Hey guys I want to get into kitesurfing and conveniently am heading to the lombok/gili area of Indo in mid december so thought I might just get starting lessons over there. Just wondering if anyone knows how legit this would be or has any experiences with it that they would like to share. I have been Indo many times and know that the currents etc are pretty intense between islands so also wondering how safe it would be for a beginner.
Cheers
Just recently been to Gili Air and saw some crew kiting the channel between Air and Bangsol on Lombok on the SE trade. Conveniently the current appeared to be running North-->South, ie., into the wind. December is the wet season so wind is predominately from the N or NW and I would guess MUCH lighter than the dry season trades which around Gili are in the 18-20 knt range and if current is still the same would be a hopeless exercise and NOT recommended for a beginner.
Your best options for learning are right here at home (assuming you are in Oz)
^ ^ ^ what he said.
I kited at Gili T this time last year and it was certainly not for beginners. The sharp coral and shell beaches make it difficult to land/launch and get in and out of the water. The wind is marginal and not as strong as her in aus. The currents between the islands are extremely strong, much greater than any I've been in all around aus.
The kite schools over there are no way as professional as over here either. Some may seem to be but you will find that they don't have the same concern for personal and public safety as we do. Risk mitigation techniques is not on the menu in indo at all.
I spent a day volunteering at the best school I could find and they were very careless about safety techniques and only focussed on kite control and getting up on the board (in the first or second day). I could write a book on the dangerous things I saw kite schools permitting while kiting in Sanur for 2 weeks.
As airhead said, here is the best option by far! Surf and party in indo but your kidding yourself if you think the kiting is better, cheaper, safer.
Select to expand quoteLiveToFly said..
^ ^ ^ what he said.
I kited at Gili T this time last year and it was certainly not for beginners. The sharp coral and shell beaches make it difficult to land/launch and get in and out of the water. The wind is marginal and not as strong as her in aus.
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Hey liveTofly, what do you reckon the wind strength is on average on Lombok (guessing it's the same as Gili T) during the windiest months of June, July and August?
for some more info on Gili's you can contact Stefano on his FB page ... www.facebook.com/groups/378472315524711/
Hello Friends.
just for your info...
Kitesurfing is evolving also in Lombok..
South of Lombok there is now a Kite/SUP center in the area of Kuta.
www.facebook.com/Lomboksurfsupkite?ref=br_tf
Wind there is the same period of Bali but on average is about 2-3 knots more compare to us.
Apparently the season there stop a bit earlier.
In Gili instead wind star much later and blow strong for about 2,5 months. From the middle of August all the way to the end of October.
Wind around 18-25 kntos when it blow and some days well over 30!!
The best island is Gili Air and there is also there a Kite/SUP station.
Strong currents and strong wind + big chops. Not the best for learning or beginner but can be done.http://www.gilikitesurf.com/
Bye Jankie
Select to expand quoteorb74 said..LiveToFly said..
^ ^ ^ what he said.
I kited at Gili T this time last year and it was certainly not for beginners. The sharp coral and shell beaches make it difficult to land/launch and get in and out of the water. The wind is marginal and not as strong as her in aus.
.
Hey liveTofly, what do you reckon the wind strength is on average on Lombok (guessing it's the same as Gili T) during the windiest months of June, July and August?
Hey orb I was on Gili T last August for 10 days and had 3 kiteable days between 13 and 15 knots and s-sw. I'd guess the west coast of Lombok would be the same but I didn't go there.
The conditions and coastal structures were far from perfect, nevertheless it was the most amasing experience with schools of flying fish leaping out of the water following me, among the islands with the Lombok mountains in the background.
Def worth doing but I wouldn't kite there if I was in my first season, that would just be stupid.
Select to expand quotekitesurfbali said..
South of Lombok there is now a Kite/SUP center in the area of Kuta.
www.facebook.com/Lomboksurfsupkite?ref=br_tf
Bye Jankie
Thats true, it's at Solah Bar and looks like a professional set up. It was just being completed and the guy who runs it I believe is a top teacher from the Sunshine Coast who is teaching the locals to teach. They also do SUP from the beach.
It seems like a pretty good beach to launch from (on mid to high tide only) and is a really big bay with predominantly cross onshore winds from the SE during the June, July, August period. That is the bay I am planning on doing some kitesurfing in, probably get my wife to drop me off up near the Novotel and pick me up again at Kuta Harbour or walk back to the accomodation :)
Hi Guys , I have just returned from Kuta Lombok and Gilli Air . Went there for a surf trip and was surprised to see a couple of kite shops. There wasn't enough wind at Kuta Lombok . prob 10 - 12knots every day. .. but if there was enough wind it would be an ok place to learn. good beach ect. The shop has really good equip as well. Not sure about the instructors. There is nothing to do at Kuta Lombok besides surf so if there is a bit of wing around I would give it a crack there.
We went to Gilli Air just for a day trip. Ended up having a really good kite session in-between Gilli Air and the mainland. Was 18knots, warm water and a bintang waiting approx. 30metres away .. what more could you ask for !!. Not a great place for leaning though as there is not much place to launching and landing etc. and you are pretty much straight into deep water. The kite shop there has great equip to hire and pretty cheap. cost us $45 aussie each for all the gear.. so if anyone is there be sure to check it out.. Fellas name is Stefano. He is also starting another kite camp on Lombok I think near to Eccas Surf Break... keep an eye out for that as it sounds pretty awesome from Stefano's description.. big long beach etc..
I went to Gili T for a bucks party 3 day bender in September. Contacted the guy on Gili Air a week prior to leaving and he said forget about it. Got there and it blew 15 - 20kts every afternoon - I was spewin!
But yeah, there's sharp reef 100m out from the beach which protrudes from the water at low tide. You *could* kite with a 12m minimum, but it would hurt if you stacked it hard, and you're a long way from any sort of reputable medical care. In hindsight it was probably a good thing I didnt bring my kite and got wasted by the pool instead. 
Hey
Does anyone know if you can kite Kuta Lombok this time of year (wet season) in the Westerlies? If so, is the wind gusty given the proximity of the headland?
Thanks Ads
kiteshops jeeezuz, last time i went there were barely any shops at all! friend guided a surftour there - said it was bit erratic but got pretty windy sometimes
i was thinking the same, SHOPS what shops, there was one i remember and the constant sounds of detonators going of to stun the fish and feck the coral, but hey i am old and that was then.
first kited gilli in 2007, no 2006
remember first asking this local if anyone kited there, and he's all yes yes yes, smiles and nodding
then i walked up the point (more around the corner) water launched cause the coral sand is deadly
and the same dude is freaking out, saying has never seen before.....
there was mad mad, mad wind
but i was on a major mushie bender as usual, the whole time i was there
attempted to paddle my surfboard to lombok until a manta ray jumped out of the water and told me to turn around about half way across,
rode a tiny kiddies bike around gilli t twice cause i thought someone was following me, then had to be helped off the bike cause i was cramped up and couldn't move
but there was awesome wind, sometimes from like 8 in the morning
then went back to bali and saw the sanur boys sitting around saying they hadn't kited in the last two weeks
I just got back from Gilli-m in December. Took my Rig and managed to get two awesome Kiting days in. The guys at Gilli-Kitesurf never responded to my email regarding wind conditions, and when I got there I called them and they said there was no wind. Lazy fkr must have been on the local mushrooms, as I ended up getting two great days in. Then got another 5 days at Sanur. Great times !!
I went to Lombok back in 1997 and it was a scary place at that time. Tourism was only a few years young there and the new Kuta there was not even bigger than one of the side lanes in the real Kuta Beach back in Bali. We stayed at a resort next to a Mosque just north of Kuta and we were the only tourists in the resort. No one else around. The locals scared us because they were not as friendly (smiley all the time) as we've experienced in Bali itself. Lombok is very Islamic, so be careful. Some surfers had a machete attack there not long after we were there. Oh and don't take a bus trip to the Gili port. It takes like 4 hours through the dense jungle, monkeys jumping on the bus and trying to get in the windows and once we had to all get out to push the damn rickety bus up a slope! You have to have a strong gut for such places I think. Oh yeah, sorry never been to Gilli itself though.
When we lived in Bali, Lombok was our rejuvenation area. Spent a lot of time in Kuta, Lombok and would recommend taking a kite (12m) if visiting. I would say that at least 3 days out of 7 were kiteable and that's through various times of the year. Some days were howling trades and there is always an open bay protected by reef somewhere to get some chop free speed runs happening.
