Palm Cove – Reliable Wind from the south
When its raining in Cairns and Yorkeys Knob, more often that not its blowing at Palm Cove. This is especially true if the wind is coming from the south.
We have been having some great wind out at Palm Cove this season. So much, that we have been choosing to do a lot of our kitesurfing lessons at Palm Cove instead of Yorkeys Knob.
So Why Is the Wind Better at Palm Cove?
Just like last season, we are getting a lot of wind from the south instead of south east. The southerly winds run straight cross shore at Palm Cove. At the same time, down the road at popular kite spot Yorkeys Knob, the wind is gusty, offshore and unreliable when it comes from this direction. Not only that, its usually mixed in with some rain.
Today was a classic example. We left Yorkeys at round 9 am and there was a gusty side- offshore breeze blowing making it dodgy for riding and learning to kite. We drove 10 km up the road to Palm Cove and the wind was perfect. It was about 20 knots side shore and to top it off the sun was shining.
Further south toward Kewarra and Yorkeys Knob we could see thick low level rain cloud. We were quite happy where we were, just up the road.
When Is Yorkeys Wind Better than Palm Cove?
If its a sunny day with a light to moderate breeze out on Arlington Reef, then its usually pretty windless at Palm Cove. However, these lighter days can quite often bring a sea breeze to Yorkeys Knob in the late afternoon. Palm Cove just doesn’t seem to get this sea breeze on the very light wind reef days. It just seems to funnel in at Yorkeys Knob. So Yorkeys is the place to head when things are like this.
Summing it Up
So there you have it. If the wind is coming in from the south east, its great at both Palm Cove and Yorkeys Knob, provided its sunny. If there’s rain in Cairns then more often than not Yorkeys cops it too, where as Palm Cove being further north will often miss the rain. If the wind is coming from the south then go for Palm Cove, and if it is a light wind sunny day on the reef you may sneak in a session at Yorkeys in the late afternoon.
That’s the way we’ve found it to be anyway.
Looking forward to seeing you on the water some time. Come on out and learn to kite
Andrew