Kiting Provo in Turks & Caicos

[ricki]

I had a question about kiting Provo in the Turks & Caicos in late July to early August this year. Here is the response I came up with:

I have yet to make Turks & Caicos myself and so have no direct personal knowledge. Despite that quite a few folks have been kiting there for some years. You will be staying on Providenciales, correct?

The have trade winds in the Turks & Caicos, so that time frame should be pretty good with July being a more consistent month. As with some other trade wind areas they say winds fall off in August. As you have noticed normal wind patterns seem to be changing in many places so this summer we'll have to see what happens. Tropical systems coming through could leave the trades unchanged, improve things, mess up the trades and drop the winds, bring unsafe wind speeds particularly squalls. In short, many of the same sort of things we deal with in Florida with these systems. At this point it is too far off to say much more. I would try to cover the realistic wind range with kites you bring along if you are able. If you are trying to avoid bringing a board, I would make firm rental arrangements with someone on the island in advance with a board that would suit your needs.

Some guides to kiting spots on Provo at:

http://www.provokiters.com/beaches/index.htm
http://locations.splocs.com/kitesurf...s-Islands.html

As you say, Long Beach seems to be a good local prospect for normal easterly trades.

Some more local info:
http://www.sbckiteboard.com/travel_article?news_id=1218
http://kiteprovo.com/
http://www.provokiters.com/

Have a great trip!

Rick