hello all! i'm gonna be working in vancouver for the next 4 months and was hoping to get in some kiting, foiling, surfing, or all of the above. just wondering what the winter/spring conditions are like around town? where to go? is a 4/5 wetsuit enough? anything or anywhere to be wary of? just trying to get a little local knowledge before i get in the water! looking forward to meeting a few folks too! any info appreciated.
Welcome Geoff. Click on the links above "Getting Started" and 'Local Map" for more info. A good 5/4 wetsuit should be fine but I'd recommend wearing a fleece type shirt underneath. You will also want booties, gloves and a hood. The most popular spots this time of year are 3rd Ave (SE wind) or Spanish Banks (NW or E wind). The wind is often light and a hydrofoil is needed. I've been out kiting 10 days so far this year, all at Spanish Banks.. these days we usually launch from the Tolmie Street or Trimble Street areas.
Another local sport is East Beach in White Rock. Best wind is SW but works great on a SE as well. For foiling it could be very shallow in a low tide, most foilers body drag for a while before getting into deeper water - Park at Findley Street and Marine Drive, you will see a grassy area left of the rail crossing to setup your kite, then walk your kite, bar and board East into the beach and launch anywhere there. Very friendly group of regulars in White Rock - after the session check out the breweries in the uptown - 3 dogs brewing is awesome .
Additionally not too far from there, you can kite in Crescent Beach - when is off-shore in White Rock it's normally awesome here, work in N-NW and also SW-W - if the tide is high it could be tricky to launch - in the winter I park and launch from Sullivan Point - park at the end of Sullivan Street (in the summer could be super crowded here). A lot of kiters go a bit further north to Blackie Spit; however this is a protected wildlife area and sometimes locals get a bit upset - most kiters however launch from the sandy area north of the dog off leash section. It is very shallow here, the channel has a bit of boat traffic and at full ebb or flood you can have some heavy currents to deal with - when it blows here is pretty epic as the scenery is majestic!
And I'm pretty sure you are familiar with Squamish! Best consistent thermos winds starting around march...