Spot: Cabeza De Toro, Punta Cana
Location: 18.64 North, 68.34 West, access via Carretera Cabeza De Toro.
Description:
Wind:
Great in January, February, June, and July. Decent in March, April and May. Just like Cabarete, perhaps a couple knots less on average each day.
General:
Great kite spot. Great, very inexpensive, condo complexes. A fantastic beach club. Flat water, shallow water, great for a beginner or an advanced kiter, low wave action in good wind, on shore wind. All kiters know of Cabarette, it’s great for upper end intermediate and advanced kiters, particularly if you like waves to launch from, but this spot is much better for beginners and progressing intermediates.
Where to kite:
Its funny when you google “kiteboarding Punta Cana” you get Kite Surf Punta Cana, and KBS Kitesurf. If you go to the spot where KBS is located it is at the end of a road. Three is no one there, except when we went 3 vagrants sleeping in an unlicensed car. A bit sketchy.
Then we found the Pearl Beach Club not too far down the beach. Pearl sells it short, it’s a diamond. You do have to pay a $25/person admission but you get that as credit against your food and drinks purchases. Not that hard to spend. You get full use of the club including the pools, bathrooms, some with shower, loungers, towels, day beds, etc. The club is amazing, beautiful, luxurious, recently built, clean, and with fantastic service. Food was good, not great. The spot is great. Easy launch, a few palms to avoid, but generally an easy launch and land. The water is shallow. There is a kite school immediately to the west of the club which is active when the wind is up. Can’t say enough good things about this place.
Where to stay:
Stay at the Catalonia Royal Bavaro or the Serenade Punta Cana Beach & Spa Resort for on property access to the beautiful kite bay. April, 2021 pricing was in the $100-$200 range. After Covid likely much higher. Otherwise stay off the water under $100/night, and go to the Pearl Beach Club to kite each day. I’d love to tell people to stay at the Radisson Blu Resort & Residence, where we stayed. It is beautiful, just renovated, everything was perfect. However, a marina and a Dolphin Explorer park which extends well out into the bay are impediments to kiting on an otherwise pristine bay. So we loved this hotel but cannot recommend it to kiters unless you are willing to drive a short drive to the Pearl Beach Club for each day of kiting. Which come to think of it is a pretty nice way to go.
How to get around:
Rent a car. Driving in the Dominican Republic is not as bad as they say on many websites. Its bad, but not as bad as is said. Be careful, drive slow, watch out for the motor bikes, and you’ll be just fine. The tiny town in the Cabeza de Toro region is not for the faint of heart at night, I’d avoid that.
Where to eat:
Either cook or do better than we did finding restaurants out. The condo complexes that are run like hotels are beautiful but the food is not great and a bit pricey. The town in the immediate area is not so nice. No where to eat that looks good or safe. The resorts have tall walls and guards for a reason.