Hey yall

Am doing a a bit of a kitesurfing safari around asia and have been in vietnam for a week so far and loving it
The wind has been blowing everyday and night so far.. mostly 12-18 knot days.. not much in the way of gusts as the wind is mostly clean
Just had the best day yesterday where we got a 18-24 knot day with lots of big air jumps been thrown by the few local riders

hows the action back in NZ? should i hurry back or stay here a tad longer?

ill put up some pics later on it

Coincidently I just got back from Vietnam today and scoped out Mui Ne for a couple of days. It is the wrong season really, the wet SW monsoon. Still very kiteable though, 10-18 knots but all of the kite shops are at the wrong end of the beach. Rental quotes were US$25-75 per hour so not realy worth it considering the conditions. I didn't take any kite gear but should have thrown in a kite and rented a board. Quite a bit of chop. It is a pretty cheap place to stay.

The dry season NE monsoon is much more consistent and windier.

I actually spent the first 8 days in quarantine with H1N1 that I unwittingly bought over from NZ, but that's another story

Have heard they get over 300 kiters when the north-esters kickin at Mui Ne which would kinda spoil the moment with that kind of traffic.. the good thing the wind is onshore and pumps everyday

Was actually there last year over july/august with the south-westerlys blowing slightly off shore and a lil gusty.. not much of a good time as the wind would only kickin around midday for 20-25 mins then nothing till the next day.. ground-hog day for 2 weeks while i was there

However this trip i selected a different location, more suited to the southerlys and have found a beach in Vung Tau(1 hour 20 min hydro-foil ride from Saigon) perfect for the conditions and the conditions at the moment are good

Vung Tau has a main beach suited for the north easterlys mainly used by the local Viets on holiday for the weekend and during the week its quiet.. so far only 1 kiteschool operating so if u need to hire the rates are about the same as Mui Ne US$60-70 depending on your negotiating skills

But for the southerlys which are blowing now(july-october) there is a beach at the bottom of Vung Tau which is kite-able but has a few drawbacks.. the beach is shared by a large fishing fleet on 1 side.. there is a bit of run off diesel from the boats on the shore line at times.. rubbish on the beach gets cleared once a day.. and there are swimmers at low tide(the local riders just ride thru them but i apply the same rules back home).. also at high tide there is no beach to launch which needs a couple of hours to recede enuf for room.. i cant forget to mention the rain squalls coming thru somedays, they are easily spotted been dark clouds and usually have 15 mins b4 they arrive so bring your kite down b4 it hits.. not really ideal for beginners but for inters and up its not much to worry about

For the most part the wind is clean and reliable.. the water is small chop/waves.. have been here a week and have spent 3-5 hours each day kiting.. never kited so often b4 and happy the body is holding up.. finally gathering confidence to try new things

SimonP thats rotten luck with the pig flu but glad i wasnt on the same flight as u

Hi Simon, gutted to here about your quarantine stint. I hope you had a good book to read, collector's edition of Star Trek perhaps!

Have given you some Karma to cheer you up! Are you coming down for Wanakite this year?

Hi Jase,

Can't make the Wanakite week but will be down there the week before (18th - 24th August). Hoping to try out the Snow Farm, last year I couldn't get through the Lindis Pass as there was too much snow.

Simon

Just an update...

After spending nearly everyday here kitesurfing i went to another country for a week.. caught some bug which i havent been able to shake off.. have come back to vung tau instead of bali as it looked like bali was about to die according to windguru altho its looking ok again arghhhhh

so got back to vung tau and the south west monsoon is about to die, the wind is more south easterly so it makes the main beach kite-able.. which is the preferred beach to kite here.. no shells, diesel, hidden obstacles or rubbish, but it has swimmers.. the water is cleaner and the beach is longer(5 or 6 miles) and wider

had a so so day today with it been light and my 11m just able to get me going.. a guy on a 12m switchblade was going upwind nicely as cabs have a fantastic low end

tom is looking more teh same