where to go for a winter session.

Now that winter is fast approaching and to avoid a few months of depression I have to ask the question "where to go" .
I've been to Sri Lanka a few times but last year we nearly all got sick and I copped a tropical ulcer that took 10 weeks to heal. Not too keen for a repeat.
I think S.E Asia is mainly a millpond in our winter. Any suggestions?
Cheers Nick

Yeah I've got friends going up next month.
Archer Point is popular I know but not a big area and need to camp at Cooktown.

Your in the wrong state mate. WA cranks in winter. It's a year round sport when you live here. Woooooo

25-30 kn day here yesty was a cracka. had some pretty strong gusts 40-50kn. Down the southwest where its at in winter. All the woosters were amongst it. Couple high teens were cracked...yeew

Hmm so inconsistent (and not warm) is what I'm hearing.

OMG yeah I need tips of where to go for a weekend sesh before I start to go mad!??
I'm in Melbourne (west side of the bay) and the wind here has been very much gone for weeks now!??

Just at the end of winter, but I'm doing this!

windseekersredsea.com/trip/the-windseekers-kite-safari-3/

Bit of a mission to get there from Oz, only downside.

I just spent a week at Safari Lodge with a mate who wings. We shared a waterfront Bure. It was basic, clean, and a good size, only 20m from the water's edge. Exactly what we needed. The property is on the waterfront, with direct access to the beach. Plenty of hammocks and lounge chairs for those who want to take it easy. A massive lawn for rigging and drying gear. We also had a pair of kiters from Goldie and a family from Auckland (the husband was a beginner wingers). Plus, another kiter and winger who travelled on their own and stayed in the dorm. The rest of us stayed in the beachfront Bures.

Most importantly, we had wind every single day. Mostly in the 12-15 knot range, which increased to 20 knots by mid-afternoon. Mostly used 5.5/6m2 wings and 12/15 kites. We went down to 4.4 wings and 9/11 kites in the mid-afternoon.

The bay in front of the lodge is massive. As others have said, the coral is exposed at low tide. And then you need to walk a couple of hundred metres to a safe launch spot, no drama. We used the boat every day. We had a skipper's meeting at 11 AM and then decided on the plan for the day. Usually, there were some freshly baked treats and coffee/tea at the same time. We chose the option of a boat trip to a spot, either 5 km or 8 km upwind. The spots offer butter-smooth water behind the exposed coral when the tides drop sufficiently and only light ripples once the water covers the coral. The anchor spots were chosen to optimise for wind direction. The 5km anchor spot offers a 5 km long reef if you really want to ride for such a long time in one direction. Both spots offer a vast, vast terrain for sailing. The spots also have channels in the coral, so you can link different parts of the "park" and find channels with wind chop. At the end of the flat water session, we would sail DW home and stay in a channel to ride the wind swell.

In terms of wind, this spot is exposed to the SE tradewinds. The wind blows in cycles of several days on, a couple of days off. We were told the cycle is typically nine days on and two days off. We had 7 days of wind. The wind stopped blowing the day we left and two days later, the forecast was one for another several-day run, just a much stronger wind forecast than what we had. Windy.app is very accurate in terms of forecast.

We liked it so much that we have already put our names down for the same week next year.

The place and experience met and exceeded my expectations. I hoped for warm weather, high confidence in the forecast, all-day winds, warm water and sunshine during the AU winter at a reasonable price with friendly locals and not too far away. I got all of that and more.

Accomodation was ~$2500 per person sharing the Bure. Single accommodation in the dorm is significantlhy less.

Beers were about $7 each, Local Fiji Gold.

No other costs.

The food was a highlight. Mostly vegetarian and using local produce. Even the hardcore carnivores were surprised that they managed the week without meat. Ask Jason and Tony.

Just a reminder: www.seabreeze.com.au/Members/Help/ForumRules.aspx
Carry on.