Key Largo

[troubleshooter]

Hey wind. Here is the average Joe kiter scoop for the area.

I have not seen anyone kite in that area. Frontal winds drive us here. The only 2 ridable directions u can have there are west (dont count on it) and a true solid North wind with maybe a tad of NE built in to it if needed. It wont be shallow and check with Marriot if you can launch from that little beach. I would be surprised if they did.

If your by yourself Whale Harbour can work. No real room for the kiddies to hang plus you got pay to ride. $10 per day. Low tides can be a pain because of numerous sandbars in the area. Watch heavy boat and bridge traffic. NE, E, S, SW are ridable. S and SW will push you towards boat trafiic and bridges with hard currents if you fall in channels. Mile Marker 83. You will be 104. Easy 20 mile drive south.
http://www.kitebeaches.com/beach/isl...or_marina.html


Anns Beach at low tide the kiddies and family will have a blast. At high tides, forget it, no beach to hang. Noel is right on the money about the tides and bridges. This beach is free and fun. No concessions so BYOB. But there are gas staions right down the road. Mile Marker 73. You will be around Mile marker 104. Easy 30 mile drive south.
http://www.kitebeaches.com/beach/mat...__s_beach.html

Curry Hammock State Park Great park for kiter. great park for family. Kayak rentals right where you kite for the kiddes. Its on MM 56 I think. But in the Keys, going from mile Marker 104 to 56 is a piece of cake. Nice drive. E, E/NE, S, SW ridable. No bridges or channels. Wide open.
http://www.kitebeaches.com/beach/lon...tate_park.html

There are several more beaches even further south. You can look them up on the kitebeaches link. In order going south, next beaches are Sombrero Beach, Duck Key, Bahi Honda, Smathers.

Good luck. Watch the weather for fronts. Wind is not thermal or guaranteed. We rely on fronts during the fall/winter for wind. Most of those fronts bring us N/NE winds. a 14/10 meter combo will cover you all the way. Bring a light wind board in case there is no front. You could still have ridable wind.

[ricki]

Forget about trying to kite off the beach at the Marriott. I used to windsurf out of there a couple of times, barely. It is way too small, blocked for winds out of most directions, clogged with bathers and other watercraft. It isn't practical for kite launch and landing. The Marriott is a nice hotel, tons of amenities, well located, enjoy your time there just travel elsewhere to go kiting. Heading south to Islamorada would probably be the easiest, most direct approach to the locations the rest of the guys have described.

I would suggest searching under the specific names of the respective launches here. You should find a lot of useful info about them.