Great to see some more reef kite footage from our backyard.
My two-cents worth.....getting out to the Great Barrier Reef for kiting is something that
everybody should do in their lifetime! It is not as hard as Robbo suggests. I organise educational marine biology reef trips for a living, 5-10 trips per year, plus research diving trips. You just need the right boat, some local knowledge, and enough people to make the boat charter cost effective. There are many, many charter boats operating out of the main ports along the NQ coast, with heaps of different accommodation styles and options.
Reef kiting is tide dependant, for sure, just like surfing a reef break, but you work around that. It wouldn't be my choice to kite in 20cm of water, but that water depth occurs only for a few hours at certain times of the lunar cycle. There are plenty of days around the neap tides, when there is 1m+ water for most of the day. Ideally the reef of choice has a cay for launching and landing, and with the charts we have these days it is easy enough to find one of those. For sure you want a rescue tender or a ski standing by, but any decent charter vessel will have that as part of the package.
I have a roving operator permit from GBRMPA for reef ecotourism, and being a long time wind and wave junkie, I thought it prudent to include dispensation for up to 10 non-motorised water craft on the permit. I also have good contacts with charter boat owner/operators in the Townsville and Cairns sectors, so if anyone is interested in following up the idea of a group reef kiting session, just let me know, I can pass on some good oil.
Dr Andy Lewis
Magnetic Island
0419 712 579
[email protected]
