Hi everyone.
Whose been to Tahiti and can share some interesting tips and info on Kiteboarding while there? The Islands we're heading for are Moorea and Bora Bora however any info would be welcome, good spots, accomodation, costs, etc.

helluva good kiting paradise over there. bora bora is sensational, but raiatea is better and considerably less crushingly expensive.

since my sojourn with mike holland, russell carlyon and a few other yahoos i haven't been kiting there for 5 years or so, but the boys at kiteworks went up recently and had a blast.

Hi there,
here are a few quick tips that may help

it is a very expensive place - a cheeseburger from the side of the street can cost $17 nz
if you surf and don't take your surfboard you may be spewing
The biggest problem we found was safe launching places and huge underwater coral heads everywhere when it looked perfect waist height water - Moorea (3 inches under the water) (we were travelling by boat)
take booties for some areas
all kite sizes (can get quite windy)

Basically if I did it again - I would head to Bora Bora and session a legendary spot my brother tells me about; however, I am not sure where it is exactly on Bora Bora - but don't worry too much - its a very small place and kites ain't exactly hard to spot on the water.

Have a good one.

Ian C

We want there in october last year! awsome!!!
We want straight to moorea, one hour of boat from Papeete and found a nice backpacker. Good riding every day for 12 days!
Not good for beginners.

We had between 12/25 knots.
Good/dangerous waves on the reef.

let me know if you want more info.

delphine

Are there any good places for beginners (anywhere in south pacific)?

Hey Ian.
Thanks for your info.
Also saw the video clip and it looks magic. How does one get on a boat? What island areas were you in in the movie??
At this stage we're tossing up backpacking between islands or getting it all inclusive on one of the 7 day cruises around the islands. 'tis a major mission to decide from all the choices!!

there is great kiting all over the the tahitian islands.
does a cheese burger of 17.00??? sometimes, I ate one in Auckland last week cost more!!!! but you can stay there at very little expence - don't eat cheese burgers - eat the local bread - wine is cheaper than beer. all the woman are beautiful, what more do you want!
Bora Bora is expensive but Reaitia is not - see Manalo at the sunset hotel for the very best deals - kiwi guy - sort of - the guys from wind and kite know him well - they can put you in touch - they also linked me on to a woman called lola who organsied everything flights accomodation really cheap.. almost half the normal cost.

We stayed 7 nights and 6 days. 4 nights on Moorea and 3 nights on Tahiti. Two of those days I managed to get good sessions out on the lagoon on Moorea with up to 12 other kiters on the water. The water of course was as warm as a bath, azure blue and crystal clear. The winds went from around 12 to 20kts (warm wind) and the G2-15 handled it fine. I also took my big 162cm board with me as it is a good combination. Both sessions were at Hauru point toward the northwest end of the beach just past the Beachcomber Intercontinential. If you ever want to go there and just Kiteboard then the best idea is to stay at Les Tipaniers Pension (Moorea) which has access to the beach and has bungalows and a good Italian/ French restaurant there. The wind always seemed to be up by 10am and would continue until after 4pm. There were mainly inflatable kites used there however there were a few Ozone Ram-air kites being used and one of those was the French Kiteboarding champion phew he was really good! At one point, they were getting towed behind a boat with a ski rope and when the boat was moving fast enough they would be almost vertically 15m in the air above it before letting go and kite-looping back down onto the water!
One day on the drive back we watched a couple of guys being taken out onto deep water bays in a dingie with their kites already inflated and they launched off the boat for a session. There was another spot near the airport that had a good beach with a lagoon also, it was quite popular when the wind was coming from the other direction.
The water was amazing and quite surreal to realise that those dark shapes under the water are moving slowly stingrays, and also there were black tip reef sharks around but I never saw them above the water. When the tide is higher you could cruise over the coral reefs carefully without mishap. The G2 went well and I always had plenty of power. My jumps are starting to get bigger and bigger now that Im getting more confident in being off the water. I believe that I could have had sessions every day the wind was that consistent mind you I was there for a honeymoon and was very lucky to be able to get in two sessions. Maybe we could organise a kiting trip over there some time it rocks!! My tan has gone as fast as it appeared. Oh well back to the 4mm wetsuit. Roll on summer! Scotty.

Hey scotty you need to get your missus into kiting man. Only kiting on 2 out of 14 windy days just isn't on bro.

As for summer. Mmmm looks like I'll need to dust off the cobwebs from my 20m AERO in anticipation for the big kite season. Yeah man bring on the Bramley, Pine Harbour, Huia, Fosters and Stonefield sessions. I'll have the digi camera sorted by then too.

In terms of waveriding, Moorea had one of the sickest wave that I have ever seen.
When at the beach near the Tipaniers, looking right, there is a pass in the reef, easy to reach because of the outgoing current. Maybe 800m upwind, which is the good opportunity to see the different colors of the lagoon, to ride over the coral, over the stingrays, etc... Then when you are in the pass, you'll really start to realize what's going on here. There is mostly a right hander (with wind from the right) that peels off on the coral reef.
At first, not really easy to spot the wave you will take, since the sets are not that defined with the outer sea chop, but on your way back in the pass, as you get closer and closer to the reef, it just get massive, hollow, lippy, fast... You thought you just picked a 1m swell, and later when you look behind you for the setup, it is something that will suck so much water behind your feet, that you will find a solid 2.5m roaming and curving on the shallow reef, waiting for you to fail... But you won't, not really a place to try fancy things in the wave, just ride quite straight through the exit, maybe a big carving or aerial on the bowl at the end, and go for an other one, look at your friends in the wave on the way out, breathe and smile.

It's more a huge hole in the water than a wave, impressive... but so perfect.
At low tide, the reef is too apparent in front of you to feel safe... And the strong current makes it tricky if you ever loose your board.

Some of the local riders can ride pretty deep in the inside, which seems unreal at first, go progressive, take time to observe, respect, etc... You'll get some visions that may haunt you for a long time.


However, this may still be safer than Muriwai, at least the wave is predictable, and it won't decide to close on all the section at the same time without any reason. Easier to adapt and to learn.