have you been there kiteboarding? and what was your experience? there are a couple of companies who organise trips, wondering which one is recomended

how is the wind, and whats the best time of year to go.
also is it expensive?

thanks
dave

awesome been looking at booking tickets for Rarotonga for June - staying at the rarotongan - it even has a wave nearby although the island from what I can gather isnt that good for sure but would like to know more...

seems a flatwater kiting heaven though... especially Aitutaki!!!

There are no rideable waves that i found, no. the pacific swell basically breaks upon 15cm of reef, there are 2 breaks on rarotonga that i know some locals surf occasionally, but generally speaking there is nowhere to kite the waves. the flat water is incredible though, especially aitutaki.

brinm said...


If you want flat warm water, its heaven...papaya & tuna ain't bad either and only 3.5 hours ex Auckland!

Are these islands or food?

Can't find any info on them if they are islands?

Hi Neill, Iam heading over to the Cooks in August and plan to stay at Raratonga for 4 days then Aitutaki for 3 days, I know Aitutaki is THE place but is Raratonga also good for kiting Iam so stoked to be going over there just hope that the wind co operates while there. Also what gear did you take, ie kites, boards, wetties etc and is the weather good at this time of the year as I really want to pack minimum clothes.

Thanks

Wayne

Hi Wayne...here's some info I passed on to someone else recently....might be useful...

about Aitutaki

See the wind rose data on the site at http://kiteboardaitutaki.com/aitutaki-wind-weather.htm

There is a 'windier' period from late April to end of September..

Statistically, Aitutaki gets more wind than Raro but..

It's not like some parts of the world where there is a "doctor' - type wind that arrives at a certain time each day as a big hunk of land heats up nearby..

The south pacific trades tend to go in cycles and generally they start to build and you get a day or two on your 14m, then you shift to the twelve for a day or so then you have 3 ripping 20Kt days on a 10m and then it declines in reverse order...so you get these 5-8 day cycles of rise and fall..

And the Big Rule..there is no rule!

In August last year we had exactly that cycle, in Late September it went 16 days flat calm!

So, no guarantees but from our investigations with the Cooks MetService and evaluating the AIT airport Metar data, anytime from May to end September is bankable.

As for strength, the wind rose gives you the monthly data..

(can't get the graphic to load)


It shows main direction to be ESE,
20% of days over 22kt,
5 % from 17-21kt
and you need to add that to the
17% from the east at 17-21kt
+ the 19% from the ene at 11-17kt to get the full picture.

Complicated? Seems so initially but what it shows is in June is on around 60% of the days, the wind is over 11kt and of that 60% around a third are 20kt+
... there are plenty of stronger days as well

I haven't found any Gorge or Freemantle or Hurdigah type conditions anywhere in the South Pacific.the closest you might get would be Maui~or maybe the Cocos


When is it windiest?

Data shows End July, through August, September to be most reliable..but even January when it's hot & sticky has windy periods from the North!

Is gear available for hire?

Not from us, but there will be IKO instructors up there from June and they were planning to have gear available; I'm waiting to hear what their final position and pricing is...want me to let u know when I find out?


How much?

Not fixed, see above.


As for Muri, agree with previous post; its really the only spot if you don't want to dodge bommies all the time or sail outside the reef!

But its nice, warm and generally 10-12m kites...

(Ditto for Aitutaki...and if you had an 8 or 9 for cranking days, I'd take it too!)

Thanks for the info guys, I guess Ill take both 11m and 9m Revs and one board ( Litewave Rasta ), great news not needing a wetty.

Cheers

Wayne