We were 7 friends that stayed at Planet Surf Camps, a surf camp where we also got surfing lessons five days of our stay. The surf was actually really good. All days of our surf scool we had nice, clean waves rolling in, some days a little bit better than the other. The wavesurfing season is in the winter, and even though the best winds are in the summer we also got a few really nice kitesurfing days on the water, too.

I have been travelling to a lot of places for surfing, and I have to admit that Fuertevenura is one of the best. The kitesurfing spots were great, the surfing was super, the people at the surf camp were friendly, the teachers were very helpful, the weather was warm (for beeing Europe), the flight was not too long and the food was great.

If you are planning your surfing or kitesurfing vacation, give Fuerteventura a shot! Here’s a few tips that’s helpful if you decide to visit the windy, Spanish island.

• Invite your friends to the trip, it’s fun to join the surf lessons togheter with friends!
• Buy cheap flights – you can find really cheap flights to Fuerteventura
• Bring a 3/2 long wetsuit in the winter, that was warm enough
• Stay in Corralejo (close to many surfspots)
• Book accomodation at Planet Surf Camp – or some other surf camp, but this was a great one!
• Rent a car from the airport when you arrive (perfect if you want to see more of the island)
• Eat dinner at the local areas close to the harbour where the food is cheap and delicious.
• Surf, eat, sleap, repeat and enjoy you perfect vacation!

Surf teacher Gala preparing us for the spot Rocky Point

Planet Surf Camps was situated in Corralejo, in a new, fresh house with a lot of rooms for 2-6 people. The rooms were simple, but fresh and clean. You could hang out with the other guests in the living rooom/kitchen or outside on the balcony, where there also was a ping pong table, a billiard table, indo board, chill out area and a small pool.

Surfhouse to the right

We got divided into two groups, depending on how much surfing we have done before. We surfed for about 3 hours a day, usally in the morning but sometimes in the afternoon – depending on the best swell of course. The surf teachers stuffed us into a car and drove to the best spot for the day, so you never had to worry about the forecast and swell yourself which I think was great.

Me and the surf teacher Marco on the crossing each others boards

Personally I learned a lot from the course. I learned how to use the channels to easily get out to the waves, to get up on the board properly – but most important I finally learned how to turn on the wave! The teachers were riding with us all the time, and gave some great advises that I will keep in my mind from now on:

• Chest, butt, back foot, frontfoot – how to stand up properly!
• Arms in front, not to the sides (this was something I had to work on a lot!)
• Arms and eyes to the side you want to turn – and weight down.
• Weight forward for getting more speed.

I loved the trip and Fuerteventura is definitely a place I would like to visit again. If you are planning on going somewhere warm in the winter, Fuerteventura is one of the best places within a short flight time from Northern Europe. The weather is a lot like the Finnish summer, so the temperature varies but can give you everything between sunny afternoons in bikini to cold nights in winter jacket.

And as said before the kitesurfing was also surprisingly good. The famous Flag beach was ok with pretty consistent side-onshore, but you had too watch out for the rocks close to the beach on low tide. They  were really sharp and the board can get damaged pretty easily.

Watch out for the sharp reef on low tide!

The other spot we found, close to the lighthouse in El Cotillo, was a small lagoon with perfectly flat water, so nice! I practised tricks here for 1½ days and could have stayed there.. The spot was good only on high tide, on low tide it was to shallow and too many rocks. A little bit crowded though sometimes. But i loved it.

Last but not least, here’s more photos from the trip and also a short GoPro-video made by Planet Surf Camps!

Here you find more info about Planet Surf Camps!

My wetsuit: Rip Curl Dawn Patrol 3/2

Kitesurfing gear: Airush Razor kites and Airush Diamond board

The post Surfing and kitesurfing vacation in Fuerteventura appeared first on KiteLina.

Kitesurfing in Philippines

We stayed in Philippines for 1,5 months, until late February. We decided to go beacause we read about Boracay on the internet and got in touch with some of the people living there. So we rented an appartement by English Bakery, which is close to Boracay’s windy beach, Bulabog. Bulabog was as windy as we had hoped for, and on the other side of the island, White Beach, we found the most beautiful beach we had ever seen. The time flew by too fast, but we enjoyed every moment and were kitesurfing all the time. We had just a few days off without wind, but then we enjoyed sunbathing, boat trips, snorkeling and mountainbikes instead! On Boracay you always find something to do. Boracay was truly a kitesurfers dream!

Close to Boracay you can find Union Beach, where we spent a few days too. Union Beach is even better for kitesurfing than Bulabog, beacause the water is really flat, the area is big and there are almost no people on the water. At Bulabog beach it can be crowdy sometimes, so when we wanted to have a lot of space we went here. Perfect for freestyle-tricks! A few times we took a downwinder to Union Beach from Bulabog, it’s possible if it’s blowing from the right direction. It was also possible to go upwind back home, or simply take a tricycle + boat back.

One trip, which was the best I ever made, was to visit Seco Island for two days. Seco is a desert island, approximately four hours from land. Seco was so amazingly beatiful. Turquoise, flat water with white, fine sand and sun from a clear blue sky. Perfect for kitesurfing with wind almost all the time. We slept under the stars with a kite as windstopper – so amazing! When we were there the wind was pretty strong, but we enjoyed it! We kitesurfed in the sunrise and all day long until the sunset.

 Wave- surfing in Indonesia

As we left Philippines, we wanted to visit Indonesia and Bali for some wave-surfing. We have never tested that before, so it was a new experience for both me and Jonathan. We arrived to Bali, and stayed there for one week. But Bali was not what we had expected us. We thought that Bali would be a paradise on earth, but it was not. Dirty beaches, a LOT of turists and bad surfing. We took beginner lessons in wavesurfing in Kuta, but decided to go up a little bit north after that, and ended up in Seminyak for the rest of the week. One day we were kitesurfing in Seminyak and one day we were kitesurfing in Sanur, but anyone of them was not so good beacause of gusty winds.

South in Bali we found beautiful Dreamland, Padang Padang and Uluwatu, but the waves were too big for us beginners, so we stayed in Seminyak and Cangu rest of the time. In Bali we liked the the surfing culture, the weather and the cheap clothes, but we were not happy with the destination and decided to give the neighbor island, Lombok, a visit. We bought a 6’3 surfboard and jumped on the ferry.

Lombok was how Bali looked like ten years ago, said the locals, and we liked it much more. Lombok was peaceful with an amazing nature and less tourists (just a few other surfers). The local people were friendly but did not know so much english. The food was not the best for someone that does not like onion, but we survived. We found a good hotel in Kuta (same name as in Bali) and surfed in Gerupuk.

And the surf there was amazing! The waves were a little bit bigger, and much more difficult to catch with the new small board. Jonathan rented a board and I used the one we bought. We practiced all day long, fell all the time, but were so happy when we got our first waves. So awesome feeling! I think we got maybe 4-5 waves per day, but all that paddeling was still worth it! We both managed to do some turns on the waves after some practising.

We spent one week in Lombok, and went via Gili Islands on the way home to Bali. Here we found an Island full of tourists but really nice nature. In Gili there are no cars or motorbikes at all – if you want to move on the Island you use either a bike or the horses! We spent one day in Bali after that, and headed for the last stop of the trip – Thailand.

Kitesurfing in Thailand

In Thailand we knew where we were going – to Pranburi, 3 hours south from Bangkok by car. We happened to find Pranburi just by searching after kitesurfing spots in Thailand, and found out that Pranburi is the windiest place in Thailand. Pranburi is a little village with not so many tourist but a lot of fishermen and stinky fish! But we loved Pranburi. The wind was lighter than in the Philippines, but when there were wind, it was awesome! Close to the beach we found some lagoons with flat water – just perfect for freestyle!

The water was really hot in Thailand, and we loved the spicy food. We stayed in a hotel close to the beach and woke up every morning to the sun and an amazing view from the balcony. And it was really fun that we happened to be in Pranburi at the exact time for the KTA (kiteboard tour Asia), so we decided to participate when once there. I participated in twintip race and freestyle, and Jonathan in twintip race. Either of us did not make it to the podium, but still it was a really great experience for competing, and I loved it! I thought that competing would be scary and awful, but as i went for my tricks with the people watching I was not nervous at all – I just enjoyed it! So much fun!

After KTA we stayed one more week, and after that it was time to go back to Helsinki. During these three months we became used to travelling and the chilly kitesurfing lifestyle, so it was really strange to go back again. Both of us wanted to stay longer. But I am grateful for the amazing trip we made, and I am hoping to do it again sometime. Now I have these amazing memories to remeber rainy days like today. And last but not least I would like to share my video that Jonathan filmed and edited from these three months – filmed in Boracay, Seco Island and Pranburi!

The post Surfing in Asia for 3 months – my story appeared first on KiteLina.

Me and Bella before jumping into the sea

From Jonathans instagram. There were some wind!

Tony catching waves by being towed in by Jonathan

I used my new nice board! The board is a SU-2 Prorider Woman 3D.

Su-2 is nice and really lightweight!

When the wind comes from the east in Hanko you need to walk to the other side of the beach for getting the best wind. So when we were ready yesterday we still had to walk back with bare feet, one kilometer in strong wind, loaded with all our stuff. It was really nice to put on some heat in the car after that.

I did not need to freeze with Roxy’s icebear hoodie! It has to be the coziest thing ever made!

Yesterday was nice! Now I hope for more windy days. I want a day in Kallvik with winds from south-east, 8-9 m/s.. Please?

The post A windy Hanko appeared first on KiteLina.

Här är bilder från vågjakten. Enjoy Lomboks fina natur!

Idag har vi också surfat på Gerupuk. Sista dagen här, för imorgon åker vi till Gili-öarna (också på Lombok) innan det är dags för en dag på Bali igen innan vi åker vidare mot Thailand. Men jag kommer verkligen att sakna vågorna här på Lombok och Gerupuk, för detta är stället där jag fått mina första riktiga vågor så man kunnat få några svängar på vågen innan den bryter. Men samtidigt är jag riktigt sugen på att kitesurfa igen och mina vänstra axel kommer absolut att tacka mig för att jag inte kommer att surfa på en tid, har nämligen överansträngt den av allt paddlande. Men surfing är absolut något som jag kommer att göra igen. Vi har ju köpt en bräda och kommer att ta med den hem om det lyckas på flyget, så får man surfa i Finland när det finns vågor.

Hejdå vackra Gerupuk och underbara vågorna!

The post Living the search appeared first on KiteLina.

Vår båtchaufför fotade oss när vi åkte. Det gick riktigt bra för Jonathan också (som åkte med en hyrd bräda) men vi råkade inte få några bilder på hans vågor. Vågorna var mycket större än tidigare, och en tumlare i en jättevåg hamnade jag ut för när jag ramlade i ett försök, men annars bröt vågorna så regelbundet och mjukt att de var lätta att beräkna och inte så farliga alls.

Igår när vi kom fram åt vi middag på stranden.

Ikväll åt vi också middag på stranden i solnedgången. Den härliga tystnaden här påminner om sommarstugan i Larsmo skärgård… 

Efter att vi kom hem tog jag några vändor i poolen för att lugna ner mig och för att slappna av kroppen. Man kanske inte skulle tro det, man allt paddlade är förutom bästa axel- och ryggträningen också riktigt bra pulsträning, speciellt när man tagit en våg och ska paddla tillbaka uppåt till line-up:en.

Ikväll har vi också varit på festivalen som ordnades här. Vi kände oss nog lite udda bland alla tusentals tusentals öbor som samlats till denna stora tillställning. Men jag blev ganska förvånad ändå när en ca 10-årig flicka stirrade på mig som om hon sett ett spöke och sprang och gömde sig bakom sin mamma medan hon pekade på oss. Hon hade säkert aldrig sett någon med ljust hår tidigare… Men nu vet hon hur de där vitisarna ser ut då!

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Vi har nu köpt en surfingbräda, som är lite mindre (6’3) än de gamla vi hade hyrt. Både jag och Jonathan har turats om med brädan, för man orkar ändå inte surfa så länge i sträck. Den nya brädan är mycket svårare än de gamla nybörjarbrädorna, men har mycket skönare känsla när man väl kommer upp på vågorna. Igår surfade vi här på Seminyak var vi bor och idag for vi lite längre norrut till Cangu. Stränderna blir mera orörda och oförstörda med mera locals istället för turister ju längre norrut man åker, så vi trivs bättre här.

Idag har det blåst riktigt ordentligt, så vi packade med vår 9:a på ryggen på jakt efter vågor och vind. Det gick riktigt bra att kitesurfa med surfingbrädan också, fast det var en helt annan känsla när brädan inte har några straps (mamma: att ha fötterna i). Vinden var dock alltför stark för mig, så jag lekte mest i vågorna idag med surfingbrädan medan Jonathan valde att kitesurfa.

Det var lite bilder från idag. Mina lyxiga hårbehandling som jag var på igår försvann tyvärr snabbt i saltvattnet… Imorgon ska vi kanske köra över till andra sidan ön, där det lär vara bättre kitesurfing enligt några tyskar som också kitesurfade på samma ställe som oss idag. Skulle också vara roligt att hitta lite större vågor, för vågorna har varit ganska dåliga nu de senaste dagarna. Som ni märker handlar bloggen mycket om surf just nu, men det blir så när man är på såna här härliga surfställen!

The post Kitesurfing och vågsurfing i Cangu appeared first on KiteLina.

Första natten, som vi bokade på internet, råkade vara ett riktigt äckligt ställe. Skitigt och gammalt och mögligt. Jag är stolt över mig själv att jag sov där en natt (utan att få några löss eller ohyra) och nu har vi uppgraderat oss en hel del och bor på värsta lyxhotellet. Priserna är ju ändå så låga så man kan bo lite lyxigare och inte betala mycket per natt.

Igår testade vi att surfa första gången! Vi började med stora nybörjarbrädor och instruktörer, och det var lättare än jag trodde för redan vid andra försöket kunde jag stå upp. Men en hel del plask i vågorna blev det också! Jag hade trott att tajmingen skulle vara det svåraste, men det var nog att få tyngdpuunkten rätt på brädan som jag tyckte var det klurigaste.

Efter bara en dag så har jag sjukt mycket träningsvärk i armarna efter allt paddlande, och surfandet gjorde oss jättetrötta så vi bara orkade nån halvtimme åt gången. Surfing är riktigt bra träning! Som ni kan se på bilderna var stranden vi surfade på, Kuta, riktigt smutsig. Kuta är det ställe som har de minsta vågorna och därför är stället fullt med turister och nybörjare. En dag räckte gott och väl på det överturistade, smutsiga stället, och nu har vi sökt oss lite norrut där det är lite lugnare. Vi kommer att vara här i åtminstone tre dagar och nybörjarsurfa, och efter det kanske vi åker till något helt annat ställe, kanske en helt annan ö för att se lite mera av själva Indonesien.

Men nu är det dags för surf! Ha en bra dag du också!

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