first time South Padre trip - suggestions?

[baskinT]

My wife, Kelly and I are contemplating our first South Padre trip this April. We are planning for one week, starting on April 5 (Saturday), and coming back the next Sunday.

I would like to know if anyone from our lovely state will be there and would appreciate any input you might have. Current lodging options are a few VRBOs places and local motels (Travelodge). My wife would like to continue practicing her waterstart, getting on the straps, while I practice kiteboarding. I also pulled the trigger on last year's, but new Cabrinha Switchblade 11m2. I would like to bring that. Can I bring my 145 cm board? Or is it easier to rent the board there? Also have a 2008 Naish Helix 14 m2. Would it be too expensive to bring two kites plus our luggage? Looks like we could be flying Delta. Restrictions when flying with kite gear?

Where should we rent windsurf equipment? Any other suggestions? We would appreciate it. My direct email address is baskint-at-gmail-com.

Thanks everyone!

Baskin

[RandyL]

You are going to have a blast Baskin!
There is a large group of us heading down for the first half of April. I'm looking forward to ride with you down there.
We typically rent a house but we have also had plenty of good experiences staying at the Travel Lodge.
Randy

[Drvermin]

My experience when traveling for kiting (did once by car, twice by plane) is that one can never be too well armed for kiting. The weather can turn cold or very windy (or light winds) and there is nothing worse than sitting there looking at that water and not being out on it. My recommendation is to bring all that you can. Mike K. may have some suggestions on how to ship stuff down by UPS or FedEx ahead of time to save the plane fees. The cost of flying with bags has gotten outrageous.

Renting boards is usually pretty easy, but renting kites is very hard. Places do not seem to want to rent kites to people that are not registered instructors.

[peterrib]

Have fun. I'll be down the prior week. I always ship my boards UPS to the hotel.
About $25 each way. That way I can pack 3 or 4 kites in a bag that doesn't set
off the airline kite alarm. No extra fees.
Peter