Kiteboarding in Playa del Carmen, Mexico - Spot Review

Are you thinking of taking a kiteboarding holiday to Playa del Carmen, Mexico? Don’t. Playa del Carmen is not a good kiteboard destination.

Man kiteboarding in Playa del Carmen, Mexico

Wind Statistics Playa del Carmen

What the Internet and local kiteboard schools say

The best months for kiteboarding in Playa de Carmen are supposed to be from January until April. The wind probability should then be around 70% > 11 knots, which translates to about 20 kiteable days per month or 5 days per week.

These are the “statistics” you’ll get from the local kiteboard schools in Playa del Carmen. You can also find this information spread around the internet–usually provided by the same kiteboard schools.

The truth

I stayed in Playa del Carmen from December 2012 until April 2013. Meaning that I experienced one month of the mid-season and the complete peak season for wind as defined by the local kiteboard schools. Unfortunately, however, my findings didn’t match their percentages.

On average there were 5 kiteable days per month–not per week. No matter the season. It was all the same. 5 days more or less, mid or peak. That’s like a wind probability of 20%. Now, compare that to the 70% above.

Are you thinking what I am thinking? Lead nominee for the scam of the year, or what? Let me break it down for you.

Breakdown of wind days in December 2012 in Playa del Carmen

In total there were 8 days of wind during December 2012 in Playa del Carmen, of which:

– 4 days of wind were only suitable for beginners who needed to learn kite control on land. It wasn’t even enough wind for beginners who needed to learn to ride.

– 3 days of wind with a speed of 12 knots

– 2 days of wind for experienced kiteboarders only as the wind was slightly offshore

To this, I need to add that even the 5 kiteable days were not all-day kite days. You could go out for a couple of hours and that would be it.

Now, imagine you go on a holiday for 10 days, you might be “lucky” enough to kiteboard, for 1 or 2 days, for a couple of hours per day, with a wind speed of no more than 12 knots. And that’s if you’re lucky.

Location, atmosphere, whatever

The most important thing when looking for a kiteboard destination is knowing how many days you’ll be able to kiteboard. Preferably, you’ll want to have at least the choice to go every day. For this, you need a high wind probability and Playa del Carmen doesn’t have this.

As such, I see no further reason to explain anything about the location, atmosphere or anything else. Playa del Carmen is not a kiteboard destination. Anyone who promotes it as such should be sentenced to kiteboard there for the rest of his life–and I, for sure, don’t want to be one of the exiles.

Tell me what you think. Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram (links match discussion pages for this post) and let me know: Did you ever go to kiteboard in Playa del Carmen? How was your experience?

FURTHER QUESTIONS

If you have any further questions about kiteboarding in Playa del Carmen, please don’t hesitate to contact me: send me a message, or book a Skype talk with me.