ppj@carinablog.com
Gli
spot attrezzati (Mistral, F2, Fanatic) sono condizionati dai venti che
scendono dalle montagne; l'orografia particolare crea specchi d'acqua (per
lo più piatti, ma si può trovare da fare wave) pieni di buchi
di vento: buon esercizio di masochismo con vele da 3 a 4 mq, qualche volta
anche da 5. Da raccomandare lo spot di Sun&Fun alla Devil's
Bay dove si noleggia ottima attrezzatura. Curiosità: nessun rig
è dotato di cima di recupero; la partenza dall'acqua è quindi
un prerequisito; se cadi perché il vento scema improvvisamente
ti tirerà su (prontamente) l'attrezzatissima barca di salvataggio!
ppj@carinablog.com
Devils Bay, which is the first of three official windsurfing stations has got the most space on the water and because the wind comes directly through a valley on the Island it is the most powerful here. There a many days, when I would prefer a less stronger wind (typically: it has 10 bft and you would like to have eight.) The other two official spots offer less wind, but unfortunately as the wind is stopped by the mountains on Karpathos it is not as steady as in Devils bay.
Near the beach all three spots are typical flatwater spots with wind coming from land and going out onto the Mediteranean sea. But if you go 800 meters out onto the sea you will have wind & waves approximately 1 meter in height. As there are usually two very good surf teachers out there - bumping and jumping sometimes up to 5 meters high - you have a good chance to be picked up by one of the two emergency boats, if your gear breaks. However this is absolutely for experts; I did not enjoy doing jumps at 10 BFT that much!
But if you have a car you will have a very good alternative: It takes you about 15 minutes to drive to the other side of the island. Here there are no official spots, no rescues boats etc. But you will have wind in general 2 BFT less then on the other side and the wind is coming onshore up to slightly sideshore here. The waves are much bigger here at good days they will reach 4 meters. It is relatively easy to get into the water because there is an all sand beach protected by a stone reef outside. In our opinion this was a great wave spot. At most times there were no more then 3 guys out on the water and you could catch a ride on every wave you wanted and do your jumps and tacks whenever you wanted to. THE PROBLEM with this spot is: the REEF -- if your gear fails in any way or even worse you get injured you will be directly going onto the very sharp rocks of this reef. The best thing which could happen to you in such a case is that you manage to get back to the beach with your board but without sail....
Some important things concerning cars on Karpathos: As there is nearly no place to go with a car other than Karpathos city, the airport, the surfspots and some valleys in the mountains, there are not many car rentals. They are quite expensive, also. One can understand this seeing the roads and estimating the damage they will do to a car...
You can go to Karpathos with your own car (as we did) by ferry from Crete or from Rhodes. It will cost you 80 USD for a one way ticket.
Without a car you will not get to the waves spots. Chris, the guy at the F2 Station in Devils Bay will rent you any material to go to the wavespot, but he will not drive you up there..
A cheap (6000 DRS for 3 Persons per night) place to stay directly at the Surf-spots is a place called "BARBAROZA". (Karpathos - AFIARTIS Tel. and FAX (0245) 22067 or (0245) 22082). Mike is a real crazy guy, who will be the happiest man on Karpathos if is guests are satisfied. The apartments all have a small kitchen side in the living room, a seperate sleeping room and a large terrace. There are frequently parties at Mike«s bar in the same building which have to be called *real wild* - So if you are travelling with children you might choose another hotel (like the Poseidon 10 Minutes away from Devils Bay by car).
The one and only good Dancing Club is 1 mile outside of Karpathos at the road to the Airport. It is called * FILAGRI. * There are many beautiful Greek girls at this place, but be careful and watch out for their Greek brothers.
There are many reasonable priced Taverns in Karpathos city. Another nice place to have dinner is the taverna of Sokrates directly at the Airport / Lagoon.
For Mountain bikers (you can rent Cannondale bikes for approx 30 USD / day).
There are some very lovely one-day trips on Karpathos. The best one might be the 70 KM (44 miles) tour to the mountain valley OLYMPOS. This is a lovely - postcard-like place, with typical Greek windmills and all white buildings with deep blue window shutters... It is also possible to go to Olympos by Bus or by boat..
Information supplied by Ralf Sigmund nhcdrsig@rrzn-user.uni-hannover.de
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