We are driving north (from Perth) to Shark Bay/ Denham for the first week of February (for 7 to 10 days) on a kiting adventure. Any local knowledge advice? I have spent 10 days kiting Nanga Beach resort (just south of Denham) five years ago and had an awesome time. Wondering if anyone else will be up there kiting or would anyone like to come along? James and Ivana
Awesome spot up there just returned last week from a three week adventure.
The plan was to stay in the shark bay area for a day or two max but ended up staying for a week. Plenty of good places to kite.
Denham - right out front on the main street is a pretty good spot about 1 metre deep for 100m usually good winds and reasonably calm water ( most we ever experienced there was half a foot chop.
Little Lagoon - approx 2 -5 min out of Denham heading towards Monkey Mia has some awesome awesome flat water and seems to work best in sw to wnw winds probably my favourite spot of the trip. ( there are a few signs around the lagoon which warn of stonefish but they tend to stay around the entrance to the lagoon in the rocky inlet, the lagoon itself is mostly a sand / hard salt type bottom with not many areas for a stonefish to hide so if there was one it would look fairly out of place as a rock on the sand )
Big Lagoon - (4x4 access only) About 3 -5 min past the little lagoon is the turn off for the Francious Peron national park and a 4x4 track which leads to the Big Lagoon. The launching area at the camp site is a little small but very manageable had a great day kiting keep an eye out for the baby sharks sun baking in the shallows when you boost ( dont be too concerned the only ones i saw were no more than one metre ) again most of the lagoon is about 1 metre deep with a few deeper sections and a channel about 15 m wide which snakes through the lagoon. If you do get down there take a walk to the top of the red bluff which is to your right as you look at the lagoon approx 400m when you get to the top you will understand why.
Big Lagoon from the air ( terrifying flight in a small plane but worth it ) will post images tomorrow
Get a 4WD and head out to the big lagoon. wild place. Flat as flat as flat as can be, not a soul around....did i say flat water? On the way back stop off at the hot springs and rejuvinate.
If you have a boat head to Dirk Hartog, check google earth there are by all accounts great wave spots, Gruzitski or Lurch will tell you.....
Do a downwinder, eagle bluff back to Denham. Amazing run you will see all sorts of fishy wildlife from Rays to sharks to Dugongs to things you just dont want to go near.
and remember if denham is no wind check out Monkey Mia as the easterly might be blowing.
was up that way in October last year it is awesome.
On your way back stop off at Coronation, just north of Geraldton to break the journey up a bit. Take everything, including water. Its donation camping with little infrastructure. However some of the best kiting/windsurfing/surfing on the WA coast.
just look after that ankle!
Very envious, wish i could come. Hows the board looking these days Northside
Hey Harry that looks awesome, is that lagoon tidal? Does it get down to just the channel at low tide? I have no idea about tides in that area apart from up north they are huge.
Bottom end of DHI looks the goods for waves. Shouldn't be too crowded i wouldn't think!!
While I was there the lowest it got at any time was about knee deep on the sand banks around the channel. But it could be the time of year etc.... As PoorReli said the tidal changes can be massive up there, a number of people have been caught out by camping around the edge of the little Lagoon thinking it was sealed from the sea only to wake up in a foot of water.
Big Lagoon will dry out around the channels on spring low tides, so kiting down the channel is the go. The fishermen say that big tigers patrol the channel and come up on the banks on the high tide, keep an eye out. As Relo says the landscape is amazing and theres areas of butter smooth water in 30kts of wind. Wear booties because the stone fish and other nasties love this area, same as Little Lagoon, just stick to the deeper water and theres no probs. Gruezi and I were the first (we think!!) to kite DHI at Sunday Bay, beautiful spot but you get that feeling of being watched by the grey suit brigade. The only place for waves is on the southern end of DHI between Steep Pt, really shifty and it drops into deep water west of the reef. Unless you go onto the island to camp and pay big dollars this is the only option, further north places like Mystery Beach and others may have potential. A few crew surf it but not sure of kite potential. Do the down winder from Eagle Bluff to Denham, an amazing run down the coast. Jeez I miss the Bay, have fun and say gday to the local crew for me.
just be carefull at the main beach in denham.. its a bit shallow and the rocks dont like boards i learnt the hard way! i didnt know u can kite in little lagoon and big lagoon though, i didnt want to riskt gettin stuffd up by a stonefish so early in our holiday so i didnt go uot there.. next time im up there i will defnitly check it out aswell
Hi PR, I kited Coronations a few years back and had a great time, also tried Port Gregory at that time. I would like to try Horrocks just on the coast from Northhampton. Surfboard is smoother than Pamelas shaven haven and ready for a new layer of glass. Has been such a busy year I have had to put project a side but will have it on the water soon. looking forward to the trip, more than welcome to join us if you can get the time off work. Thanks for the photos Harry Potter! Flying up to Learmonth and back (Exmouth) tomorrow morning so will take a better look at Big Lagoon as we go past (via Carnarvon). Fly into and over Shark Bay often but never taken much notice of Big Lagoon. Looks a fantastic spot for kiting!
i learnt the hard way! i didnt know u can kite in little lagoon and big lagoon though, i didnt want to riskt gettin stuffd up by a stonefish so early in our holiday so i didnt go uot there.. next time im up there i will defnitly check it out aswell
