looking to go to Penghu Island Tawain in a few weeks,expecting strong wind ,taking a 5m 7m and 9m kite,is anybody keen to come,have not booked flights yet,am flying from Vietnam,need to go fairly soon as it gets cold by mid November,plenty of options flat water and swell/ waves,is cheap to stay,planning on staying a month
But Penghu Island is full of big wave surfing penguins. You'd better pay your respect to Big Z when you get there with plenty of coconut juice man!
hey gokid
lived in taiwan a year and kited heaps of places on the southern half of the mainland. if you want some info on penghu - try to find an american guy in taiwan called Eric Wright on FB or search taiwan kiteboarding (there is/was a club in tainan), he lives in kaohsiung and is the eternal frothing kite grom and a cool, cruisey guy (for a yank ;-) ). he kites all around the southern half, and would be stoked to have someone to share a session or show a secret spot or two to on teh mainland.
spewing i never made it over to penghu, mostly used my 12m and borrowed smaller kites at the time though, so i would have been desperately over cooked at penghu in winter. eric lived in penghu for a few years when he windsurfed so he knows the place backwards. hope you like speed runs!!!
also, not sure if the china strait is heaps colder then mainland taiwan, but i never used more then wetsuit top and boardies through their winter (below tropic of cancer most of the time) - but it does get cold at nights and in the mountains nov - feb...and i was tougher back then!! enjoy!
maz
hey maz
thanks for the info,there is heaps of stuff on Penghu kiteboarding/kitesurfing,I have done some reseach but there does not seem to be many kiters there.Im planning on going to Jibero Island just north of Penghu went I first arrive,you do not need a licence to hire a scooter there as you need a Tawainese licence on Penghu now{ a westerner was killed last year on a scooter },hopefully the wind wont be to strong ,not keen on doing self launch and land in strong winds, a lot of the beaches and sandspits on Penghu are made of coral or supa coarse sand,bit rought on the kites
Will try and contact Eric, thanks, from what I have read 3mm wetsuits are the go in Dec -Feb but I hope to be out before then
Hi Go Kid
Saw your post by chance regarding Penghu Island.
I have been there 3 times (not for kiting), for a windsurfing competitions, so know a bit about the place.
You will like the price and friendly local people and I did not see a day without wind there,,
I must say this is one of the most windy places in the world I have sailed! the wind generated between China main land and Taiwan can be nuclear,,
We did often have 40 + kts days there.
However I did remember with a little driving around the island , that some places was a little less windy. Also some spots did pick up some waves,,
I think you would have a good time there :)
PS: yes most beaches is a bit "ruff"
Jesper
hee goKid let us now how it is down there, as my girlfriends grandmother is living on the island, we are planning a visit down there sometimes soon.
Was already wondering if i should drag my kite-gear from Perth to Taiwan for the trip ?
Cheers
Taiwan is awesome !!
Big typhoon crossing taiwan tonight
www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-05/an-taiwan-typhoon/5000824
there is tons of wind in Penghu from Oct-April, check windguru or windfinder for the wind forecast,its at 50 kts next week,take your small kites 4 or 5m and a 7 or 8m,everyone that Ive met that has been to Tawain has really liked it,I have never been there yet but if you want to kite take your kites for sure,problem is there is often too much wind sometimes
Select to expand quotemjhage said..
hee goKid let us now how it is down there, as my girlfriends grandmother is living on the island, we are planning a visit down there sometimes soon.
Was already wondering if i should drag my kite-gear from Perth to Taiwan for the trip ?
Cheers
Taiwan is awesome !!
I'm thinking about spending ~2 months abroad somewhere (leaving perth) in Asia for kitesurfing and this places looks awesome! I'd go in March/April time. Tell me how it goes eh! Not alot of info on the spot.
Danw,I think March / April could be the best 2 months of the year to go,should be warm enought and the wind is great ,looking at the stats,short lines and a 7m might be the go
Kited Penghu sunday through to thursday last week, loved it and thought I'd post instructions on how to do it. Had one session on a 10m, one on an 8m and six on a 6m to give you an idea of how much wind this place gets. I'll drop wind guru's wind link at the bottom. Next time I'll leave the 10 at home and take 8/6/5. I'm 95 kgs, use BWS noise kites and ride a smallish 5'7" directional and spent most my time in the waves in Longman bay. There's a right hand point set up to the right of the photo link and three distinct peaks with fun if slightly fat lefts/rights in the photo. Waves are generated by the same wind your kiting with lots of shoulder high and the odd overhead one, and all break on reef. Launching is off a sandy beach. Water temp was 25ish' c and I wore boardies and a rubberised rashy the whole time, but told it does cool off from here on in, and a steamer would be the go. Basically had it to ourselves with the odd crew of Russian windsurfers making the odd appearance and going no where near the waves. Stayed at Sunrise bed and breakfast( it's one of the front ones, just to the left of the wind farm in the photo) run by Jan Ho and his daughter Karen who are the areas only local kite surfers. They both kite everyday if it's on with Karen having kited 27 of the last 30 days when we arrived. Their place is a 3 minute moped ride from the launch area and overlooks the bay, it's not expensive and you can hire a moped with trailer for your kite gear cheaply off them as well. We flew in from Hong Kong to Kaoshiung with Dragon air(Cathay Pacific Airways) and then used Trans Asia Airways To fly Kaoshiung to Magong. Kaoshiungs terminal is small and not busy (for asia) and getting from international to domestic is a short walk with lots of trollies available. Posted links to airlines and Aussies don't need a visa for Taiwan. Sunrise b and b's phone number is +886 956065509/+88669920818 and is the only place close to stay, they are nice people who will show you trick and traps of the launch area (Jan has a setup for self launch/retrevial that works in nuking wind) and I wouldn't consider staying anywhere else. Lots of nice, and really well priced places to eat within a short bike ride. Pretty big trip from Australia, but you will score plenty of wind. Not a party destination at all, think the opposite of Kuta.https://gessl.tna.com.tw/b2c/Domestic/DomOrder/interChooseTrip.jsp?lang=en_US
www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_US.html?cm_mmc=SEM-US-_-BRAND-USHKG-02JUL13-_-BING-_-BRA-BRAND_MAIN-cathay_pacific_airways-00979_MKWID_CB1R2OjQ_PCRID_2403450794
www.windguru.cz/int/index.php?sc=4873
www.kiteforum.com/home/pod/storage//full/b823ddIMG_0685.https://gessl.tna.com.tw/b2c/Domestic/DomOrder/interChooseTrip.jsp?lang=en_US
FTFY 
Unfortunatly I never went to Penghu 
I lost my wallet whist in Vietnam and it took a month to get my cards replaced,I may head there in March / April once it warms up, I do not have a steamer with me and not keen on kiting cold water in boardies
Gokid, Give them a call as they hire out kites and boards, didn't ask about wetties but you never know. That sucks about the wallet. Did you find descent waves in vietnam? I fly over there all the time and from 38K feet it looks like there is some great beaches for down winders.
Hard hat, Mui Ne has plenty of wind for most of the year , the waves a shore break and beach is getting busier every year, with learners mainly russians.
The main beach is 10 klms long , numerous places north of mui ne , with hardly no kiters to share with.
Graveyards just north of mui ne is great for waves and wind was there last year , kited every day 5 /7 m kites, swell up to 3 meters worn out after two weeks , cheaper the a lot of places and plenty to do at night.
Heading back this xmass for three weeks , cant wait.
Select to expand quotehardhat said..
Gokid, Give them a call as they hire out kites and boards, didn't ask about wetties but you never know. That sucks about the wallet. Did you find descent waves in vietnam? I fly over there all the time and from 38K feet it looks like there is some great beaches for down winders.
Most places I have kited in Vietnam have waves from Nov - April except for Mui Ne beach its more of a shore dump but further north and south and out on the island have pretty good waves,plenty of places to do downwinders althought not to many kiters do them ,thought doing a downwinder from Mui Ne to Phan Tiet ( sorry bad spelling ) is popular
Thanks Bearbusa/Gokid, Graveyards sounds like what I'm after. Can't get excited about Mui ne. Will have to get down there when i have a chance.
Hi Everyone,
I've booked flights to Taiwan from June 12-July 13. Is it going to be good kiting? I'm getting scared I've made a mistake? I went to Sri-Lanka this time last year and it was the windiest place on earth, NEVER STOPPED. I just want solid wind, I dont really care about anything else. I've kited in Indonessia, Lanka, Vietnam, Cambodia and India. I just wanted a new place to explore and kite. Any info is greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance.
Hi all, im heading to Penghu for a month and hopeing to buy a second hand kite surfboard there, whats my chances?
slim to none imo
there are some kiters in tainan that sometimes stock extra gear, so if they have put in a big order recently for a few crew they might have extras or be looking to sell if upgrading. otherwise there is a bit of a windsurfing/kiting hub up the east coast above taichung i think (can't remember the name).
best bet might be to get a second hand surfboard in kaohsiung or kenting to be honest. if you don't ride strapless, good chance to learn from the flat water in the vids, but i know there are some mushy wave spots too. good luck
Best bet for getting a second hand surfboard for kiting is to contact Tony @ The SPOT in Jhunan:
www.spot.com.tw/
If you are going to Taiwan to kite there is almost a 100% chance of you stopping past his place.
Cheers,
DK
Select to expand quotemazdon said..
slim to none imo
there are some kiters in tainan that sometimes stock extra gear, so if they have put in a big order recently for a few crew they might have extras or be looking to sell if upgrading. otherwise there is a bit of a windsurfing/kiting hub up the east coast above taichung i think (can't remember the name).
best bet might be to get a second hand surfboard in kaohsiung or kenting to be honest. if you don't ride strapless, good chance to learn from the flat water in the vids, but i know there are some mushy wave spots too. good luck
Contact Jan Hou who runs the Sunrise B&B in Penghu (speaks perfect English). You can buy, rent, whatever. Google him...
The other spots/guys mentioned in this thread are also very very good. Most Taiwanese Kitesurfers are on Kiteforum (including me), you can do a search and PM then from there.
Most kitesurfers are in Taipei so that's another good place to score a 2nd hand board.
Penghu in October should be gold!
Penghu in Oct is always good.
The north east wind is about to come.
I had a light wind session two days ago. (16-18 knots)
Karen from Sunrise B&B
Select to expand quoteLoftywinds said..
What's with the full on steamers on a tropical island though? Stingers?
I don't like the sticky feeling of sunblock.
So I use rashguards then.
You can simply wear boardshorts if you like.
But we do need steamers in winter.
Aiir temperature 15C, water 18C.
