Jon McCabe >> Puerto Rico Kite Tour

Last month I was given the opportunity to visit Puerto Rico for the Kiteboarding Cup and tour the island’s countless kite spots as an invited rider.  After having wind nearly every day except one I cannot say enough good things about how special this place is. No matter what you are looking for, PR has it.

Here is the rundown of all the places I was lucky enough to kite:

The trip started at a place called Tocones, it was a fun mushy wave spot that allowed for some huge transitions and big sprays. The next day we were 5 min from the airport at the Beach House Hotel which features a full bar, restaurant, beds, couches, and tourists.  This is a great place for kiters that want to show off to the girls lying on the beach or just kick back and relax with a tropical rum drink after a fun session.  From there, the Kite Cup kicked off in Levittown across from the extremely hospitable Comfort Inn, which I was given the opportunity to judge the freestyle and showcase a few moves for the spectators during the pro demo.  It was really exciting to see how high the level of riding was for the competition and cheer with all the spectators that showed up for the event.

After we wrapped up the comp we headed to Rio Grande for epic buttery flat water at a secret location that very few have kited before.  Next, we were able to take a boat to a special place known as Palominito Island.  When we arrived we had the small island all to our selves until the reef calendar girls decided to show up and put on a jaw dropping photoshoot.  I spent a lot of time kiting this day because it just felt so right and was a true paradise.  Jumping over reef girls is something I now recommend for everyone.  Just be careful not to let your board hit them in the face….I was about 1 inch away before my kiteloop pulled me away safely.

After all the flat water fun we headed west in search of the swell that produced some great waves in Isabella and Rincon.  Isabella has tons of potential for being the perfect place for kitesurfers but we only surfed due to the light wind.  However, we were still able to kite some real nice powerful waves in Rincon. After a memorable down winder that provided some barreling waves and some bombs we ended with only good things to say about the west side.

The last kite spot was Boca de Infierno, in Guayama, the windiest spot we kited on the island. This was another flat spot but it had cool mangroves and super flat sections to have fun in as well.  I think about 8 separate kite tangles happened here because everyone and there mom were riding simultaneously and the Puerto Ricans have a lot of love so it isn’t uncommon to be to close for comfort with the locals at times.  This was a great way to end the trip because it provided a chance to share the stoke of kiting with a great local crew.

Here is the movie I put together when I wasn’t kiteboarding, which is only a small taste of the trip.

Special thanks to 15knots.com kiteboarding school for leading the tour around the island and to all of the organizers for allowing us to have such a great trip. In addition, thanks to US distributor Ozonekitesusa.com for getting me the Ozone Edge (my favorite kite in the world) for the trip.Photo Credit for shots of me goes to Erin Calmes/Ketafilms.com

Good Winds,
JonMcCabe.com