Wave kite destination Chile

“Chile, a country that has been on my bucket list for wave kite for a long time.

As a goofy footer, the land of lefts with strong winds and rough coastlines sounded quite appealing to me.” 

Written by Evelien Bolle

Bucket list kite wave destinations

Most years I would be training and competing on the GKA world tour and combining it with a full-time job. Leaving me with not enough time to top off some of my bucket list kite wave destinations. But last year was different. Suffering from a knee injury, I had to undergo surgery and face a long revalidation. Time enough to plan and dream of a magical trip. In September I slowly started to kite again and end of November I was off on the long awaited trip. Time to travel to wave kite destination Chile!

Evelien Bolle in Chile, wave kitesurfing

 

Black beaches and perfect waves

The first week I stayed in Matanzas, a quite and small coastal village surrounded by black beaches, nice wooden beach houses and perfect waves to choose from. It doesn’t happen that often but this time I got very lucky with the conditions. The wind, called Surazo, builded up every day and a nice swell came through. Perfect to surf in the morning and go kiting in the afternoon. I was really happy to find myself kiting in bigger waves again. 

 

No wind or swell? No problem

After a week filled with perfect conditions, the swell and wind died for a few days. Chile is an amazing country with a lot of places to discover and a large choice of outdoor sports. I used the days to drive down south and discover the Pucon region, a beautiful region with lakes and volcanos. The days went by very fast by hiking the Villarica volcano, discovering the rivers by hydrospeed and walking through nature. 

 

Curanipe, a charming fishing town

A new swell was arriving so I headed back to the coast. I choose to visit Curanipe, a charming fishing town more south than Matanzas. The current and the rocks makes it more difficult to read and surf the waves. But the fast and nice waves makes this fishing town certainly worth a visit.

I couldn’t leave Chile without visiting Pichilemu, the surf capital. The wind was gone so I did spend the last days surfing and enjoying the sunsets at Punta Lobos.

 

Why should you consider a trip to Chile?

If you are a nature lover, you will fall in love with the environment. I remember kiting with dolphins and sea lions, strolling on the beatifull black beaches and discovering the national parks. 

The waves to choose from are endless. Chile has a huge coastline and with a four-wheel drive you can discover the most remote spots. 

The wind is on almost every day during the season (October – April) and really strong. You won’t have the wind building up when there is fog. But once the fog is gone and the sun shines, the wind will pick up very fast.

 

What surfboard should you bring?

My biggest problem with kite trips is that all the gear that I want to take doesn’t fit in one bag. I choosed to take my 5’6 Klokhouse and 5’8 Appeflap. My surfboard didn’t fit so I had to rent one. 

The 5’8 Appleflap is great for bigger and fast waves. The board was certainly needed in Curanipe as the wave is quite fast over there. In the Matanzas region I could choose between my Klockhouse 5’6 and my Appleflap 5’8 depending on the wave forecast.

 

Looking for more travel inspiration? Roderick has made a top three of his favorite destinations.

 

TOP 3 KITETRIP DESTINATIONS