Aruba Christmas week

[JKP]

I am going to Aruba Christmas week and wondering if anyone has any tips? I am taking my 9 and 12 m kites. Thanks for any advice you may have.

[adseguy]

All I can comment on are that those are the right sizes to bring. Hope you get some good trade winds the last 2 years have really been off.

[xwindsurf]

I was there 4 times when I was still windsurfing but I talked to kiters too.
If you know much of this already, perhaps it would be useful as reference to other people.

Kiting is done on both sides of the island but these sides are very different.
Leeward:
Fisherman's Huts - http://www.aruba-travelguide.com/beache ... M4iTm9WxBk
Flat water, quite shallow for a while. The wind can be totally offshore, or side-off. There's plenty of people there for some safety, and usually you can talk upfront about a chase-boat rescue with the guys who run the windsurf rental place, or next door. I understand you can buy rescues for a week as a kind of "insurance policy." It can be crazy gusty in the summer, and the wind can be 30 kts+ in June and July but winters are usually lighter.
Other places on that side do not have rescue boats (at least didn't) so that limits your choices.
Windward:
Boca Grandi http://www.aruba-travelguide.com/beache ... M4gxG9WxBk
This can be a little hard-core but if you like waves, and prefer the typical safe setup, with clean, side-shore wind, that's the place.
You need a car to get there, and tires get damaged on sharp pebbles on the way in so drive slowly. It's next door to a big, white building of the local prison.
Some people complained about some unsavory characters showing up there but I didn't see any, and the local kiters seemed friendly enough. No facilities there so bring food and drinks with you.
Most other places on that side do not have sand, and the rocks look like some dark fantasy props - thin outcrops, some of them at least 2 ft long, pointing straight toward the sea. This pix shows a mild version of this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/drljohnson/1684040806/

[sarlush]

The post above seems spot-on according to my experience. One of the schools at the Fisherman's Huts, Aruba Active Vacations (three big blue/green shacks with nice sun shades) is where I learned. The guys there are all very nice and very helpful, and really so are the visitors we've met there. Be aware, though, the ocean floor there is partially a big reef that likes to cut up feet if you need to walk back in (or legs if you drag yourself across it while still learning to kite and are not able to get on the board ). There are buoys so you know where to avoid, though.

My boyfriend was there the past two weeks and said the wind at Boca Grandi was often better (steadier, and sometimes stronger) than the Huts (gusty gusty), but that could be partially preference. He had a few low/no wind days, but he also brought our 9 and 12m and got several really solid days on both.

Aruba is one of my favorite places, have a wonderful time! Post some photos

[JKP]

Thanks for the info!