Thanks for reading the site, glad to hear it has come in useful!

Ship Wrecks is not a popular spot, it feels a bit lonely and bleak – quite a lot of water moving around and near to the ship the currents are particularly bad, certainly wouldn’t want a dropped kite out there.

If you have a 4×4, the whole island is easily accessible, and we were driving across it daily – it doesn’t get dull as the scenery is stunning and driving the dirt roads is a lot of fun. East coast has cracking spots yes, but if the wind swings a touch more north you will have an excellent day on the west coast, around the Riu Hotel by the airport and northwards along the beach. Don’t forget there is also a nice lagoon near the hotel at times for a bit of flat water basting.

The east is very unpopulated, but kiters do head over there quite a bit.

A really good thing to do for a day would be to rent Strava the kitesurf guide; he’ll show you where you need to be. I’ll try to find his details for you and post them up here!

All the best and have a great weekend,

Dom

Love the site, really useful stuff!

My partner and me are planning a trip to Boa Vista in February. We’ve been to Sal before and loved it. We were thinking of staying at the eco lodge on the North cost (Spinguera, if you know it?) and I was wondering if it’s within easy reach of Ship Wrecks? Sounds like the kind of spot we’d be comfortable with coming from Jersey where conditions are onshore and messy most of the year. Also, I was wondering whether Ship Wrecks is a popular spot, all the pictures on the internet seem to be from the populated areas? We will hire a 4×4 but I worry that the best spots are on the East and I don’t want to be too out of the loop.

Thanks for your help – keep up the good work.

Carol-Ann (and Mark)

Boa Vista is an odd place – first rule is always kite with other riders, that way you can help each other out as naturally (most) of the beaches do no have any form of boat rescue. It is an island after all, so you can drive to where the wind is cross-onshore so that if it all goes wrong, you’ll get blown back to land. There is sometimes a lagoon near the Riu Hotel (the one close to the airport). This is separated from the ocean (at times!) by the beach so you have no chance of getting blown out to sea.

Hope that helps, enjoy your trip!

Dom

I have been kitting for 2 summers already. I have kited in Lanzarote (Famara) with waves and I’m ok with it. My concern is tha the wind in Boa Vista is offshore… is not that dangerous outside the lagoon?

Thanks in advance!

Ulises

Thanks for reading the blog and glad it’s helping you out a little!

Re: travel time to spots; no where is really more than 45 minutes away from anywhere else on Boa, and it is rather sparse so you can pick out landmarks and head for them. The unmarked roads may seem confusing at first but they do become quite logical.

With caution, I think you would be able to drive between spots yourself without issues, however, the sand dunes around Varandinha would be very easy to get stuck in. Hopefully you’ll meet some other kiters at the hotel who you can lift share with. Two heads always better than one in these scenarios. If none of that really appeals, then the beach up at Bahia is a good place to meet folk and establish convoys.

Hope you score some good winds,

Dom

Cheers Olivier

Cape Verde has trade winds but up and down days like anywhere else.

In these situations I wear more clothes on the plane to leave more room for kites

Have a great trip mate,

Dom

Planning on going on a trip Nov/Dec. And i’m wondering what kite sizes i should bring. i have slingshot rpm’s 7-9-12. Thinking of bringing two of them.

Greetings

Chris