Hi,
I am moving to NZ shortly, Auckland area, from SE England, and have been trying to find out a bit about the local kitesurfing scene. I have just read the "any world class kitesurfing beaches" post. Christ, what a load of whinging :wink: .
I dont want to offend anyone with my first post but if you think NZ has no decent spots you should try my local spot at camber! Bloody freezing water all year, massively overcrowded and decent conditions once in a blue moon; and just to cap it all you have nice view of Dungeness nuclear power station half a mile away to inspire you! I can guarantee that NZ is better than my spots and mine are the same stomping ground where Aaron Hadlow learnt his trade, if you can do it here you can do it anywhere.
Looking forward to getting stuck in there. Anyone point me in the direction of some decent spots north of Auckland,
Cheers and hello to all.
Neil.

There are heaps and you can kite in every direction (If you don't mind driving a little bit for some directions). Theres a lot of beaches listed on here and also @ www.nzkiteboarding.com

Yeah, don't mind the locals GB Neil, they don't know how lucky they are....

Auckland is a wicked spot mk , you just have to get in with some locals and learn where to go and on what tides , wind direction . we are just having a week of sw winds , every day out to muriwai , it was flat but the swell is getting up now and there are some nice waves comming in . there are a couiple of flat water spots around aucks to hit in the sw to ! come on down , if you like varity this is the spot ! 8) gota go , the wind is pumping again !

Since i started that thread that you commented on... it'd be only appropriate that i reply on yours.

Firsty it doesn't really matter what the heck is on the beach as long as there is wind on the water. nuclear power stations look pretty cool... a bit of a welcome change from the palm trees propaganda that we keep getting fed in kiteboardin vids.

Auckland is one very difficult place to kite... the best time of the year... well we are smack bang in the middle of it... but the good winds will only last another couple of months at the most... then it get's difficult. Unless you cotton onto Auckland's interesting thermal patterns i guarantee you that you'll wish you were back home with the powerstation... at any one time the will be 20 knots at one beach, 0 knots at another.. and 15 knots from totally the opposite direction at a third spot.... just to take a pick out of the 100 or so beaches in the Auckland area.

There will be wind year round but you will have to know where to go. And that brings up probably Auckland's worst aspect... getting around... if you don't have your own transport.... then don't bring your gear bacause you will never make it to a beach... let alone one that has perfect crossonshore winds on any given day. And if you do have a car then don't jump for joy just yet... because every other person in Auckland has a car too... there are over a million of us and we have to get through some very skinny corridors of land to get to and from work, beaches etc. In short we have bad traffic issues... an embarassment to the rest of NZ where their version of a traffic jam is a few errant sheep running across the road.

So if you are only here for the summer months... DO NOT and i repeat DO NOT go to Auckland.. instead head down South where it blows it's arse off, there is no traffic and way less people on the beach. CHCH, Dunedin, Nelson, Invercargill all crank during summer.

However if you are moving here for a while then after a few months you should have Auckland's conditions sussed... and THEN the advantages of living in this city come into fruition. I'm allways looking for keen kitewarriors who have the days free to head to the very windy spots out manukau heads way. So yeah feel free to gimme a page once your down here.

I hate crowds, i hate rain and i hate traffic and i can still kite lots without dealing with either.

bla bla bla , bla bla thrasher bla bla gobbledy gook , mutter mutter bla bla bla . you should write a book thrasher

At least it's useful...

Cheers, for the replies.
Thrasher, you sound like just the sort of positive, soulful character that makes are sport so engaging! but i doubt i will wish i was back on home turf jibing the floating turds but im willing to be proven wrong. I'll look you up when i get there and we can compare notes on shite locations as you seem to have the lowdown.

Im going to be there for at least a couple of years so i'll hopefully get to hook up with a few of you in the new year.