Kiteboarding on SE Florida

[ricki]

Originally Posted by highroller

So basically in Miami-Dade we are down to Key Biscayne and Matheson Hammock???.

Guys still routinely ride in areas of Miami Beach. The ban has never been enforced. I heard that it is still possible to launch south of Surfside but have no confirmation of that.

Crandon is open for the moment. From what I have heard, riders will likely be thrown off the condo property to the south of Crandon Park in the near future.

FYI, Hobie Beach is to be closed to kiteboarding and perhaps even bathers in the future. There doesn't appear to be any latitude in this based upon a meeting a bunch of us had with the authorities a while back.

So, there are other options beyond those that you mentioned. I have heard some guys are locating nice spots off of Homestead as well.

We just need to stop annoying people and allow the innate entertainment value of our sport kick in to spectators, well offshore, and these access issues should fade away.

As long as we ride to close to bathers, bystanders and shore and otherwise cause issues we will have to worry about being able to continue to ride.

Originally Posted by highroller

As far as this comment

I agree that being a local rider and dealing with the authorities at the beach is great to keep a spot open. The only problem is that to do this also involves spending several hours several days a week at the spot which is a luxury many riders don't have.

Agreed. That is why more riders need to become concerned and get involved. Traditionally, they have relied consciously or otherwise on a few kite cops to try to maintain access. That doesn't work all that well and isn't fair either. It isn't perfect but then again neither is our current approach.