Lots of questions on Cabarete
hi D Some Answers: On Fri, Nov 11, 2011 at 5:48 PM, D wrote: Good evening, I am interested in coming to kite beach for one week, arriving leaving . I have a few questions i was hoping you could help with. -Are these dates available for a package of lessons, equipment, monitoring, and hotel, if not are there other dates? yes In the one week package, how many nights stay are included with the beach accommodations? A week is 7 nights. If two of us go, can one of us stay for an extra week for the 2 week special price? one on the one week price, and the other on the 2 week price – no problem. Would we get any kind of IKO certification from our kite lessons? If you like we can get you the IKO certificate. But it’s just a piece of paper actually. What specifically would be included as far as kite lesson times and supervision/equipment? Gear rental, 6 hours of lessons in 3 steps, unlimited use of the gear with supervision of an assistant instructor for the whole time. Kite as much as you like – most of what you need is practice and that’s what we give you. We have a ton of success with this formula at creating kiters. My friend is considering coming, do you have any suites available and if so what would the price be? We have a 3 bedroom penthouse overlooking kite beach that is $1000/week. For a single room, can you guarantee two beds? I can What kind of prices can you offer on the different rooms/lessons based on one vs two persons? If someone joins you but no kitesurfing, it’s $50 for the week. If two of you take the lessons then it’s $599 per person. How many lesson hours and is unlimited supervision and equipment included? 6 hours of lessons, one on one. Unlimited supervision and gear rental Is there food included or a restaurant on site? Yes, a very popular restaurant right on the beach – it’s a cool place. Are there things to do or restaurants nearby within walking distance? we are right on the best part of kite beach. Cabarete down town is 1.4 miles away Do we need a car? most people get around on moto taxis – $1.50 to town How much is a cab from the airport? fixed rate $35 Do you have kiteboarding gear for sale there? we do – new and used. all of cabarete has pretty good deals on kite gear from x pro gear to hard up travellers to big companies dumping excess inventory. Any AAA discounts or different timeframes we should consider for a better deal? it’s tough to beat the price anywhere in the world for what we offer. many try but be sure to read the fine print. i can confidently say we have the best instructors, truly unlimited supervision (we started it), top notch gear and an amazing location. Anything we will need? sunscreen I saw you have a halfpipe, should i bring my skateboard? uh – depends. how long has it been? it’s a pro level ramp. Any other things we should know or questions i should ask? I’m pretty sure you covered it all – i’m going to blog this :) this is a fun place, and you’ll have a great time. I’m here if you have questions, robbie
Green Hotel
Extreme Hotel has been attracting various outdoor sports enthusiasts for years. Most arrive here to enjoy a simple lifestyle while maximizing their time outside enjoying the elements. Most outdoor enthusiasts take environmental practices seriously, as it directly pertains to the continued enjoyment of the lifestyle we love. Here at eXteme Hotel we try to implement as much “green” into our hotel as we can. At eXtreme Cabarete we strive to be at one with the enviroment, and we are proud to say we are the only eco hotel in Cabarete. The hot water heaters were removed from the hotel rooms and 600 Litres of solar hot water heaters were installed. There is enough hot water for three showers per room. The key components (things you can never be without) were identified and an independents solar panel and battery system was installed. The key components were identified as the internet connections and wireless routers, the security cameras and the hallway lights. These systems are always on, so you can get to your room, surf the web and have a hot shower anytime. A model of the hotel was put into a wind simulator to identify optimum venting and take advantage of the constant winds in Cabarete. Vents were installed in key locations in all rooms, ensuring proper circulation and the result was an amazing reduction of 5 degrees that removed the need for air conditioners. It worked so well that in the winter months guests occaisionally request extra blankets. The roof was sealed with a special material containing reflective particles developed by NASA, reducing heat by a further 3 degrees. We have also painted the hotel white to further reflect the sun from the building, again reducing the internal temperature. Over the years we have nurtured the growth of many different palm trees that provide shade to the hotel and it’s grounds. (These palms also provide fresh coconut, banana and platino). The landscaping plants used on site are local and can survive and thrive on local rainfall, so do not require regular watering, reducing our water consumption. In the hotel bathrooms we use low-flow showerheads, also reducing water consumption and increasing the amount of solar powered hot water available for use. Our kitchen puts it’s organic waste into a compost bin which is taken regularly to our organic farm called Taino Farms located up in the foothills of Los Brazos. Produce from the farm is used in our kitchen and sold on Saturdays at the local market. We also have a small herb garden growing on site, that in the future will provide herbs for the kitchen. In addition, planter boxes in the hotel hallways are currently being planted with aromatic herbs and spices. We offer a water exchange program through the MiGym, where you can purchase an 18L (5 gal) bottle of water that when finished is exchanged for a full one and the empty bottle is returned to be sterilized and reused. Room fridges are certified energy efficient and are unplugged when not in use. A windmill was installed on the leading edge of the hotel to power the pool pumps. We hang dry the laundry and use environmentally conscious cleaning products. Low wattage light bulbs and low consumption fans have been installed in the rooms. It’s been an effort, but the resulting reduction in power consumption has been tremendous. We have reduced our overall consumption by over 60%. Our newest project is to bring organic permaculture to the hotel grounds. We are currently in the process of establishing several different varieties of vegetables and fruit trees. We are using recycled materials as building material, including used tires and driftwood. Given a little time to grow and some TLC, this area of the hotel will be a beautiful greenspace to be enjoyed by all and a great way to learn about permaculture. “What permaculturists are doing is the most important activity that any group is doing on the planet. We don’t know what details of a truly sustainable future are going to be like, but we need options, we need people experimenting in all kinds of ways and permaculturists are one of the critical gangs that are doing that.” We are always looking for more and better ways to live a “green” lifestyle here on Kitebeach in Cabarete. We will continue to make changes here at eXtreme Hotel over time in our effort to be as environmentally responsible as we can.
What if I over stay my visa?
It is very common for travellers to come for a week of vacation and end up staying for a longer period. Cabarete is full of people who loved it so much that they end up statying a month, a season or years at a time. So what happens if you over stay your 3 week visa? Not a whole bunch really, just a fine at the airport when you eventually leave. Fines vary from 800RD for a short overstay to 17,000RD for a long one. For more information please visit the Dominican Immigration website
The 4 windy seasons of Cabarete
People are often asking what are the wind seasons here. To be honest, with all the global warming, weather patterns all over have been mixed up, so there is no guarrenteed wind season. However, there are guarrenteed wind conditions. For example, if the weather is hot enough, then we get a thermal wind. If there is a storm front, then we get storm wind. Here are some general guidelines to the weather during the seasons. WIND, WEATHER AND WAVES: Season Temp Water Wind Waves Kite size Fall nice rashie storm styems mostly 8-18 K primo 3-12 ft 12-18 and a surfboard Winter dare I say cool? wet suit top thermals kick in 10-20 K primo 3-12 ft 10-16 Spring getting hot in here rashie storms and thermals 10-25K good 2-6 ft 8-16 Summer sweating my butt off naked pumping. 15-25K good 2-8 ft 8-12 But the best course of action in Cabarete is to enojoy more than one of Cabarete`s multiple sprots. There are many ways to get on a board, either kiteboarding, surfing, skateboarding, wakeboarding, tow in surfing…. that way every day is a chance to improve your skills!