Travel Talk

Surfing and Kiteboarding in Cabarete, Dominican Republic

November 18, 2013May 25, 2019 by SHABL

Greetings,

I’m writing this from my hotel room in Cabarete after finishing a solid day on the beach. I’m here to surf and unwind amongst other things. Also to once again try my luck learning the basics of kiteboarding. I’ve only scratched the surface of this sport called kiteboarding but guess what? I’m hooked… It feels wonderful as it has been years that a new sport has excited me.

The moment I got into kiteboarding I immediately knew this was it. It’s one of those sports that once you get your gear and the hang of it, you can go hang with a crew on a windy beach anytime, anywhere…

We started out early in the day and hit up 321 Takeoff run by a really cool German gent and did some surfing. Most of the #MancationDR crew was new to surfing so we did the basics and hit the sea. The wind was pretty wild and the surf was strong so it wasn’t the easiest of conditions but it was still fun. Some people from the surf crew gave us a push which helped us standup. I figured I didn’t need one but ended up getting a few and was thankful. Near the end I caught a wave or two completely solo and had a long cruise into the beach, what a feeling and worth all the bails to get there…

We hung out there for a while and there is a tournament every year called Master of the Ocean which is basically an event where individuals and teams compete in 4 events to see who scores highest cumulatively to become “master of the ocean”. Seems pretty cool and supposedly the surf along parts of Cabarete is solid most of the year. It also had a real scene and the day we went it wasn’t the nicest weather but still quite packed. They say if the weather isn’t sound, wait an hour and they were right. By the time we left it was sunny and back to stereotypically cool Caribbean weather.

Afterwards we hit up Extreme Hotel to check out Mojito Bar for lunch. This hotel was pretty slick and had a monster half pipe in the mix. It’s also home to a training circus with all sorts of things that go with it including a full trapeze training area. Sure enough I had a lobster salad with an extreme mojito and it hit the spot. If I returned to this area I’d consider staying there as it’s like $50 a night and the staff seemed super cool. Basically it’s a chill spot with people who like getting extreme so if you like getting extreme and the odd mojito beach side, what’s not to like?

Afterward it was time to try my luck at kiteboarding with Laureal Eastman Kiteboarding School which is on the beach in front of Millennium Resort & Spa. Super cool staff and we spoke with a gent surfing who is a professional kiteboarder and he said the most important thing is getting to know how to use the gear safely. We spent the entire session learning how to use the equipment from setting it up to safely getting rid of the kite should stuff go south. I just loved it and can’t express that enough. The wind wasn’t too strong so we didn’t get to fly a kite but I’m sold!

Supposedly a slick setup is $1500-$2K which I think is a deal as it’s some specialized stuff and once you have it, that’s it. You can go everyday the wind is right for free. I’m not sure where but I’m on the lookout to complete a course, 100%. Afterward we headed to Ocean World for Bravissimo which was cool. The show was something out of the ordinary and thoroughly enjoyed the dinner/disco part of the evening which was great. I had some surf and turf which reminded me how much I love lobster with every sliver of my soul. Hmmm lobster….