I'm planning a trip to Port Douglas in August (I think it typically blows around 15-20 knots that time of year?). Was wondering if anyone has tried foiling off four mile beach?

I am trying to decide whether to take the foilboard (Zeeko foil, El Stubbo board) or just stick to the twintip (being 96kg on 13m Edge, I need 18 knots+ for a fun session).

My main concern would be the depth, is it too shallow there for a foil? If I have to body drag out a long way then it is probably not worth taking the foil, does anyone know how deep the area is at high/low tide?

Worth taking the foil

Don't forget that its hot and humid up there. Theres less power in the wind. I was using a 13m on the foil in the same winds I would use an 8m back at home when I was at yeppoon which is a good 1000km south of port douglas.

I recon foil all the way.

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HeavyInt said..
My main concern would be the depth, is it too shallow there for a foil? If I have to body drag out a long way then it is probably not worth taking the foil, does anyone know how deep the area is at high/low tide?

You do have to be very careful with the depth as you can't see the bottom due to the water being murky. At low tide you will have to walk+body drag out at least 300-400 meters from the beach in order to get deep enough waters to water-start. At high tide, probably half that distance, but that also depends on the height of your mast.

I'd avoid going upwind of the kitesurfing area as you have shallow reefs and sand bars there, unless of course you stay well away (500m + from the shore).

On the way back to shore you just have to stop earlier than you think and body drag the rest.

Here is a google earth view of the area of what I reckon is fairly LOW tide.


Hope this helps

Christian

Thanks for the guidance - especially the Google Earth shot! That helps a lot, I will take the foil along (with 13m and 9m kite). Looks like the afternoons will be high tide, so won't have to drag out too far. I will post once I have been there.

Christian is spot on. I've been there on a homemade foil last year and learnt the hard way. Fortunately no damage, but my tip would also to go out South of the sandbar that's jutting out to sea more (just right of Windswell and the carpark area). Walk out there as far as you can, and walk even more until it's deep enough. There is a reef section there, so booties are a must.
On low tide, 4-mile beach is a land and buggy kiters heaven with the right winds, so you can imagine the tide goes out a looong way.
If you're in Cairns, why not try Palm Cove or Trinity Beach (pros only and far to the left of the beach to avoid the palm trees)? Both of them get deep quickly and you don't have to body drag out too far to launch.

I finally made it up there and went out on the foil last week. Winds were good every day, but I only made it out once. It was about 3/4 high tide (around 1.9 metres) and I went out at the main spot (right on the sandbar) without any issues. It was waist deep pretty quickly (maybe 5 metres in) then I dragged out for about 50 metres which was not an issue given the cross-onshore breeze.

I forgot to put the booties on but this was not a problem mainly due to the tides, but I would recommend wearing booties at this spot. Anyone looking to go out in a lower tide might be better off going either north or south of the sand bar (which is easy to see even at high tide).