Following on from the suggestions above: Italy (Lake Garda), Egypt
(Dahab), Turkey (Alacati), and Greece (Lefkas) are all places I have
spent my summer (July through September) windsurfing holidays.
Riva del Garda and Torbole at the north end of Lake Garda has lots of
hotels, restaurants and rental centres. I used Segnana who also
arranged accommodation.(http://www.surfsegnana.it/default_eng.asp)
Lake Garda has thermal winds caused by the mountains/alps to the
north. this causes a steady offshore breeze in the morning over a
glassy surface. The on-shore in the afternoon builds up over the
length of the lake blowing F4 to F7 and carries a large wind blown
swell. If you are not waterstarting, or really good with the uphaul,
I'd suggest somewhere else.
Dahab on the Red Sea in Egypt (fly into Sharm-el-Sheik then a two hour
shuttle bus) is a desert thermal. I suffered no wind for 5 out of 7
days (January) but the reputation is for consistent winds through
July. The nice thing about Dahab is variety available. The large
shallow pan at the top of the lagoon is good for practising starts,
the main central part of the lagoon is enclosed so you can move into
deeper water without fear of ending up out at sea. the third area is
between the reef and a sand-spit. "They" call this speedy - its flat,
sheltered from sea swll and waves, but open to coastal winds. Good for
speed runs and gybes. The last area is the waves just beyond the reef.
Need I say more? Accommodation is to suit all budgets, 5 star hilton
types right on the lagoon in "Dahab City" or half star roach pits in
El-Masbat (Old Dahab). Most rental centres will put together a
package. (http://www.clubvass.com/club_dahab/)
and (http://www.club-
mistral.com/en/destinations/home/2/genInfo) are both good. I stayed on
the cheap at (http://www.dyarnahotel.com/)
two stars with hot showers.
Vassiliki is on the southern end of the island Lefkas in Greece. It
suffers from a coastal wind being pushed over a range of hills (big
hills) which rapidly cools and the air falls into a large natural
harbour. At 2pm every day (almost every day) force 4-5 cross shore.
Thie is limited shallow water off the beach, but for learners or
improvers the folk at club vass run excellent cl***** as part of the
package.(http://www.clubvass.com/club_vassiliki/)
Alacati in Turkey is where i recommend without hesitation. the bay is
about a mile across, the kiters are loaded into boats and carried to
another beach 5 miles away. the bay has a large sandy shelf about half
mile out so you can almost always stand up and there are more rental
centres than there is beach. The PWA were there last summer taking
advantage of the seasonal winds that never stop. A large air mass runs
from the Russian steppes, across the black sea, the med and into north
africa all summer. (http://www.club-mistral.com/en/destinations/home/4/
genInfo) Unfortunately, this is where the Turkish Glitterati go for
summer, and prices are suitably high.
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