Tenerife is extremely easy to get to with frequent flights from most UK airports. We flew from Bristol and had a choice from BA, Excel, Thomas Cook, Thomson, etc. The charter flights vary hugely in price from about £60 to over £340 depending on the holiday season. BA’s scheduled flight can work out cheaper in busy periods. George’s BA ticket for a flight in the week before Easter was considerably cheaper (at £260) than any of the charter flights when booked two months before. Graham’s ticket leaving a week earlier however was just £60, so pick your dates carefully! BA’s new baggage restrictions (23kg per bag) make it difficult to take your own kit, so bear that in mind when choosing a flight.

You arrive at Reina Sofia (TFS) airport which is a short ride to El Medano.

• www.ba.com
• www.xl.com
• www.flythomascook.com
• www.thomsonfly.com

Tenerife’s awesome reputation has come about from an extremely consistent North-east trade wind which allows all year round cross-onshore wave riding. When checking forecasts for the area, a key tip is to double whatever Windguru is predicting when in a north easterly direction, as the wind accelerates around the huge volcano of Mount Tiede. However, as we found out, the entire bay can be transformed into a freestyle paradise with the arrival of southerly winds. Southerly winds can also be a lot stronger than what is forecasted.

Unlike many other places in the world, Tenerife is lucky enough to boast excellent conditions in all disciplines from super-flat freestyle territory to world class wave sailing locations, all located relatively close to each other in four main sailing areas.

South Bay

This is the largest of the four playgrounds and offers excellent bump and jump conditions with everyone from intermediates to experts enjoying the friendly atmosphere while they blast endlessly back and forth through playful chop and rolling swell. A huge positive for this area is that the trade winds allow almost completely undisturbed wind right to the inside of the bay onto a vast sandy beach making for ideal landing and launching. Although you do see beginners in South Bay, it is not ideal for learning because of the chop and sometimes tricky shore dump when the wind is in the prevailing North-east.

Muelle (Harbour Wall)

The harbour wall marks the upwind edge and windiest part of the bay and in just a few tacks you could be enjoying an extremely playful wave (with cross-onshore winds) which breaks onto the reef on the outer edge of the wall. Do not fear: due to a sharp drop off, the reef is relatively deep, meaning wipe-outs rarely result in an encounter with the reef and if you do make a wrong turn a strong current, which runs along the edge of the wall, will ensure that you will be taken out of harm’s way and into deeper water. This perfect combination produces conditions that all can enjoy from entry-level wave sailing to hot shots.

Cabezo

Those experts among you – listen up! Cabezo is in theory the next bay round but can easily be accessed by taking a few more tacks past the harbour wall. Once there, you have entered a professionals’ playground with the highest local standard I have seen; forward loops are basic and manoeuvres seen on the PWA are common place. Everyone gives 110% as this is what Cabezo requires, otherwise Mother Nature punishes you and your kit on the various reefs and rocks. However, when it is going off you can be blessed with the moments that stay in your minds eye forever. In fact it has even held various PWA events in years gone by.

La Tajita (la – ta – heater)

The fourth and final area is just around the corner from El Medano and takes a maximum of 2 minutes by car to get to. It is a freestyle paradise, offering perfectly flat water and a slightly stronger wind than South Bay. Whereas it might be 5.2 weather in South Bay, La Tajita will be 4.7 or smaller. It can provide absolute perfection when cracking those first carve gybes or nailing the latest mind-boggling freestyle trick.

The Official Test Centre (OTC)

This British-run centre is the first of its kind, offering an extremely friendly, professional atmosphere whilst boasting 8 board brands and 7 sail brands! Not only this but all the sails have been rigged on their manufacturers recommended 75-100% carbon masts meaning every centimetre of performance has been squeezed out for maximum pleasure! Unfortunately they are unable to offer tuition at the moment due to beach regulations, however it is possible to hire kit from them and get tuition from their next door neighbours.

The Official Test Centre (OTC):

Web address: www.otc-windsurf.com
Email: info@otc-windsurf.com
Tel (uk): +44 (0)121 288 9965
Tel (Tenerife):  +34 922 179 382

The Surf Center:

Next door is the German owned centre, apply named “Surf Center” (‘er’ not ‘re’!) and they stock everything as long as you like sailing Naish gear! From here you are able to rent kit and receive lessons. As said before, it is possible to rent kit from the OTC and receive lessons from the Surf Center.

Surf Center:

Web address: www.surfcenter.info
Email: SurfCenter@Medano.com
Tel: (+34) 922 176 688

There are endless hotels and apartments available, however, your best bet would be to get in contact with OTC or Sportif and they will be able to sort out an entire package for you. If this is not your cup of tea then you can easily sort out your own apartment. By far the biggest hotel that takes pole position on the water’s edge is the very popular and originally named “Hotel Medano”.

• www.sportif.travel

Apartments

• www.martinez.ch
• www.el-medano-tenerife.com
• www.roho.co.uk/windsurf/windsurf_holiday

Hotels

• www.hotelmedano.com
• www.hotelplayasurtenerife.com

Literally everywhere you look or go in El Medano there are restaurants and bars! Many of them are filled with good natured locals, and I do believe it is possible to take your taste buds on an exclusive round-the-world trip in the space of 50 yards; from an “all day” cooked breakfast to traditional Spanish foods such as Tapas and the Spanish omelette. One place that we used a lot for this type of active holiday was a takeaway called “Neptuno” directly opposite Hotel Medano. Here, to save the complications of ordering and speed up procedures, you order and pay at a ticket booth (just up the street) which spurts out a ticket that you take to a counter where your food is prepared. We strongly recommend any of the Spanish sandwiches called Bocadillios.

Eating out is not hugely expensive, the food is good and due to the variety you can always find somewhere that grabs your attention. If your have a soft spot for Japanese cuisine then make sure your talk to Ben at the OTC as he might be able to sort you out a bit of a discount if you’re lucky!

For nightlife, there is not much in the way of clubs, however there are multiple friendly bars offering various happy hours and hosting many live music nights. An extremely popular place to go is a bar near the harbour wall called “Manfred’s Restaurant” which has many live music nights, extremely friendly bar staff and the most elaborate décor we’ve seen in a bar. If you’re a cocktail sort of a person head on down to “Cha Cha Cha” which runs a happy hour between 10:30 and11:30 where effectively it is buy one – get one free! If you fancy yourself as a bit of a party animal undergo the short drive to Las Americas, where you will find yourself in club central. Remember that all eating out and nightlife starts very late in Spanish resorts.

In the unlikely event of no wind or you get bored of windsurfing, there are loads of other things to do, here are a few ideas:

• Check out the awesome mountain biking that Tenerife has to offer. A good rental place in El Medano is Bike Point www.Medanobike.com
• Try you hand at some surfing. www.K16surf.com
• Have a go at kitesurfing at www.theshinncentre.com
• Diving or Whale watching are also very close by and popular days outwww.divetenerife.com
• Go to the top of Mount Teide: Spain’s highest mountain and the third highest volcano in the world.
• Visit Loro Parque a world renowned zoo and aquarium. Great for the family.

Anything wrong with the place?

El Medano makes an excellent location for a windsurfing holiday. Tenerife is a large and varied island with some stunning scenery to explore, and it’s cheap and easy to get to so really, it’s pretty well ideal. However, you might think twice if some of your party want to learn to windsurf, if you aren’t keen on volcanic landscapes or if you object to little yappy dogs with doting owners!

Team AirBorn: Adam Lewis, Graham Woods and George Shillito. Adam is now working at OTC. Graham will soon be joining him there.

Photos: AirBorn/Pentax and Jon Harvey

Team AirBorn is sponsored by Pentax, O’Shea, Windsurfers World, and supported by Tushingham and 604 Distribution.

Minorca Sailing Holiday offer package deals inclusive of flights. Driving is a possiblity, with a ferry from Barcelona to Mahon in Minorca.

Transfer From Airport:

You will be met by a Minorca Sailing Holiday representative at Mahon airport.

There are three types of wind that you may experience in Minorca.

Tramontana.

These are the famous Mistral winds that the south coast of France experiences. Often they can be balistically windy and they happen at the beginning and the end of the season (April to October).

Thermal Winds.

During the warmer months, the Fornells Bay often starts still, with the wind swinging and rising to a Force 3 – 4. Perfect for big sail cruising or light wind freestyle. But late July and August are generally pretty light.

Gradient Winds.

As in any place, Minorca will often experience a good old low pressure system. Great when it happens!

Ses Salinas Beach

A sandy beach with a sheltered launch: the learning Hot Spot!

Beach Faces: East.
Best Wind Direction: Northerly.
Tide: Mediterranean so not much movement.
Water Temperature: Very warm in the summer months.
What’s on the bottom: Sand and weed. The launch area and gradient of the beach is very shallow.
Other water users: Sailors from the centre, rescue boats and the odd yacht.
Suitablity/levels: Complete beginner to Formula sailing.
Wipeout Factor: Very low.

Beach Access

All the accomodation is situated around the launching spot in Ses Salinas. Most of the kit is kept on the beach and with so many instructors at hand you don’t even need to get it out let alone rig it!

Fornells Bay, where all the instruction takes place, is very sheltered from any swell. The water varies from generally flat to windblown chop. Occasionally you might venture towards the mouth of the bay, where you will find some rolling swell.

RYA Instruction covers all levels, from beginner to Advanced Formula, freestyle and the new RYA FastForward scheme. We sent one of our Boardseeker Babes, Ramona Waite, and challenged her to learn to windsurf in 7 days. She was in the harness, turning nicely in non-planing winds and just about got that front foot in the strap by the end of the week. Read her experience here: Funboard Challenge 3.

Instruction is inclusive of your package price as is rescue which as Ramona found out, comes in very handy!
Beginner and Improver boards, Freeride, Freestyle and Formula boards are from a range of brands including AHD, Starboard, Fanatic, Mistral, F2 and Naish. There is even the odd wave board for any hectic days when that wind chop turns into a wave or two. Sails come from Tushingham, Gaastra and Neil Pryde and cover all their ranges.

Accommodation is available either in self-catering villas, apartments, or a small hotel. When booking the holiday you can tailor the accomodation to your requirements. Villa share options are available to singles or small groups of travellers.

All the accomodation is fairly top notch and a stones throw from the beach, local shop and the two local restaurants.

Ses Salinas

Ses Salinas itself has two that are mighty fine.

Margas has lush pizzas and beer to go with it. But best of all is probably the fillet steak with Roquefort sauce. If you want to prove that you are a real man, then order the T-Bone steak and see if you can finish it.

The Ses Salinas Restaurant has fantastic sea food and paellas and some great sandwiches for lunch.

Fornells

Fornells is a twenty minute walk from Ses Salinas and has more restaurants than can be mentioned here. From cheap and tasty to expensive and really tasty. If you are after seafood then this is the place to be. Further afield there is Ciutadella and the Capital in Mahon, plus plenty of small restaurants hidden up random, winding side streets.

Ses Salinas itself is on the quiet side. Marga’s has a nice bar with an excellent Table Footy table. For a bit more of a lively atmosphere head to Fornells where there are a number of busy bars including Subaca in the main square. The Island comes to life during the Fiestas, where each town takes its turn to go crazy. If you get the chance, fill up a plastic bottle with Pomada(Mahon Gin and Fanta Lemon), and get involved.

Shocking though that would be but the great asset of Minorca Sailing is, well, the sailing side. The instructors offer “one to one” sessions at the end of every day. This is your opportunity to get to grips with anything from a Laser Pico to hanging off the wire on a 49′er or many of the other high performance dinghies. There is more than enough to keep you active throughout the week.

From a windsurfing point of view, Minorca Sailing is probably best visited in early and late season. The set up is perfect, the atmosphere is very mellow and the island is great to explore if the wind doesn’t co-operate. Ok, it is on the pricey side, especially in the summer months, but there is no expense spared in terms of equipment, instruction and generally being well looked after for a week’s warm weather windsurfing!!

Editor Clyde Waite