Never been there (or Italy) before but planning to stay at Torbole or Riva Del Garda with my wife 15-18th May. Any advice on conditions and best spots to hire gear? I'd also be happy to go windsurfing, but I figure winds might not be that strong. Just want to get a taste, 1hr/day would do me as I don't want to abandon my better half

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Stretchy said..
Never been there (or Italy) before but planning to stay at Torbole or Riva Del Garda with my wife 15-18th May. Any advice on conditions and best spots to hire gear? I'd also be happy to go windsurfing, but I figure winds might not be that strong. Just want to get a taste, 1hr/day would do me as I don't want to abandon my better half

To keep a long story short - that?s THE place to pick up your rental stuff including a nice bar very close and a chill area.
10min walk down town Torbole your better half to sqeeze your credit card.
Be aware that mid May water temperature still can be around 12-14 C. The sea is quite deep and melting water accessing from italian alps.
As long as weather remains fine, you will have strong winds as thermal works best this time of year.

www.dpc-torbole.com

Thanks Foxi. Yes I'm thinking the water will be chilly, available wetsuit hire will definitely be a prerequisite

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Stretchy said..
Thanks Foxi. Yes I'm thinking the water will be chilly, available wetsuit hire will definitely be a prerequisite

don?t worry, they teach beginners in current deep sub 10 C conditions

You get around, Rob! It will take some mental strength to hit the water just one hour per day, although if you stay away from windsurf gear, you have a chance. Alternatively, you could consider getting up when the sun comes up, and sail the northerly morning wind, which is often stronger than the thermals in the afternoon. I remember trips to Torbole where I'd get up every morning when the wind started shaking the tent and the sun came out, and sailing a couple of hours before breakfast. A good way to avoid the crowds, but may not work with rental gear. Have fun!

When is optimal to avoid holiday crowds, consistent winds, warm water?

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cornwallis said..
When is optimal to avoid holiday crowds, consistent winds, warm water?

Lake Garda is one of the most wind-safe areas in the world. There are two dominant wind systems - Peler in the morning from the north and the thermal Ora in the afternoon from the south, and one of them actually always works. Often both. Temperatures are pleasant throughout the European summer and more pleasant in winter than to go Winging in Denmark, Sweden or Germany ;-)

Because of these good conditions, it's pretty much always crowded from spring to fall.

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boardsurfr said..
You get around, Rob! It will take some mental strength to hit the water just one hour per day, although if you stay away from windsurf gear, you have a chance. Alternatively, you could consider getting up when the sun comes up, and sail the northerly morning wind, which is often stronger than the thermals in the afternoon. I remember trips to Torbole where I'd get up every morning when the wind started shaking the tent and the sun came out, and sailing a couple of hours before breakfast. A good way to avoid the crowds, but may not work with rental gear. Have fun!

Thanks Peter

Interesting thread thanks. Have also never been to Lake Garda before but am taking the camper there first two weeks in June.
We booked a lake side pitch in Limone Sul Garda and I am hoping to catch the afternoon thermals right from the van. I will have all my own kit so no rental worries.

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FarNorthSurfer said..
Interesting thread thanks. Have also never been to Lake Garda before but am taking the camper there first two weeks in June.
We booked a lake side pitch in Limone Sul Garda and I am hoping to catch the afternoon thermals right from the van. I will have all my own kit so no rental worries.

Sorry to say but Limone is the worst place to stay with your camper. It?s completely out of the wind?s route. I do camping at Lake Garda since 35+ yrs and know each meter windy beach accessible. Campione is a place further south where lots of regattas take place (but no camp ground) and both north- and south wind passes by. Between Campione and Capo Reamol further north there is wind desert. Be prepared for long swiming legs out into the wind zone. With a camper you have to go Torbole or a small bay north of Malcesine called Campagnola (East Lake Side / Camping Martora & Azzurro).

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Foxi said..

FarNorthSurfer said..
Interesting thread thanks. Have also never been to Lake Garda before but am taking the camper there first two weeks in June.
We booked a lake side pitch in Limone Sul Garda and I am hoping to catch the afternoon thermals right from the van. I will have all my own kit so no rental worries.

Sorry to say but Limone is the worst place to stay with your camper. It?s completely out of the wind?s route. I do camping at Lake Garda since 35+ yrs and know each meter windy beach accessible. Campione is a place further south where lots of regattas take place (but no camp ground) and both north- and south wind passes by. Between Campione and Capo Reamol further north there is wind desert. Be prepared for long swiming legs out into the wind zone. With a camper you have to go Torbole or a small bay north of Malcesine called Campagnola (East Lake Side / Camping Martora & Azzurro).

Thanks for the info. Guess I will be chugging out into the lake then. Not to worry.

Sorry but you have no imagination about how big the lake is and how far the distance is to the windy area. Good luck or change the location

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FarNorthSurfer said..
Interesting thread thanks. Have also never been to Lake Garda before but am taking the camper there first two weeks in June.
We booked a lake side pitch in Limone Sul Garda and I am hoping to catch the afternoon thermals right from the van. I will have all my own kit so no rental worries.

I've got good news !
A friend has been in Limone with a camper over the weekend. There is MKS School & Shuttle as well as a Duotone equipped school. He's a very experienced kiter and needs the shuttle to go out there as but thinks that its a good place for winging with little input only to approach the wind zone.

Thanks for the positive update Foxi, the photos are of the camp site we are booked on. Good to hear that it should work for winging, we have a pitch on the lake front reserved. I had done some homework and knew about the schools and rental places near Limone.
I am often on a 7m wing here at home and chugging out to the wind line in cross off gusty conditions. My low end is about 8kts with the 7m.
And Wingfoiling isn't the only reason we are going so if I get a few sessions I will be happy.
I will post back a report when we are there. For sure if you need 20kts of wind to be happy it might not be the best spot.
I have read that a buoyancy aid is compulsory on the lake. Is that policed? I have one and don't mind using it.

Hello FarNorthSurfer,

I also go to Lake Garda since 40 years. Usually I stay oppsite of Limone in Campagnola, in the mornig I often cross the lake heading to Limone, there ihe Wind is very strong in the morning, a lot of Windsurfers there go out with 4.5m sails. Often the first 100-200 m there is very littel wind but about 1m Wave in the bay of Limone. So, if You like to try in the morning bring a small wing! There is a much better place a bit more south, Campione, there the wind in the morning and afternoon reaches the beach and is not so strong, but again for the Vento in the morning, bring a small wing and foil. AND a life jacket or a Kite-Vest, if the police finds You without, it is very expensive. And they come by boat.

Otherwise lake Garda is a very pleasent place to stay at any spot.

Have fun, enjoy Your holiday

Best regards Axel

I've booked accommodation on the eastern side of Riva del Garda. I'm figuring to walk around to Torbole, there's a couple of hire spots at the western end of Torbole (less than 2km walk) Are they ok?, or is the Duotone shop that much better (3.5km walk)?

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Stretchy said..
I've booked accommodation on the eastern side of Riva del Garda. I'm figuring to walk around to Torbole, there's a couple of hire spots at the western end of Torbole (less than 2km walk) Are they ok?, or is the Duotone shop that much better (3.5km walk)?

If you have to walk (get you a bycicle from the hotel !) anyways Duotone Pro Center is much better located as if you look at a map it's out of the wind block zone

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Stretchy said..
I've booked accommodation on the eastern side of Riva del Garda. I'm figuring to walk around to Torbole, there's a couple of hire spots at the western end of Torbole (less than 2km walk) Are they ok?, or is the Duotone shop that much better (3.5km walk)?

In Riva the wind in the afternoon is good, in mornig the wind is too far from the beach offshore.
In the morning Duotone is the best.

Thanks for the advice Foxi and Lenzilot. I'll be targeting afternoon sailing

Yeah second that, Thanks for the advice Foxi and Lenzilot it's good to get some local advice when you're heading to a new spot.
Also planning/hoping to wing Walchensee and Chiemsee on the way to Lake Garda. Have watched wings and windfoils out on Walchensee as we have relatives in Scharnitz to visit on the way.

Walchensee is a nice spot. Not as windy as Lake Garda, but still plenty enough for winging. Let me know when you go there, I live near by.

I'm in Riva now and had a great wing foil session today after making a couple of earlier mistakes with location and timing. It's a 45min walk from my hotel to the Duotone Centre, but in my opinion this is the only place worth th bothering with. There were some pretty good wingers out there today ripping it up. Way better than me & good to watch

nice one rob.

Any tips Stretchy?I,m probably thursday/friday at Torbole.

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Jeroensurf said..
Any tips Stretchy?I,m probably thursday/friday at Torbole.

Hi Jeroen. As per my earlier comment, I suggest go to Duotone Centre to launch. If you go in the arvo, don't bother going out until the wind has swung south. If it's already southerly by midday, it is promising. Good luck!

Had a great session today at Walchensee, 5m Duotone Slick SLS on my HS1850 Armstrong foil did the job and managed to pump through most of the lulls in the wind. But mostly well powered up between 12 and 2pm. I launched from the lay-by just south of the Kirchlwand tunnel, no problem parking and quite a few other surfers parked there. (No parking charge??)
Quite steep rocks to get down for the launch but the wind was working well close in there.
Later in the day the wind moved further south on the lake and I guess the launch would have been better by Suki Walchensee.
Good session, clean flat water although it's very flat, not many swells to play on. Glad I made the effort though. Quite a few wingers out and a few windsurfers. All pretty friendly, no hassles.
And my first time ever winging on fresh water

Fun session at Limone Sul Garda this afternoon from the beach south of the Park Garda campsite.
Get the impression from local guys that the wind has not been the best for the last few days. For sure there were sails out for the north wind this morning but it arrived late and only looked like it lasted for an hour. Might have been much better in Torbole. I can only see as far down as Capo Reamol where they were winging this morning.
The south wind arrived here about 2:30pm and was done by 4pm. Could see kites further south at Campione I think but across the water there wasn't much action.
I was the only winger out here in Limone this afternoon. Nice to have the place to myself even if I was on a 6.5m Duotone Slick v3.
In the spirit of discovery and adventure we are heading to Torbole tomorrow to check out some winging there. Probably going to be busier.
Having a good time, bit warmer than Scottish Highlands :) campsite is very good.

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FarNorthSurfer said..
Fun session at Limone Sul Garda this afternoon from the beach south of the Park Garda campsite.
Get the impression from local guys that the wind has not been the best for the last few days. For sure there were sails out for the north wind this morning but it arrived late and only looked like it lasted for an hour. Might have been much better in Torbole. I can only see as far down as Capo Reamol where they were winging this morning.
The south wind arrived here about 2:30pm and was done by 4pm. Could see kites further south at Campione I think but across the water there wasn't much action.
I was the only winger out here in Limone this afternoon. Nice to have the place to myself even if I was on a 6.5m Duotone Slick v3.
In the spirit of discovery and adventure we are heading to Torbole tomorrow to check out some winging there. Probably going to be busier.
Having a good time, bit warmer than Scottish Highlands :) campsite is very good.

I?m still staying home at Lake Walchensee rather than moving to lake Garda as the weather still is instable in Italy. Believe me, usually you should have 12-16h hours strong wind at Lake Garda this time of year. I?m waiting for a weather change since 4 weeks now. Still a massive high pressure in northern europe. Have a good time !

We had a great time biking at lake Garda but the wind at Torbole was. Morning breeze was some gusts and lots of huge hulls.Afternoon wind didnt materialize most of the time and the mandatory flotation vest sucks. I had a couple of barely going with 5.5 and the big board while back home in the Netherlands it was 3weeks in a row sunny and everyday 20+ knots sideshore. In the end we went a couple of days earlier back home and had some great sessions here

I'm in Torbole next week for the week. I'm keeping the fingers crossed for the winds to kick in. The June no wind (or easterly) period for the last few weeks seems to be breaking next week (in Ireland) so hoping that kicks Italy off.

Winged Torbole today and had a great time. This morning was very cloudy but quite warm in Limone so we drove the camper over to Torbole for a look.
Wasn't sure where to park for beach access and had a quick look around town. Wasn't hopeful for wind as it was still cloudy and dead still, glassy. The windsurf classes were basically standing still holding sails up!
Anyway found my way to the car park by the Duotone Centre east and south of the town. Nice area so made some coffee and had a bit of lunch.
Noticed quite a few old windsurf guys (yeah like me) just hanging around and getting kit out of the cars and vans. Sure enough the blue sky broke through about 1pm and I launched into 10-12kts of south wind about 1:30pm. By 2pm my 6.5m Slick v3 was well powered up and I changed down a foil to the HS1250. Had a great time blasting all the way across and back up and downwind. By 4pm there were a lot of people on the water. For sure it was windier on the far side of the water.
Really enjoyed it, racked up 20nm before heading in to the relief of the missus who was chilling out on the grass.
Interestingly when we arrived back in Limone it has been windy as the chop has been breaking over the wall here. Pretty sure I would have got going in Limone but also that it was windier in Torbole.
A few young guys like age 10 were ripping it up from the Duotone centre. Oh why wasn't winging around when I was that age.
@jeroensurf I feel your pain, it's also been anazing conditions at home in Scotland the whole time I have been away. Warm and good wave riding. But we travel to learn and for the experience I guess.
@Foxi I would have liked to sail Walchensee a few more times, it was great and the backdrop was amazing. Very chilled out place to ride. Thanks for all the advice everyone, been a great trip made better with a few tips .