Hey everyone we are heading to KL next week just wanna know if anyone has kited KL and know the spots close to down town hope'n to get some waves if possible. Cheers T

I've been to KL half a dozen times to visit mates since I started kiting, including side trips to Penang, Langkawi, Koh Lipe and Redang Island. Not once have I though 'gee, wish I had my gear'. I've never seen any wind of note.

Rule of thumb I usually use: if it's within 10 degrees of the equator the wind is crap, unless there's some mountains causing a localized effect.

I lived in KL for a couple of years and did some kiting there too, the following info is two years old but here's what I can tell you:

> The wind is basically crap. (As Greenpat said “if it's within 10 degrees of the equator the wind is crap, unless there's some mountains causing a localized effect.”)
> From December to February they do get some wind from the North East monsoon, but it is usually very light. (14-16M kites being the norm)
> The place to ride is at Kuantan on the East coast of Malaysia which is about 3 hours drive from KL. It's a long open beach with a very small waves, which aren't really rideable except for the odd occasion. The water is a brownish colour, but other than the colour it wasn't offensive.
> The kiters usually congregate at the 'Duta Village beach resort', and there is a bloke there call Leo Leow who runs a fairly basic kite school. (Leo is an old Malaysia windsurfing champ, turned kiter, and his mobile number used to be: +60-12-329 1336) Sometimes we would call to see how the wind was, and Leo would say “It's honking!”. The trouble being a 60 kg Asian bloke fully powered on a 14 metre kite doesn't exactly qualify for the wind to be 'honking' IMO. Not sure if he's renting any gear or not?
> Forget the West coast, the wind is super gusty and less strength than the east Coast. I have ridden at the 'Gold Coast' which is SW of KL, out past the airport, but never saw another kitesurfer around, and the chances of having your car broken into in the car park is about 50/50.

If you need any more info just PM me.

Burls

Hey,
In addition to what is said above, I agree that there isnt much wind here in Malaysia. I live in KL and study in Tassie, was expecting to kite here but since I got back I managed to kite once. And that was early Nov on the west coast, with a skim, and a 13m, im 70kg. The closest beach to KL is 1.5h away, past the airport. Morib, 'Gold Coast' and anything in between.

But the best chance to get proper wind now is to go to the east coast. Its been pumping (Malaysian standard) for the last two days now ranging 8-18 kts. You should look up wind forecast if you really keen on kiting (I normally use charts to see wind forecast movement/strength around South China Sea). Here is the local updates from Balok beach, (http://balok-wind.com/). I think its fairly accurate.

As for waves, east coast is the best bet. I recommend Chendor beach which is 10 minutes drive north of Cherating beach. These two beaches are some of our surf beaches during the monsoon season (nov-feb). Cherating is a point break, but Chedor is a beach break. Should be open to clean wind. Balok is a beach break too but its too choppy. Its just about 15 mins south of Cherating. Tioman Island is another option. Clean wind and swells on the east side of the island. I normally go there for surfing. But I think it would be too much of an effort for you to go there.
You can rent surfboards in Cherating, and Tioman.
There is a lake in Putrajaya (30mins from KL) where I sail and people windsurf. Its not the 'high wind' season now. And the local authority has yet to approve kiting here. Might want to keep this in mind. I'm hoping they can do it soon so that I don't have to travel so far
Hope this helps.
muss

upsidedowner said...
Well thanks for all the latest info sounds like a shopping tour instead ill hit Mue Ne in Nam instead Cheers T

Shopping isn't even cheap in KL...

KL is just a constant average - everything is very average not saying it's a bad thing, it's not great and it's not bad...