CYPRUS-WIND

A cool little beach town right on the Pan-American highway, Mancora is a great base from which to explore Peru’s north coast. With incredible restaurants serving world class fresh tuna steaks and seafood, and plenty of chill bars to relax after a long day on the water, we were once more delighted with Mancora’s laid back vibe. Constant wind and near perfectly shaped surf made Northern Peru, once more, an ideal destination for riding waves.

Cape Town, South Africa is a very windy place and one of the top locations in the world for kitesurfing at all levels. The beaches are stunningly beautiful and there is a wide selection of spots to ride weather you like flat or waves. My friend Steve and I spent 3 weeks kitesurfing spots such as Big Bay, Haagat and my personnal favorit Witsands. Combined with good food, lots of sight seeing, and cheap rates it is no wonder it has become one of the top training grounds for the who’s who in kitesurfing.

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Northern Peru has extraordinary kitesurfing conditions with perfect waves and reliable winds. This is where you go if you want to KiteSURF. If you are going to be doing freestyle, this is not the best place for you. You will just be in the way… Mancora was the perfect base for reaching out to spots such as Lobitos, Tres cruces or Baterias. With excellent seafood, nice people and chilled atmosphere this was my best kite trip to date. I will be back !

Moulay Bouzarktoon, down on Morocco’s Atlantic coast is mainly considered a windsurfers spot. So, very few kitesurfers there apart from my friend Yiannis, kitesurfing champion Bertrand Fleury and me… Nuclear winds with big waves and rough seas converted into epic sailing conditions… for those up to the challenge.

It has  now become a tradition for us to go on a kite trip every January and this year was no exception. Our destination this time was Shacks beach in Puerto Rico the “Hawaii” of the caribbean. Unfortunately the holiday came to a tragic end when our good friend Dominica drowned after loosing consciousness while swimming back to the beach after a kite session at Montones.

According to doctors her drowning was due to cardiac arrest. A lot of crap has been circulating on the internet about how this accident really happened so I hope this will set the record straight. At age 29 she was a sweet girl and a keen kitesurfer. She will be missed. 

The island of Sal might not be the best place for sight seeing but who cares when you are a kitesurfer and have a world class wave called Punta Preta to play with every day ? We spent two intense weeks last January riding the fastest cleanest wave ever, which alone makes this magical island worth visiting.

The Cyprus-Wind Kitesurfing Pro Center team and friends passesd most of January 2006 training down under in Western Australia. A memorable trip none of us will never forget with nuclear winds and perfect waves. We drove close to 3000km kitesurfing legendary spots such as Coronation, Lancelin, Gnaraloo or the Abrolhos islands. A destination that will be hard to beat in the future.