This is the first English blog due to the different nationalities on the trip.
It's the night before take-off, our boardbags were packed with all ranges of kites, twintips, surfboards and many more. Ready to go, several kilo's above Ryanair's maximum allowed 20kg capacity. On top of that we also brought FFP2 masks, gloves, Abbott testkits, QR healthcodes and lots of handgel. Ready to go on a Covid safe kitesurfing trip to Tarifa!
Unfortunately the situation was a lot different compared to last year and this made us very hesitant and resulted in only a select few to pull the trigger. After the passing of the cancellation deadline for flights and hotels the worst thing imaginable happened. NO WIND.. The wind prediction for the week dropped to almost a complete zero for every day. "Fuck it, it's Tarifa. Wind will come", so we went anyways.
When we got trough the empty airports and car rental scams, the beautiful road from Malaga to Tarifa laid before us. Only it rained. Hard.
But once arrived at wat seemed to be the end of the world, the sky opened up and a glowing sun welcomed us back to the fabled town of Tarifa. The only thing that we missed was wind, so for the first day we took our peace with beers in the sun on the terrace of our apartment in the famous Tortuga II building at the seaside and enjoyed life.
The next morning a small miracle happened, the wind predictions increased and we decided to grab the gear, drive to Valdevaqueros and take our kites out to test the waters. It was blowing slightly offshore due to the Levante winds coming from the Mediterranean sea, just enough for a short 12m session. This went on for a few days where the conditions improved gradually and 3 days after arrival we had a very good session with good wind under the Spanish sun, but still only 18 knots on average.
That evening the plan was to walk through the old town in search of food but walking through the old town of Tarifa really broke our hearts. The otherwise charming, chaotic city centre was completely abandoned and everything was closed, only a few take-aways were open. So after some tapas and many beers in the apartment we checked the predictions again for the next days and couldn't believe it, it is going to PUMP!! The next day however it became apparent that the strong Levante wind prediction would be too strong an offshore to kite for some members of our group. A drive to a further spot with onshore wind seemed the safest option: "🎵Let's go to Caños, go to Caños🎵".
Caños de Meca is one of the most beautiful spots around Tarifa, unfortunately the wind conditions were not so good there that day, it was too weak and gusty. The most exciting things that happened was me almost getting smashed on the rocks due to the wind dropping and someone spotting a tiny shark.
The following days had the same wind predictions with again really strong offshore winds, but this time some group members bought tickets for the rescue boats who would bring crashed kiters back to safety when they were drifting into the Atlantic ocean. These were amazing sessions, pumping 30-40 knots, riding the small kites and feeling the power of the wind and the energy of the sea. These were flat water conditions so no kickers for high jumps or much wavesurfing but really good for trying or perfectioning new tricks.
Our holiday was coming to and end and after the 7th "Croque Surla" in the morning in the best breakfast restaurant in town it was time for a last session with only a few of us left. The beach and water was completely abandoned and it was pumping 35-45 knots 100% offshore again. Only one rescue boat was floating on the water, silently reassuring us the risk was at least somewhat minimized. It were some of the wildest, most gusty kite hours I've ever experienced but it did feel good at the end on our last day.
I'd like to thank everyone who was there to make this special trip happen, hopefully next year we can do it again without restrictions. Because Tarifa, we'll be back baby❤️!
Sporty Regards,
Pietjan
Founder KiteZilla