HOW TO FIND A KITE SPOT

The Process:               

As part of this something I really wanted to do was cover some of the basics of what goes in to finding a spot, be it a new one or something a bit older.  If you have searched for kite spots online you have probably found that it can be a difficult and confusing process, so for those of you with a little more adventure in your veins I wanted to expand on the process I use to find a place to kite that might be new to me.  Hopefully it is useful to you and broadens your horizons!               

Keeping with the theme of the rest of the site I really want to put an emphasis on safety when deciding to go out and explore new places.  I have arrived at many spots to find that despite all my research and planning the day, spot, or locale simply wasn’t panning out.  This could be anything from inconsistent wind to sketchy locals.  I am not about to leave kite gear and my pup in my rig when the parking lot has shady characters and needles on the ground.  So be aware of every aspect of your surroundings and also importantly your own skill level.               

For this tutorial I am going to describe the process I recently went through to evaluate one of the spots published on here, Netarts Bay.  I came across Netarts a few months ago and filed it away in my brain bank as a spot to watch for what I was thinking would be a solid wind direction and tide, but I don’t want to put the cart before the horse, so here we go:  

Step 1:               

Get on google maps and start looking around.  Seriously, just get on there and pull up a place you want to go, zoom in on waterways and have a look around.  I typically look for a wide enough body of water where it looks like there is a viable launch nearby.  

Step 2:               

Now that you have looked around a little bit hopefully you have found some candidates for a spot.  Narrow this down to one and google the surrounding areas combining that search with “kiteboarding”.  The format of your google search should look like “netarts bay, kiteboarding” or “netarts or, kiteboarding” the “or” standing for Oregon of course.  You will hopefully find a forum post or two, which I was fortunate enough to find at Netarts but not all of the spots I have ridden.  For the sake of the exercise let us pretend we are going in blind and just focus on the spot.   I have already selected two potential launch sites.

Step 3:

After my search I look at the image that I have and start selecting areas for potential launch sites and evaluating wind directions.  Because google maps sat image is 2D, I often times like to switch to the topographical map of the area as well.  This will give us better insight into whether or not there is a large geographical feature obscuring our launch or beach access. This will also help us determine the best wind direction to ride in.  If I am solo and it is during the winter I will likely want something mostly onshore, or cross shore into a large “catchers-mitt” or area I can bail out in.  This is important in case you get into trouble so you can exit the water as safely as possible.  

Step 4:

You can see where this is helpful because on the satellite image above that beach marked “Beach 1” would have been my desired launch point, but after reviewing the topographical map we can see there is a steep cliff there and no easy access to the spot.  This means we already know before we even leave home that we will be heading for “Beach 2” which data is showing will be the next best launch candidate.  You may have different launch criteria than myself but for my money the spot looked good.  

Step 5:

Now that we have a destination to plug into the GPS and get there it is time to do some research before going out.  For Netarts I had seen mention of a really powerful tidal change and to avoid the outgoing on fishing forums and NWKiteforum, so I knew to avoid it, but if you don’t there are some indicators and there are many school of thought on this.  Checking tide local tide charts can give you an idea of the sheer volume of water coming in and out, but something else immediately jumped out at me when I looked at Netarts and it was the topography under the water.  On this site I have pulled up a topographical map of the oceanic geography to review, which is a good practice. You can find these by googling “oceanic topographical map of Netarts” or other things. 

Step 6:

Here you can see what jumped out at me, and that is this deep channel on the north end of the bay which turns west into the sea.  To consider why this is important we need to think about a myriad of different features.  The bottom of the bay is a sand bottom which means it is impacted by significant water movement.  It also means it would be significantly impacted by a LACK of water movement.  See the shallow areas tucked right up into the point?  The sand isn’t being substantially relocated for a reason.  That means that this wide, deep channel is being maintained by something and it isn’t little elves in the night with their adorable little sand shovels and pales.  A massive amount of water is consistently moving through this area to maintain what is effectively an underwater canyon.

Step 7:

So now we know where we want to launch, the geographical features of the surrounding land and beneath the waves, as well as what wind direction, and thanks to our analysis of that strong current what tide.  So we plan our trip around a favorable tide which for this spot will be the inbound tide, and to be safe we plan to end our session before it changes directions to outbound.  That means we want to be riding prior to the point where the tide is at its’ highest, because after that it will be getting lower and therefore heading back out to sea.

Step 8:

So now I know that a couple of our optimum times to ride safely is on Saturday before 11:23 AM or on Sunday before 12:15 PM PST.  There is of course some wiggle-room but I am trying to present you with the safest possible options whilst maintaining the largest window to ride in. All that is left is to head down there and check it out!

Finally:

Having done all our diligence and research now we are finally here at the appropriate time and place with the right gear and we are ready to go!  Be sure to survey the area and potentially ask locals for pointers.  Whenever possible take a friend with you as I did my first time at Netarts. A second set of eyes is invaluable prior to your session and as someone who will keep track of you on the water in case anything goes wrong.  Make sure to take a couple test tacks back and forth to see what the water and wind feels like, then get out there and have fun!

I hope you have enjoyed this basic tutorial on how to begin hunting for Kiteboarding spots!. If you have questions about the process or anything else feel free to ask.  I am here to help!