Spot Name: Key Biscayne, Crandon Park
Weather:
Schools: Miami Kiteboarding
Description: Key Biscayne/Crandon Park is a beautiful place to kiteboard. There are palm trees to provide shade when you are not kiting, shallow flat water, and generally good wind. The high season for kiteboarding coincides with the high tourist season in south Florida, December through April.
Kiting in Key Biscayne occurs only in Crandon Park and only through Miami Kiteboarding. Right away many kiters are not going to like private control of access and the fee that must be paid to a private entity. The short story is that several years ago one or more kiteboarders got hurt, emergency services were called in, the city got sued, and the city closed the beach to kiteboarding. Apparently Mr. Ribot secured an insurance policy covering Miami Kiteboarding and the City of Key Biscayne, rules were discussed and agreed upon and Miami Kiteboarding ended up with the exclusive franchise for kiteboarding in the entirety of Crandon Park. That does not mean that you cannot kite on the Federally owned water in front of Crandon Park, just that you cannot use the beach to launch/land, etc.
Miami Kiteboarding only allows 25 kiters to ride at the same time off the beach at Crandon Park. You have to enter and exit the beach through a relatively narrow water corridor, they are attempting to keep the kiters separated from the sunbathers. You cannot ride close to shore, again to protect the swimmers. You have to be IKO Level 3 or demonstrate your kiting skill to include routine upwind ability, not sure if such a demonstration will cost you any extra money the first time. Also, there is a daily fee to kite, but annual memberships can be purchased. Kiteboarders come from all political stripes but tend to zealously agree on the freedom to use Federally owned water freely and for free. The access issues and regulation are antithetical to the kiteboarding esthetic, many kiteboarders will be put off by it. This is all unfortunate as this kiting spot is really beautiful and the shallow flat water makes for excellent when the wind is up.