Getting there

Jamie did the leg work on this. You have a number of options:

• Ryan Air
• British Airways
• Monarch

There are probably a few others as well.

We opted for BA in the end, for the simple reason that we had alot of luggage AND BA fly to Gibraltar - which is a 30 min drive away from Tarifa. Monarch also fly into Gib - but watch the luggage allowance. If you choose Ryan Air you have a longer drive and you'll be needing the Sports Equipment luggage option (£17 each way at the moment).

I have found that most of the 'old skool' airlines are generally fine with Kite gear unless you totally take the p*ss on weight. The budget boys on the other hand are pot luck - and with high fuel prices you'll probably be sh*t outta luck. It's something to consider when comparing costs.

As an example I took a Dakine kite porter with 3 kites, 2 boards , harness, wetsuit, sleeping bag + clothes for 5 days. Jamie had a similar amount of kit. At LHR check-in they were not too amused but we smiled and they took the bags. Always remember to smile, be polite and put your knee under the bag to take some of the weight off...... :lol:

Car Hire

Again there are plenty of options. We used Crown car hire www.crowncarhire.com

Just be aware that if you fly into Gib you will probably have to walk over the border into Spain to pickup the hire car - or pay a load of extra cash. We had to walk to the Crown office which was about a 200m stroll - it's not far but in summer you wouldn't be too happy about that if you're fully loaded with kit. We were upgraded to a Focus Estate - touch - and to be honest you'll want this size car if there are two of you surfing.

We took the car back in a total sh*t state - sand, dirt and ,err, no second gear. Needless to say, this being Spain, they thought it quite normal.

Where to Stay ?

There are soo many options. Jamie did the work on this one and found Living Tarifa who sourced us a nice studio apartment in the old town. It was cheap as chips at 165Eur (4 nights) and pretty decent - albeit a tad on the cold side.

Staying in the old town puts you close to shops, restaurants, bars and local spanish life. The flip side is that you are not next to the beach and you will have a bit of a problem parking the car. We were lucky to be able to get spaces on the street near the apartment, but in high season you'd probably struggle.

Your other option is the new side of town where you can find apartments literally on the beach. This is the Los Lances estate area and there are plenty of apartments. We noticed that they have already put roads in for a fresh set of development !

Eating out

Restaurants are everywhere. We tried a few different places but we did have some problems as a number of restaurants only opened at the weekend. So in low season beware. We missed out on a trip to Vaca Loca which is a well know Steakhouse in the old town. We walked past on our way back from dinner one night and it looked superb. Definately a place to check out.

Shops

There are surf shops apleanty in town but buyer beware. Many of them sell the worst 2nd hand gear we've ever seen - at the highest prices we've ever seen. The stores also stock all the new toys as well, but you'll be lucky to find any bargains. My favourite was El Niño and the staff there are super friendly.

Language

You're in Spain, it's a fantastic country and the people are great - so make an effort and try out your Spanish skills. Seriously - you will find that many of the locals do not speak much English and your life will be much easier if you have a few phrases at your disposal. Avoid Jamie's tendency of trying to say Hasta la Vista everytime we left a bar or restaurant. Hasta luego will be more appreciated. We also found that if you want info from the locals then you'll need to speak some Spanish. We got directions to a great secret spot just by asking a guy on the beach.

Summary

Tarifa is a superb kitesurf spot. You'll really need to be at IKO Lvl 3 standard to get the benefit of the place and for newbies I'm not convinced it's that great. The town has plenty of accommodation options, nice restaurants and bars and the locals are friendly. Getting there is easy but you'll definately need a car to get around.

Chris & Jamie visitied in mid Feb 2006.

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