Thought I'd share some news just in from Plantation Island, Fiji, ~15km west of Nadi.



Damn, I shoulda taken my own advice. Here's some pix from June 2006, when I got kiting 9 days out of 12. The sand pit is an affectionate name Suzy gave to the large sand bank near Plantation Island, that rises from the water from half tide, breaking the usual lagoon chop for some excellent flat water riding.

Looking towards the sand pit with the Fiji mainland in the distance.


The sand pit with Plantation Island just a short kite away.


It can get crowded.


Gotta watch that coral.


Suzy keeping an eye on me from our accomodation, the Funky Fish.

Ya gotta love it eh! Great to here they scored the trade winds...
Tim 8)

Just came back from Fiji a week ago, it was absolutely off the scale. 12 out of 10 (or so).

We were in Nananu, an island off the North coast of Viti Levu, the Southern of the two main islands. Haven't been to Plantation island (which is in the Mamanuka group off the Viti Levu West coast), but I heard good about it, although it doesn't seem to be as consistent and predictable as the North. I spent a few days on Beachcomber island (which is in the same island group), but there was 10 knots at the most, so I moved on quickly.

We had one week off the scale - 25+ knots wind, consistent as it gets, 28C water and air, coral green to dark blue water, white pristine beaches... absolute dream kiting. Plus loads of awesome people around, mostly from OZ. Also got a chance to test-fly the 2009 Cabrinha gear

The second week, the wind dropped, so we went fishing, snorkling, scuba-diving, wakeboarding, hammocking, etc. Just when I had to leave last Sat, the wind came back and we had a nice last downwinder on 12m kites - when I packed my gear to fly home, the others would get their 9m and 11m ready.

Apparently, there is some kind of cycle with 9 days on and 2 days off. I got there just at the end of a 6 weeks on phase, so the 7 days off was due. Tough luck, but even worse for the Ozzie guys, some of them got the timing so wrong that they wouldn't see any kite action at all. Once it's on, it's on for days or weeks, so you will be kiting 3 hours in the morning and 3 in the afternoon in 25+ knots.

We stayed at the Safari lodge. See www.safarilodge.com.fj or give Warren a call, he's a nice Ozzie guy who will make the extra effort to make sure you have an awesome kiting trip. I sure did

Highly recommended!!

I spent a week there a couple of seasons ago, Nananui Ra has the goods when it comes to wind.
Kited so much the first few days, I could hardly walk by day 4 and had to have a no kite rest day.
Blistered hands busted a board!! Good trip.

Surprised to hear that about Warren @ Safari Lodge. He has had a really bad rap over the years.
:?

Yeah, I had some breakage, too, f*cked up my 10m in the very first session. Some line inside the bar snapped and the bar, the lines and the kite went straight back to the beach, unfortunately without me.
I started swimming home, until the support boat picked me up. When I got to my kite, the corals had already shredded it to pieces. Good the wind after that was perfect for the 8m - until it dropped totally.

I had heard some dodgy stories about Warren before, but I can't confirm any of them. Don't know how much of it was actually true, maybe he has just seen that word goes around and has changed. When we were there, he did a terrific effort to make sure we have a good time even when the wind dropped, took us out fishing, wakeboarding, etc. - all for free.

I was gonna ask around here about Fiji and about him, but the search function in the forum was broken, don't know if it's fixed yet.