As soon as I’m back in My Hoa from Da Lat, the strong winds return. During my last ten days here, it was almost constantly blowing across the flat water at 20 to 43 knots. A GoPro mount that is probably tied too tightly around the centre strut causes it to explode on the jump. Due to the Tet holidays, the repair takes five days. Even after the second attempt, the centre strut continues to lose air. My wings are flat and records are over.
I find the GoPro that fell out of the kite in the morning at low tide after a long lagoon traipse. I borrow the expensive Insta 360 X3 from a Chinese woman and head out onto the water with a good harness mount. In the shallow water in front of the Phan Rang Kite Centre, I crash after a mini hop. The second harness opens and tears the Insta several metres over sharp pieces of coral on the seabed. The total loss results in the most expensive 20-second clip in 25 years of kitesurfing holidays. The coral bites me in the knee one last time.
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Kitespot My Hoa Lagoon, Phan Rang
The journey to Phan Rang, which took more than two days, was tough. My first accommodation is Vietnam Surf Camping in the very south of the lagoon. The small yurt on the beach is simple but cheap. On the first day, I just put the split together and have a broken binding repaired by the Phi Kite School. The wind is blowing at up to 32 knots across the 1500 by 300 metre wide standing area. There are up to 100 riders on the water from the five kite schools. It rarely gets crowded.
I knew that the lagoon of My Hoa / Phang Rang was dry from time to time. Kiting in the morning or afternoon: I’m flexible. But there is usually only one tide a day here. I didn’t know that. At low tide, the water is either completely gone for the first 300 metres or far too low for reasonably safe strong wind kiting. Sand and quite sharp rocks / corals alternate everywhere. There is no larger safe landing zone with only sand. (more…)
The Author
Frank Woelky, born in 1973. Kitesurfer since 1998. Since 2006, I have been combining kitesurfing and web design on trips lasting several months off the beaten track.