Ever wanted to get lost in the wilderness and kite a new spot every day among great people whilst eating fine food and drinking cold beers? The opportunity came up for IKSURFMAG Publisher Rou Chater to join Kite Boat Cruises in the Bahamas, and now he's hooked! Read all about the experience in this exclusive article!

Cruising the Caribbean on a boat and kiting each day isn't anything new. In fact, it's on the bucket list of many kiters that like to spend their time on the water in paradise. Aritz, Lauren and the rest of the team at Kite Boat Cruises have been living this dream for the last five years. However, what they try to offer their guests is a different experience. Just like the uniqueness of humanity, there is a certain flavour they bring to the boat that you just won't get anywhere else. 

I arrived in the Bahamas on the 5th of December. As usual, I hadn't really given the trip much thought. That's always the case with me; I've jumped in taxis headed to places I've never heard of in far-off lands at the ping of a new email arriving before. It drives my other half, Mary, mad! "Where are you going? What are you doing? How long will you be gone?" My answer of "I don't know" never seems to really cut the mustard, but that's just how I've rolled for the last 20 or so years while travelling the globe chasing the kiteboarding dream. 

Stepping out of the airport into this tropical paradise seemed unreal after the gloomy UK winter I'd left. I jumped in a taxi, armed with the name of the marina where Windchaser1, my home for the next ten days and the latest addition to the fleet for Kite Boat Cruises, was docked. On arrival, I fumbled my way through the security gates, found the boat and set to making friends. 

Aritz has been running the Kite Boat Cruises operation for five years. He met Lauren, an avid surfer, on a kiteboarding trip to Union Island, where she was adding kiteboarding to her arsenal of talents. Aritz was already a keen sailor and kite instructor, having built his own wooden boat in the Philippines (a story you simply just have to ask him, and arguably one of the maddest ones I've heard in my years on this planet). They decided they could make a good team with Aritz at the sharp end of the boat and Lauren cooking incredible food and running operations behind the scenes.

It took a few years to pull the feat off; after all, getting a boat and running trips is no easy task. I've often thought about it myself and usually start to think about something else as soon as I look at the prices of suitable boats. Fast forward to the present day, and they have five years of experience running trips around the Bahamas and are embarking on their sixth season with Madrigal and Windchaser1, accommodating three crew and up to eight guests on each boat. Hats off to them for daring to dream and making that dream a reality. 

Having met the crew and the rest of the gang for the week, we slipped the mooring and headed off into the slick Bahamian night. I still didn't know where I was going, much to Mary's annoyance, as it wasn't long before the last vestiges of phone signal slipped away as easily as the ocean did beneath us. 

After cracking the champagne and celebrating the new boat's first voyage with "guests", Aritz explained that we were headed to the Exuma National Park, one of the most beautiful areas in the Bahamas. We'd sail through the night into the small hours but would wake up away from the hustle and bustle of Nassau to the peace and tranquillity of the protected marine park and all its delights. 

I used the word "guests" in that manner as this was a press trip; while we were treated like royalty from beginning to end and given the full Kite Boat Cruises experience, we were there to do a job at the end of the day. Namely, Aritz and Lauren wanted a ton of footage to promote their operation throughout the season, and I wanted a story and the content for the video you will find attached to this article. And, of course, an excuse to kite in the closest thing to heaven I've seen yet. 

In addition to myself, Lauren and Aritz, we had Javier, Ale, Anastasia, Andries, Sean, Brad, Tom and Olivia. It's a testament to the sheer size of Windchaser1, a huge 58-foot Fountaine Pajot catamaran, that we could all fit on board with plenty of space without ever feeling crowded. My newfound friends and shipmates all had roles to fill. Javier was the kite instructor and first mate aboard Windchaser1 for the season. Ale had the same role onboard the sister boat Madrigal, and Anastasia was the chef for the season on board that boat too. Andries was a Yachtmaster and friend of Aritz, there to help out if needed. 

Sean and Brad were incredibly talented riders and instructors from Florida, there to get the money shots, and Tom Bridge, the pro on this trip, needs no introduction. His friend Olivia was there getting social media content.

By the end of the evening, I knew who I was going with, what we were doing, and where we were going. Mary would have been so proud, it's a shame the phone signal was long gone. 😉

We awoke for our first morning onboard at Norman's Cay, made famous as it was home to Pablo Escobar's private airfield used to ship cocaine to America from Colombia back in the day. The runway is currently "unused", but I still saw a few planes taking off and landing. I guess you can stop the drug lord but perhaps not the industry. We anchored right next to the wreck of one of his planes, now a popular tourist spot. 

We kited and snorkelled around the wreckage, discovering the incredible clarity of the water here for the first time. It really is so clear and so blue; I fell in love instantly. The wind was light, so we took to the water for our first kite session on foils, doing laps around the boat and exploring the reefs that were scattered around us. 

That evening we took the dinghy to Norman's Cay and walked around the beach for a sunset beer. There is nothing on the island besides the runway, a new marina, a house, and a restaurant. All were closed, but the restaurant had kindly left some chairs out, which we put around their fire pit. A quick scavenge for wood didn't take long, and pretty soon, we were chilling by the fire with beers pinching ourselves for being so lucky as the sunset put on a magnificent display. 

We then headed back to the boat for what was one of many world-class meals. I mentioned earlier that Lauren and Aritz try to differentiate from the rest of the pack, and food is one of their specialities. For the entire duration of the trip, we enjoyed some of the most incredible food I've eaten—an impressive accomplishment, as it was all stored onboard and prepared in the galley. Of course, fish and crayfish are a speciality when they can catch them too. 

The next day was our first proper experience heading to a remote spot in the dinghy and kiting some of the most incredible water in the world. I can't even begin to describe it in words, but the water was the sort of azure blue that dreams are made of. Warm, windy, flat and with brand new equipment to put through its paces from North Kiteboarding, the whole crew was frothing to get wet and capture the memories on camera. 

We stayed at the point all afternoon, getting footage and the images you see in this article. Thankfully they can do the talking for just how stunning it was rather than reading my poor prose, which can never do it justice. 

Tom Bridge was on fire, pulling his repertoire of combination tricks and getting the rest of the crew amped to get on the water. I even went back to my freestyle roots, so inspired by Tom; it's the first time I've unhooked in ten years! The conditions, the camaraderie and the crew cheering on the beach were enough for me to forget the knees and see if I could still do a raley. Much to Tom's surprise, it seems an old dog still has it - but only just. 

The next few days were spent getting into the routine of the boat, sailing deeper into the national park, finding remote kite spots, eating amazing food, and swimming with sharks. Yep, you read that right. The Marine Park is huge and doesn't allow any fishing. As such, sea life has flourished, from the smallest of reef fish to the larger men in grey suits and everything in between. 

It felt strange to be diving into the water with the pointy teeth and snappy jaws around us, but this trip was full of once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, and you'd kick yourself if you didn't embrace them at every turn. The reef sharks were fortunately not that interested in us, but it made for some incredible photo opportunities. When the sting ray arrived, I thought I'd seen it all until a pair of enormous eagle rays cruised majestically past. 

As the days flew by, we found ourselves in Staniel Cay to restock on food. This stop allowed us to step on dry land for the evening and give Lauren and Anastasia a break from cooking. The Staniel Cay Yacht Club is a night I won't forget for a long time. I'll leave the details up to your imagination, but needless to say, it would have been befitting of the Shenanigator. 

The next morning, as heads were a little dusty, Aritz and Javier were cooking up another once-in-a-lifetime experience - cave diving at the Thunderball Grotto. The name comes from the James Bond movie of the same name, filmed on location with Sean Connery. Considering the state of our heads, there was some trepidation as Aritz explained we just needed to "dive down, swim for a bit and then pop up in a cave... But be sure to put your arm above your head, so you don't cut it on the roof of the cave".

It was the sort of instruction that required a leap of faith, much like the ones I take travelling to destinations unknown. It was made all the more interesting as the cave dive didn't involve any diving gear (they have that on the boat, too, by the way), just us with snorkels and masks and a bit of blind faith in Aritz and Javier. Needless to say, we all made the dive, and what an incredible experience it was. 

There are loads of routes into and out of the main cave, with other caves branching off through more tunnels. Once Aritz had the measure of our limited-by-hangover capabilities, he announced it was time to do some "super dangerous advanced shit", which for me, was the quote of the trip. With that, we were diving through tiny holes underwater and exploring deeper into the grotto. To pop up in a totally dark bat cave full of actual bats was yet another thing I will never forget. 

The whole trip was just one incredible experience after the other, whether that was kiting on remote sandbars, sunset fire pits, swimming with sharks and rays, cave diving, foiling behind the boat, or eating incredible food; I could go on and on, but you get the idea. 

If you've never had a kite boat on your radar, you will do now. I can't recommend Kite Boat Cruises and Aritz, Lauren and their incredible team enough. The whole crew strives to ensure their guests have a luxury experience while kiting, which is what separates them from their competitors. You'll kite in some of the most incredible locations on the planet and experience things you just can't get anywhere else.

Their reputation for providing an amazing experience is proven by their many repeat customers and having enough demand to expand and add their second, bigger boat this year, in partnership with Windchaser Boats.

Rou's Quick Tips

  • -Book a cabin or ideally the whole boat with a group of friends
  • -Pack a book 
  • -It's warm, so take lots of sunscreen
  • -Don't forget your sense of adventure
  • -Be ready for some incredible food
  • -You can fly directly to Nassau from most European cities and plenty in the US
  • -Pack light; the cabins are not small, but they aren't huge either
  • -Go with an open heart and mind, and you'll have the best experience of your life!

Click here to learn more about Kite Boat Cruises and here to take a closer look at Windchaser1.

 

 

Videos

Travel Guide - Kite Boat Cruises - Bahamas
Epic week kitesurfing and sailing with Tom Bridge.
Redefining water sports charters. Meet our new 58 feet catamaran loaded with all the water toys.
By Rou Chater
Rou has been kiting since the sports inception and has been working as an editor and tester for magazines since 2004. He started IKSURFMAG with his brother in 2006 and has tested hundreds of different kites and travelled all over the world to kitesurf. He's a walking encyclopedia of all things kite and is just as passionate about the sport today as he was when he first started!

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