January: Baja vs Margarita vs ???

[degemermat]

We're thinking of going either to Baja (probably Los Barriles) or Margarita early January and are wondering about the wind.

In principle Baja looks ok, but I'm not sure about the impact of El Nino this year. Regarding Margarita some people say January works as well, but looking at the statistics on the Vela website it doesn't look that impressive... Or, is there yet another place that would be a better bet ? (besides Arenal)

I know there are already many posts about this, but a lot of the information is conflicting... Thanks for your input !!

[Meneely]

We have a house in Los Barriles and we're headed there this morning. Based on about 10 years of experience, you'll get 3 or 4 sailable days per week (15kt and higher) in Jan. The swell is tons of fun. In 20 trips or so I've gotten complete skunked twice. La Ventana has better stats.

[wyattmiller]

I lived in Margarita for 4 months and am currently living down in La Ventana.

Margarita is awesome with tons of great partying and beer for 60cents. Much hotter chicks than baja and way better sailors. The gear is top notch and the wind can blow day and night for weeks on end. I got there in the end of January and sailed 5.0 or smaller for 46 days in a row. I would usually wait until the end of the day for the wind and crowds to die down.
(There are 8 windsurf centers next door to each other all capable of putting 80 Euros on the water at the same time which makes for a lot of big Euro wakes.)

The only bummer about Margarita is that eating at the restaurants is expensive and getting there sucks. Lots of Crooks at the Caracas airport.


I was initially worried about El Nino in La Ventana especially in November which can be a hit or miss month.

I arrived on the 29th of October and had 5.0 - 4.5 for 6 days in a row.

Since then we have had 2 strong 3 day Nortes and I have probably sailed my 5.4 or smaller 15 out of 22 days. We had our first Guests here at Pro-Windsurf La Ventana and they sailed 7 our of 9 days two of which were on 5.8s.

Eating out in LV is way cheaper than Margarita but there are not as many hot chicks. The beer about the same price. Not so many Euros creating wakes and a lot more space.

La Ventana is way more consistent for wind than Los Barilles though as we get a thermal wind here that has us sailing 5.0 when not even the kites go up in Barilles. But there is no hotel with a pool like they have at Vela.

I do have 2010 Naish Gear for rent though so Equipment is of the highest quality.

Wyatt

[katosandog]

All things being equal, if you are lucky enough to get a big day at Los Barilles, you will not forget it. I recall getting up in the morning and it was already windy, but the sport fishing boats were still heading out. When they went down into the trough, you couldn't see them any more.

It was the best day of windsurfing I have ever had. The swell was huge and widely spaced. You could get on the front side and just rip. And the wind was unbelievably steady. I can remember looking at the swell I was on and marvelling how BIG it was. Ohhhhh ...

[martyrosse]

I have been to Margarita in Feb and May. Night and day for me. May was strong wind everyday (5.2 or smaller and I weigh 210lbs) for 2 weeks straight. February I got maybe 1 or 2 light days and skunked the rest of the time during a 1 week stay.

I also agree with the last post--a big day at Los Barrilles or La Ventana is totally special (as long as you are a strong waterstarter in swell). Margarita is kind of intermediate terrain even in high winds.

So even though you might get skunked because of El Nino, I would definitely choose Baja.

[izitvindi]