5 Tips for Your Cuba Kiteboarding Trip

[@diar427]

That old man pumping that Ocean Rodeo 17 its a friend of mine from Santa Lucia Cuba😊😊😊...glad to see him...

[@activex7327]

Is he who spent $4,000 on a single kite? 🤣🤣

[@aliasnick4602]

No way! We were just about to go there when COVID cancelled everything in 2020. Must have been great, it's so beautiful there. Sharing gear - such a great tip.

[@danielpapukchiev3754]

I can't wait for the spring, so I can go on lessons, get some gear and start kiting! In the last few weeks I got a 4 line power kite which I want to ride with a mountain board on the former airport in Berlin. That makes the wait for the real things easier, but your videos get me pumped up again.

[@OurKiteLife]

Thanks, that’s great to hear 😊 any chance of getting snow kiting lessons where you are?

[@danielpapukchiev3754]

@@OurKiteLife it's as flat as it gets in Berlin :( the only hills are man made with ruble from WW2. I am thinking about moving to a different more kite-friendly country in Europe 😅

[@OurKiteLife]

We don’t have hills or mountains either - we snow kite on frozen lakes :) definitely not as fun as the mountains but it’s great when it’s too cold to go in the water!

[@dougdemonde]

Looked like an awesome trip. Thanks for putting Cuba on my kite radar.

[@heckbertstudio]

Thanks / great video / still kiting PEI but heading to Cuba March

[@OurKiteLife]

Nice! How late do you normally kite in PEI?

[@peterstirling2529]

I took your advice on Sunwing elite something a couple of years ago, and found it to be ideal. Thank you!

[@OurKiteLife]

That’s great, glad to hear it worked out well for you 🙂

[@crocodile172]

Or you can just pay 60$ for extra 23kg bag. Much cheaper than pay for elite plus for extra 7 kilos :)

[@OurKiteLife]

We enjoy the other perks of elite plus beyond just the luggage, but to each their own!

[@scottkeegan1007]

Great video guys.

[@daveboyd9135]

awesome info

[@venzislav]

Hi from Bulgaria, I am fan of your videos :) we kite a lot here but in Turkey.

[@OurKiteLife]

Thank you so much, cheers from Canada 😊

[@amfibi3840]

thx. Nice tips

[@ericattisso]

Nice Vid and thanks a lot for all the tips. How deep is the water there? ( I am not kite advanced yet and I am worried about having to body drag every time I loose my board....). I guess there is no support boat/dinghy around...

[@OurKiteLife]

Depends on the tide, but it ranges from a foot deep to waist deep. Obviously the further you go out the deeper it gets, but there’s lots of room in the shallows for learning

[@mikes_machines]

Nice to see you enjoying warm water for a change. I noticed in the video at one point you came off the board and the water was only waist deep; is a large area that shallow, or just small area near the beach? Also, here's a suggestion for a piece of kite-gear to add to your collection. If you use LEI kites you need to look into buying a SUP Pump. I purchased a Stermay model ht-790 several months ago and haven't needed to use a hand pump since. This model is completely self contained with Li Ion batteries inside the unit. I'm not connected to Stermay in any way, and I don't receive any money for hyping their product,...I just love the one I bought and wanted to share the news.

[@OurKiteLife]

Depends on the tide :) but upwind of the resort was a beautiful, large flat water spot that was pretty shallow. I didn’t hop off the board to check exactly how shallow but I’d guess waist deep at most. Thanks for the pump recommendation! As kiters and inflatable SUP owners it sounds like it could be very useful 😎

[@renekite10]

Great video!! Next time You should go to Varadero beach and go to one of the hotels in “la punta” you can do downwind all over the island . Let me know if you want more info I was born there. Varadero is an Amazing spot for kite surfing 🤙🏼🤙🏼🤙🏼

[@OurKiteLife]

Thanks so much! We will definitely let you know if we go to Varadero :)

[@mikeb4414]

Looking for some spots with a some swell in Cuba. Primarily going to be wing foiling. Pretty sure Veradero is a good spot. Any other spots you know of with some wind and ridable swell? Was also looking at Holguin but didn't find a lot of info on that area. Any help greatly appreciated. Thanks, Mike.

[@OurKiteLife]

Hi Mike, sorry for the late response. We’ve only been to Varadero, Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo. Of those, Varadero would be the best option for what you’re looking for!

[@ClownLikeMe]

Nice Video!

[@OurKiteLife]

Glad you enjoyed it :)

[@andrewp7566]

Great as always!) What is you expressions about 17 m Aluula Flight?))

[@OurKiteLife]

Yuri had the chance to try it - found it to be a good kite. Compared to the foil kites we are used to it turned faster and had tighter loops (not surprisingly), but overall a decent light wind LEI

[@klrrafman]

A lot of people had problems with Sunwing during, say last 4 years. Sunwing is carrying some weird looking plastic boxes to Cuba. When you see them your luggage gets taken off the plane and arrive few days later. Never happened on any other airline. Interesting thing about Cuba's weather is that it is the only Caribbean Island effected by North American weather systems. The so called Alberta Clippers or Arctic Vortexes speed up Trade Winds at first but later push them away so the wind dies for 3 days or so and makes a full circle, direction vise.

[@crocodile172]

Not true regarding other airlines. I know people who's bags got delayed while using other airlines. Air Transat is probably a leader in this area.

[@auklin7079]

There is a recent mini-documentary on ReasonTV that goes over how surfing is banned in Cuba, the authorities are not clear on why but it is likely because they don't want people attempting to escape. I wonder how many locals see kiteboarders and dream of the same thing. Just an interesting thought.

[@mishaz6030]

Thanks for the post Laurie! Which resort was that? And which one would you actually recommend in Cayo Coco, if not the one you've been to? I liked your advice about Daiquiri in Cayo Guillermo, but it's still closed for now. Thanks!

[@crocodile172]

We stayed at Grand Muthu Cayo Guillermo in November. Nice resort about 2km away from Daiquiri. It is a bit wavy but nothing serious. nd if you want flatwater - just kite for1km towards Daiquiri.

[@mishaz6030]

@@crocodile172 Spasibo Gena!

[@OurKiteLife]

We stayed at Pullman Cayo Coco. It’s a larger resort than Daiquiri. The beach isn’t nearly as wide as it is at Daiquiri but the conditions are quite good. Lots of room on the water, and a nice flat water spot upwind of the resort. We would recommend it.

[@mikeb4414]

Hi thanks for great video. Gonna be going to Pullman mid March. What are best rooms to be close to beach? Wondering if I need to upgrade from base room Sunwing offers. Have a 60cm and 72cm mast. Would the 72cm be fine or should I bring 60cm? Thanks Mike

[@OurKiteLife]

If you Google the resort map, building 22, 24, 23 and 21 are the closest to the kite spot (the east end of the resort, by ‘coco kitesurf school’). It’s always nice to be closer to the kite beach and it is a large resort so if you end up on the other end it could be a long walk. I believe we upgraded + requested to be close to the kite beach and got building 21. Either mast will work on high tide. Have a great trip!

[@mikeb4414]

@@OurKiteLife Thanks so much

[@IRWE905]

Definetly worth getting the SunWing Elite package in my experience. When travelling to Kite at Santa Lucia you are charged a Sports Equipment fee in Cuba for the bus company to take your gear to the Santa Lucia Hotels (arrival and departure) in Cuban Tourist Dollars despite SunWings outline saying transportation of luggage to Resorts included. At some Cuban Resorts there is a small Rescue Fee which also gives you access to the best beach spots. What is your experience with the above?

[@OurKiteLife]

In our experience it can be hit or miss with the bus company charging for the baggage. Last time we went to Cayo Guillermo (with Sunwing) we didn’t have to pay. This time we also didn’t have to pay… but the bus driver put all the kite bags aside saying that they “might not fit” - so we took a cab (which worked out great because we breezed through the entry COVID test and check in before the bus arrived). Last time our friends got charged extra for baggage on arrival with Air Transat, this time they didn’t. In Cayo Guillermo there was a kite tax, but a Cayo Coco there wasn’t.

[@activex7327]

@@OurKiteLife Kite tax is not mandatory, it's just for tourists so the locals can party.

[@moeezzine6270]

if one wants to learn kitesurfing, what resort or schools around there do you recommend? thanks!

[@OurKiteLife]

There’s a kite school right by Pullman Resort in Cayo Coco (where this video was shot) called Kitesurf Cuba Travel. There’s also another kite school by Iberostar Daiquiri called Havana Kiteboarding Club. Hope that helps!

[@ianblack9206]

My son and i were probably the last to rent equipment there in March 2020. Has the shop/lessons reopened?

[@OurKiteLife]

It was open when we were there in November :)

[@crocodile172]

Hi guys, I'm wondering how much more Air Transat flight added to the price? I know that they require 60$ extra for a kite bag. What was the price for COVID-19 test(s) and what else? I just returned from Cayo Guillermo and I was using Sunwing as well. I had to pay extra 30$ for COVID-19 test prior to returning to Canada. Is it more expensive when you are flying with Air Transat?

[@OurKiteLife]

Our mistake in the video - it’s not the COVID test that’s extra with Air Transat, it’s the COVID insurance. The only other thing worth mentioning is that we were pretty concerned with an incident that happened at the resort the weekend before we went. We were able to call to Sunwing and speak to a rep within minutes. Two of our friends were on hold with Air Transat for over 3 hours each and never got through. Not saying Sunwing is perfect - we have had issues with them in the past, but given our friends’ experiences, we are likely to stick with Sunwing for future Cuba trips.

[@crocodile172]

@@OurKiteLife Thank you for the answer. I'm planning my next trip to Cayo Guillermo and currently Holasun (Air Transat) showing cheaper prices so I would have to compare Sunwiung prices with Air Transats plus all the additional costs. I had very unpleasant experience with my last Sunwing trip so just trying to search for any available alternatives.

[@mikemiller774]

No need for 6/5 suit, nice.

[@alexisfernandz8445]

Call me next time I would like to kite with u guys Im from Las Tunas, I love your videos

[@GaetanoCrisci]

OH no! that Shinn Bronq is unobtainable and price less!

[@OurKiteLife]

Yeah, such a bummer! Hopefully the rider gets fairly compensated for the boards.

[@TylerKaraszewski]

Tip 6: don’t be American. 😆

[@OurKiteLife]

😂😂😂