Dominican Republic with Rygo

To the novice traveler, the world can appear daunting, distant and imposing. Yet with every mile interpolated into your story, it becomes just that.

A piece of your story, in a way a piece of you. Over a long enough timeline staying in your routine is like days erased from your life. I have found that when looking back on my life two things stand out, change and adversity. Both can inspire growth. In a way, they are the catalyst behind our love of the sport. Kiteboarding brings novelty and new challenges to our routine. Essentially writing more pages in your book. Cabarete was no exception in adding a few chapters for me.

Kite beach Cabarete has been a staple in the kite travel circuit since the beginning of the sport. While it is a well-traveled location you would be doing yourself a great disservice to overlook it. What stands out the most is the variety of extracurricular activities one can embark on. As well as the volume of cheap public transportation. The streets are littered with moto conchos. All willing to take you to most restaurants, stores or beaches. Usually for about $1.00 Kite beach ranks as most popular for new and returning kiteboarders. I decided to stay at Extreme hotel. an eccentric place on the outskirts of kite beach.

What made this place stand out was the flying trapezes right out my window. Not to mention the Tiki Gym                                    adjacent to the halfpipe and a stellar yoga loft overlooking the ocean. 

Each morning I was greeted by the sound of a boom box firing off. The groaning of the swing and a man named Paul shouting HEP HEP!  As the Trapeze artist began their training. There is something electric about waking up in such a vibrant health-conscious place. Everyone seemed to be practicing their discipline of choice. Whether it be surfing, training at the gym, sun salutations or a simple run down the beach.

All escaping from routine, adding years to their life. Not only on the calendar but in their memories. 

I spent my mornings sipping coffee watching the sunrise. After a cup or two, I would make my way to the gym for a training session. I would follow that up with a healthy meal from one of the many restaurants right on the beach. My favorite being scrambled eggs with fresh vegetables piled a mile high! Like clockwork, the wind would kick up as I was making my way back to my room. Walking back after breakfast left me feeling energized and ready for the day.

During my time there the wind was predictable and smooth. Choppy water but not over the top. From my understanding, the summers are more consistent with smoother waters. I have been riding for 5 years and to date, I have never experienced a more crowded location. This was due to my timing with the holidays. The crowds did clear out my second week in. Regardless of the crowds, Cabarete is a phenomenal spot! There are many great schools to learn from. On top of the great kiting, Encuentro beach offers some of the best surfing in the Caribbean. There are several schools that will teach you how to surf this reef break.

There are few things more serene than waking up before dawn and paddling out at as the sun appears on the horizon. If the wind or waves are down, I highly recommend a trip to Sosua. Imagine a lush bay, rimed with palm trees, framed with open rock faces and filed with blue water. Add a vivid reef, great restaurants and gift shops for souvenirs. Upon the suggestion of some new found friends, I took a day trip there. With such a large group we decided to take the Cheapest form of transportation. The Guagua, pronounced (Wah wah) 

Basically they pile as many people as they can in a van. Animals not excluded! Just when you think it’s packed, they pile in more!

 Sosua was a trip! I’ve never snorkeled before needless to say, I was a little nervous. Swimming out to a reef with no board or a kite left me feeling a little exposed. Of course, as soon as we reached the reef my fears were replaced by wonder. There really is a whole other world just beneath the surface and its teaming with life! Swimming back in I found the food I had ordered prior to swimming out was ready. With a full belly, I parted ways with the crew and explored the city a little. A worthwhile excursion on any trip. Later that week I was in need of a break from all the kiting! There are a number of day trips on can embark on from hiking and rappelling to cliff diving! I opted for the 27 waterfalls tour. A guided tour where you hike through a variety of waterfalls. The best part is you get to jump a lot of the waterfalls! A helmet and life jacket are mandatory. For the timid, many of the falls have natural rock water-slides.

If you have a fear of heights get ready for an adrenaline rush! Some jumps are up to 26 feet! 

The night life here is Stellar. We were lucky enough to ring in the new year on the strip.

Roughly a quarter mile of bars, discos and restaurants right on the beach. We met up with some friends for dinner at Ojo's. The food was fantastic and the service was on top of it. A small squall moved through pushing most of the diners inside for the duration. We snagged a bottle of vodka and 8 red bulls to boot! Lucky for us our purchase locked us in without having to pay a cover. 

Like any beach party things got wild.

People dancing on the roof top tables into the night. The lights strung up above began to bleed into the stars. An endless horizon of lights! The music moving the crowd to the beat. You could almost taste the salt in the air. Or was that on my margarita glass? Now I know I'm going to sound lame, with all this going in I decided to call it an early night. After all, I came here to to kite first, party second. The rest of my trip was spent kiting during the days and getting cozy reading books by the beach bar at night. 

Of course I had one last thing on my agenda. I had to try that flying trapeze out my window.

This was seriously nerve wracking and fun!

The first jump of course is the hardest. Even with a net in in place you have to commit! It sort of felt like a bad dream where you're on a ledge and everything looks foreboding around you! After a few jumps It gets better. By the end of our session we were getting the catch.

Meaning one of the trapeze artist will catch your wrist and pull you off the swing. Upon the return back they toss you back to the swing. Much like an unhooked trick, timing is critical. You have to wait until you are weightless and push off as they throw you back to the bar! I never did make the it back to the swing but I did get close.

No doubt this was a memorable trip. I added some years to life and put a few new tricks in the bag. Cabarete is a great location for your first international kite excursion. While it's not off the beaten path it has many adventures you can add to your story.