hay pretty new to the sport have my first kite set up 12m ss td and iam going to straddie in a month has any one kited there be for were camping in the dunes about 11km north of the pin any ides is it safe around there or is there a better place

I spent a week there over christmas, it's not a bad spot to kite, and there certainly won't be many other people around.

If it's a SE, the only place you can really go is main beach (ocean side of straddie there) in the surf, it's pretty dodgy surf though (really messy shorebreaks) and a fairly dangerous stretch of water. There are a LOT of sharks, and a lot of massive manta rays that look just like sharks to the fevered eye of a terrified kiteboarder. Not such a great place to learn to kite.

If it switches N-NE, you can kite at cylinder beach/deadmans beach etc, which are just around from point lookout. cylinder is probably the safest spot to kite there at the moment, but the wind needs a fair bit of north in it, in order to stay out of the lee of the headlands.

Whichever way you look at it, it's a dangerous place to kite, with little chance of rescue if something goes wrong. you will most likely be on your own out there too.

I second what Neill says, and would add that Flinders Beach is sometimes OK in a northerly. If you can arrange it, a downwinder along Flinders is wicked. Keep in mind the current is usually running along Flinders Beach towards Amity Pt. Currents are a consideration on the other Straddie beaches too as they can mean swimming back in from only a short distance out is near impossible. Have your own rescue plan that will work in the conditions on the day or don't go into the water.

Perhaps a safer option is to take a boat and get yourself across to some of the protected water of the pin as there seems way less danger over there. Chrs, Warren