I would love to hear some stories too. We had a great trip to fiji last year. I am dreaming about rodrigues for this winter- anyone been there ?

Malaika - thanks for the response - share some details please!

thanks for the info on rodrigues- I'm not quite ready for waves yet so flat water sounds good to me- where would the easier to get to flat water spots be?

Azwaa- Fiji- was great for us as we have 2 young kids and we found fiji to be great for kids- we were there last week of july(not much wind) and first week of august(great wind) we spent the first week at a resort which was fantastic in a resorty kind of way- we didnt get out on the water there but we did see people kiting near plantation resort. we spent the second week on nananu-i-ra- very laid back - not a resort by any means but nice house, great food, good company- more of a backpacker scenario with drinks and conversation in the evenings- and lots of other things to do in case of no wind. we did feel we got to experience some fijian culture too which we really enjoyed.

The year before that we were in spain at the golf de roses- there is a mistral centre there, a cheap campsite on the beach, plenty of wind in july when we were there- its near Girona and Barcelona so quite a good spot if you are heading to europe.