if you don't know the area. Easily accessible from the road, nice beach, everybody down with kiters, boardsailors and surfers all living in peaceful co-existence.

And mostly deep water except for a few rocks mostly north of the parking lot. If there is any size it'll break in deep enough water for a foil but just be careful not to jink up the normal traffic pattern. Primarily a wave sailing spot.

Use care at crissy, watch the tides and do your homework on how to deal with the local conditions there, because it commands a healthy respect. Beautiful but.....take care. This forum has good resources on spots you might want to hit.

Thanks a lot for the thorough write up! I appreciate it.

I've read up on the system for waves in Waddell, I'll be sure to watch from the beach before going out to make sure I have it down.

Really pumped for crissy field, I've read a lot about the bail out points, sketchy offshore breeze etc. I'll have a VHF with me as well. It's safeto assume that all of these spots would be too crazy on Labor Day weekend, so I should go the weekend before - correct?