A windsurfer’s review of Rhodes

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Windsurfer-Prasonisi

A windsurfer’s review of Rhodes

Planet Windsurf Holidays recently had the pleasure of organising a two-week tour of Rhodes, Greece, for one of our clients, a passionate windsurfer named John. After spending one week in Northern Rhodes, where great windsurfing is complemented by amazing culture including beautiful historical buildings and cobbled streets lined with cafés, John headed to the wind haven of Prasonisi. Located in the far south of Rhodes, Prasonisi offers reliable wind and ideal conditions for those who want to spend as much time on the water as possible.   Windsurf-Prasonisi

John returned from his trip, itching to book the next one, and gave us this amazing review of his windsurfing trip to Rhodes with some nifty tips and tricks for booking your own holiday! 

Atrium-Pool

“First off, Planet Windsurf Holidays organised what proved to be a fantastic all round family holiday with some pretty good windsurfing thrown in. The team listened to what I wanted, delivered a really good simple to use set of documents and vouchers, prior to departure and when we priced individual components to see what we could have saved self-booking, we were pleasantly surprised by the value offered. The hotels were class, if very different, and my boy did a great PADI dive course at the Atrium down at the south end of the island. He’s only 11 and he’s come back fully qualified with five dives done. Prasonisi-Windsurf-Holiday

I sailed 12 out of 14 days and if you do a two-week trip give yourself a day off between centres to account for checkout and travel. Northern Rhodes offered consistent, lumpy conditions, tending to be at its best in the afternoon, giving time for family in the morning. I would suggest you book a board one size bigger than you might normally ride but there is plenty of kit to go round. Book ‘Pro’ and you can swap kit whenever you want. The largest sail I used was a 7.2 on a Super Sport 137 (top speed 34.9 mph) and the smallest a 5.8 on FSW 102. With the benefit of hindsight, the perfect board for me to book would have been an All Ride 116. 

Windsurf-Rhodes-Holiday

©John Bedford

Prasonisi offers stronger wind than in the north, but it is a bit more temperamental. The wind builds over a 3-4 day cycle and when it is at its best you may get a couple of days ‘wave-side’ if you are lucky. It is cross-on starboard bump and jump. Less crowded by sailors, but look out for kites and swimmers. There are better wave venues around, but as value for money family holiday where you can get a lot of sailing this was hard to beat. Again with hindsight I should have booked a 102 FSW. Even on the windiest day, it was probably the right board as wave side can be a bit gusty and is lighter than the downwind side. The 102 was a good platform for jumping/looping but with adequate volume to cope with lulls. Although there was more slalom than I would have liked, there were a few good sailors there and we had some fun racing. 

I have self-booked for years, but I will definitely consider Planet Windsurf Holidays next time I’m considering a windsurf trip!”