Trip to Buen Hombre

Continuing our adventures in the Dominican Republic

When we first arrived in Cabarete we met a few people who recommended going to a beach further up the coast, 22 miles from Haiti, called Buen Hombre.

Although there are a couple of kite schools, this one is the original. Our main reason for going was to do one of their famous down-winders.

In kite surfing, a down-winder means traveling with the wind’s direction, where you move away from the wind’s source and cover longer distances. It’s a great way to explore a coastline.

The kite club is in a tranquil but super windy location. Above is the covered eating area, where you can also sit with a laptop and work online.

We hired a car and drove 4 hours up the coast, over the mountains, through remote villages, and passed a lot of cactus.

Our accommodation was bijou and rustic.

No AC here, but there was a fan aimed over the bed. A few hooks to hang your wet cossie on. We didn’t use the mosquito net, it felt a little claustrophobic, I just doused myself with anti mosquito spray. Paul doesn’t get bitten, but they love me, unfortunately.

Seats and hammocks and places to chill 😎

A few friendly pets

“Take care of the beach”

These are the toilets and showers. I caught sight of a bird having a drink from the tap

There were lots of these yellow ‘village weavers’ around. The males have this bright colouring and also make the elaborate nests, weaving leaves and fronds into basket-like shapes.

We arrived at midday, which was perfect timing to go kiting. The wind doesn’t kick in until 2 pm on this coastline. Then later, we walked down to the village.

The road is hard baked clay, and I couldn’t help but think of the old westerns I used to see on tv as a child. I half expected to see the odd tumbleweed come rolling by …

Except, on the other side of the road, it was also a fishing village.

The kiting was great at this spot with water so clear and relatively flat compared to Cabarete. I’m just heading out to the reef in this clip.

Both Paul and I ride twin-tip boards, where you generally just zig zag back and forth, going upwind to ensure you come back to roughly the same area you started from. A bit like jibing in sailing. This way you stay within the limits you set yourself, or that are safe to kite in.

This is Paul, doing his thing, he loves tearing up the water!

We took part in the organised down-winder from Playa Buen Hombre to Playa Popa the next day. This is 17km by road, but a lot longer when kiting due to zig-zagging across the water – approx 30km.

The kite school owner, Riin, came with us and acted as our guide, with 2 other experienced riders, Mikey and Davicito, bringing up the rear. Another kiter, Viktor, also joined us but had to abandon half-way when the conditions became too challenging.

The first part of the down-winder runs parallell along the long beaches and the rock, giving a fabulous ocean view of the coast line.

Then there was a massive section of really shallow water, which seemed only a foot deep, and covered in sea grass. This was perfect for going really fast, speeding across it into the big waves on the reef and back again.

The dense mangrove forests swept all along this coastline, and it was interesting to cruise right up to them.

The down-winder took about 2 hours, with the last half hour proving the most challenging, especially for me. The wind speed had increased to 28 miles per hour by this point, with gusts of 32mph. I was on a 7metre kite, our smallest, but found it very difficult to keep going downwind in these conditions and kept falling off the front of my board.

I was so very glad of the help from Mikey and Davicito, who assisted in getting my board back to me as, by then, I was starting to become exhausted. I am good at getting back to my own board usually – thanks to a 2 week stint in Barbados a few years ago – but at this point I needed the help. I was determined to complete it 💪

The water around Playa Popa was very choppy and, with very high windspeeds, it was difficult to even land. Luckily the experienced guys hauled me in by my kite, while also holding their own kites.

The boat ride back was a real relief. We had done it! Riin gave us a beer each as a reward and we carefully drank it, while speeding along getting covered in spray.

That evening at dinner, all seated round the big table, we toasted each other, and said our thanks, and celebrated Iliana’s birthday, and later sat around a bonfire – we were too tired to stay up late though!

Next morning quick swim, last kite, and then packed up for the 4 hour drive back to Cabarete.

It had been another great adventure!! 😀😊