Thinking of heading to South Africa in February for a few weeks to kite. Cape town seems to be the best option. Has anyone been and can give any tips on accommodation or other recommendations?
Thanks!
I've spent at least a month there, plus another 8 months further east on the garden route at a sweet little town called Knysna. Cape Town is an awesome place, definitely ranks as one of my favourite cities in the world, maybe even #1.
Check the wind graphs, it's generally very windy and the water is very very cold. Long thick wettie and small kites (<10m) are the go normally.
You can stay on the main restaurant/backpacker rd in the city (Long St?) for a day or two until you get your bearings, then you'll probly want to move out nearer to a beach you like. Depends on what transport you have there. Taxis are cheaper than Oz but not exactly cheap. Public transport is ok (can be a bit dodgy) but not really carrying kite gear...
First of all, excellent choice!
I was born there, and, before moving here to Oz, lived there for about 8 years. 4 of those I kited along the infamous stretch of the West Coast, with world-renown spots like: Sunset Beach, Dolphins Hotel/beach, Big Bay, Derde-stein, Melkbos...the list goes on, so I think i might be of some assistance :)
You're going in the 'ending-off ' wind section - near the end of Feb/March. The weather is pretty much exactly like Perth. You'll still get heaps of good wind until end of March/April. Anytime between November & April & you are pretty much in paradise.
As mentioned above - take a wetsuit mate! The Atlantic ocean is cold! Even in the middle of summer, you need like a 4-5mm wetsuit :)
in terms of accommodation, I would recommend looking up a few tourism places or "b&b" (bed & breakfast) in the area of Table View.
All the pros - Hadlow, Len10, Kevin Langeree etc stay in Table View when coming to Cape Town. You can find pretty cheap accommo & this location is within 10mins driving distance from most of the above mentioned spots! Fantastic! It's a lot better than staying in the city & driving 40mins to try & get a ride in/getting bogged down in peak-hour traffic!
If you get stuck with accommo just give me a shout - I have heaps of mates that will be able to help you out.
Also, best bet is to hire a car mate - it's cheap compare to Oz & obviously going to give you the freedom you want getting around sight-seeing. kitesurfing, shops etc.
Don't rely on the public transport - nothing like Australia mate!
Other than that, if you are going with a friend - or know any one there already - those above named spots I mentioned are all along the same stretch of coast - & the wind literally blows cross-shore the whole way down - stretching over 30-40km. So if you want (wink,wink, nudge,nudge) get your mate, drop a vehicle downwind somewhere, & do a 20-30 km downwinder!!!
These are very popular over there (even a small 2-5km downwind is cool).
And did I mention the fantastic wave-riding you can sometimes get???
You're in for the ride of your life!
Hope all this helps.
Take care!
You are in for a big treat.!!
Capetown is one of the best kiting spots in the world.
Len10 and Hadlow are there every summer because of the perfect conditions.
Small kites only. Typical day - wind will start at 11am - 15 knots.
buy 4pm - 30-35knots. sometimes more.
Febuary is the best time.... not as busy, and the weather is best.
Accomodation,food,beer is cheap as.
Ive jealous.
Local forum
www.ikiteboarding.com/
Checkout the downwind shuttle service.
For about 5 bucks they will drop you off at tableview, and you can kite all the way to Blouberg where they will pick you up... about 10 kms of kiting... with nice waves for good measure. http://www.downwindshuttle.com/weather.htm
enjoy!
And about an hour away at Langebaan (north up the coast, near Saldanha Bay) is one of the sickest flat water spots around!!!
def hire a car, head up the west coast to langebaan and up towards paternoster, the wind and waves crank along that whole coast.
if you go east there are some great spots to kite along the garden route too, and the water is warmer.
try not to ingest too much water at the cape town beaches close to the city 
There's an artical on Kiting in SA in the new issue of Ikitesurf. not sure if it's any good haven't had the chance to read it yet.
I will be in SA from 17th Jan till 3rd March, I will be staying in St Francis near Jbay for most of the time,and going to Witsand for 7 days in early Feb and Cape Town for a few days for a wedding.There are some great spots for wave riding a round the JBay area. Crossshore with more 9 to10mtr weather.If you are into dead flat water and strong wind the 2 hr drive (from Capetown )to Witsand is well worth the drive.Capetown is very wind by our standards last time I was there I rode a 7mtr for 10days straight,cold water and the surf can get big and heavy.Last time I was there 1/2 a seal washed up on the beach right where we wear kiting.It was a fresh kill and still bleeding, That was enough kiting for me that day!!!!Send me a message on Seabreeze when you arrive and maybe we can go for a kite. I have transport so I can get to most places..It Rock and the people are great!!!Hope this helps Rod
Cape town is awsome place to kite I have a brother who still lives in Green Point. The water is cold on the atlantic side 8 c( City beaches Milnerton North up to blouberg) a 3mm wetsuit should do. The surf on the atlantic can get big but it tends not to get to hollow and crumbles from the top so it good to kite. The other option is to go to Muzenberg/ Strand the water this side is a litte warmer being on the India ocean maybe 15 c. The surf this side tends to be a little smaller but it is close to Seal Island where the sharks breach to catch seals. Last time I was at muizenberg there was half a seal on the beach so I decided not to go out. I have kited at Glencairn and fishoek but wouuld not recomend these beaches as they are small and colse to the railways overhead power lines.
A car is a must in Cape town in my opinion the city is very spread out and public transport is no great. There are so many kiteable location you will want to travel. Great beaches around Cape point but lots of seaweed. hermarnus is also fun with an open beach and a flat water lagoon Lanngaban is great for flat water the area in town near the pub is good but don't get to close to the island it's a bird sanctury
South of town the bird hides are good to kite as is flamingo joes
Do yourself a favour and go to witsand on the Breeder river mouth great flat water and in Infant there is one of the only downwind right hand breaks I've found on that coast. Don't talk to locals at the fishing club about sharks as you'll be affraid of going into the water. Apparently there are lots of Zambesi Sharks in the river mouth
Witsands is like stepping back in time to RSA in the Eighties Infanta is a little less racist
) where summer water temps are 8-9oC (colder water in summer I believe due to warmer winter currents) - bloody freezing!! .
I got all excited because I could give some good advice but another cape townian beat me to it 
.
Beautiful place, you'll love it for sure.
Yes that's right, the (violent) crime from what I've experienced/observed is far less prevalent there than in other cities in SA... such as Joburg.
I grew up in Cape Town but only started kiting once I came to Perth, and have since only kited a few times there when I've been back. The wind is awesome, but of course there was a dead spell over Xmas last year when I was there with all my gear (damn you wind gods).
Location wise, the beaches in Table Bay have already been mentioned, but other places to check out are Kommetjie, Scarborough and Muizenburg (haven't ridden at these spots but have heard good reports). Langebaan holds a massive downwind race every year, with a few hundred kiters and polies participating (not sure of the exact date) which might be a fun thing to try.
At Blouberg, in front of the KFC and the Best store, there's a guy called Bobo who for a nominal fee (10 South African rand or about a buck fifty aussie) will pump up your kite, launch you and catch you when you come in.
I would be wary of leaving stuff on the beach as it might grow legs and I would definitely get a waterproof pouch to keep my car keys in while out on the water. Also never leave anything visible in the car when its locked up and you should be all good (same advice I'd give to anyone kiting at Leighton).
If you're looking to get new gear, you can pick it up brand new in Cape Town for a sizeable discount on Aussie prices (and yes I know I'm opening a can of worms by saying so, but it is true) particularly on the higher end stuff.
There's lots of accommodation around, but you might well have to wrestle a few Euros to get some as the place is crawling with them in the windy season. I'd recommend trying to find something at Big Bay (that's the spot where Len10 was throwing those mega loops a few years back).
PM me if you've got any questions
Below is a picture of Xmas eve last year when a storm front pushed some big swell and big winds through, and the other one was a nice sunny day in January
Thanks for all the great posts people, that's a huge help. Sounds like its gonna be good!
Take a small kite, thick wettie, large brass balls (for those 40knt days) and a bomb proof liver. You'll be pretty much set!!!
