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Extreme Holidays - Fuerteventra |
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Written by TwoFish
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Sunday, 05 October 2003 |
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Extreme holidays run 'windsurfing safaris' (also kite and surfing equivalents) on Fuerteventura wher
e the idea is they take groups of six people of similar ability around the island in 4x4s to sail from whichever spot best suits the conditions each day. Before going I'd read some mixed comments about Extreme on this site. Here's what I found:
Firstly, they've got great kit (at the time of writing, they're replacing the last of their F2 and Arrows kit with JP and Pryde stuff). Aside from one board I used which was down to the last of its non-slip, everything I used was in excellent condition and my choice of kit was never restricted by lack of kit available. Possibly because of their move to Pryde sails (by repute, high performance and lightweight, and therefore less robust), the number of sails our group damaged during the week did put rather a strain on their stocks by the end of the week, but not to the point where things became critical. Incidentally nobody was charged for kit damage, so whilst Extreme are not the cheapest operator, this did help limit the overall cost of the holiday. I was told that Extreme are now replacing kit on a gradual basis all year round to avoid the problem of those going out at the end of the season getting all the end-of-year kit to use.
We also had a star of an instructor (Sam) who really made sure everyone got the most out of the holiday. As well as having local knowledge to pick the right spots, good sailing coaching and all the other 'official duties', he really did make sure that everyone was having fun. Even down to little things. For example, being a larger sort of chap, there was one day when we had marginal winds and things just would not work for me, though the rest of the group were up planing for at least half the day. I got back to the beach tired and dispirited from endless dropping of the plane, endless marginal wind waterstarting and general lack of progress. As I hit the beach, Sam was there with a big 'sorry it's not worked out for you today mate' grin and stuffed a pint in my hand as soon as I hit the shore (he'd walked over to a nearby hotel to buy it for me). Only a small thing, but it snapped me out of a foul mood and got me back into that holiday feeling again, and kind of typical of the 'vibe' of the holiday generally.
The idea of being in a small group of like minded people also worked well and kept things fun. The group tended to go drinking together most evenings and had some meals together, but there was no pressure on anyone to attend and the couples in the group had time out on their own too.
Their main self-catering accommodation for windsurfing at Caleta Del Fuste is OK. Nothing more. There's nothing really wrong with it (though the beds are a bit small and crappy). There's nothing that distinguishes it either. It is under the flight path into the airport, though that didn't bother me. 'Functional' would probably be a fair description. Caleta is a small town, and not as pleasant as Corralejo in the North of the island (I think the kiters stay there as it's closer for their main locations). I'd actually booked into Corralejo as I quite like the place, but when I arrived at the airport it was obvious that was a bad plan as the rest of the group were based in Caleta and me being miles away would eat up sailing time, so Extreme suggested I move to Caleta too (no problem, but a bit silly of Extreme to book me into Corralejo in the first place). Nevertheless the town is fine, though nothing special.
Where Extreme let themselves down badly was (as noted elsewhere on this site) with the Jet-Ski (rescue boat), which was out of order for the whole week I was there. One of the group had also been out with them last year and it hadn't worked then either. Frankly their jet-ski seems to be more of a joke-ski which sounds as if it's broken more often than it's working. This wasn't any problem where we sailed as there was alternative rescue cover available. One could suspect that the lack of jet-ski might be limiting their choice of sailing venues though.
Our group of intermediates was reasonably well matched. We did have two non-water-starters, but this wasn't a problem where we sailed. A beginner spouse sailed with another instructor in Caleta harbour so the main group wasn't held back. I suspect things might be more difficult if there was a mix of intermediates and advanced sailors as this would probably make it difficult to use the top spots (again, as noted in the forums on this site).
Bottom line - I liked Extreme and will probably use them again, provided they can give me assurances that they have sorted the jet-ski out. I'd also pick my time of year more carefully as we only got two top days (the thinner folks got a third OK day), so in future I'll avoid September.
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If people want to see the brief discussion from the forums it can be found here. A point I didn't make in that discussion was that Sam was out of action the two weeks I was there and that may have caused the mixed group problem we had as they couldn't split up like you did. I wouldn't have minded if they'd admitted that but they UK management just told us it was all our own fault, and that really pissed me off !! The boss really is a jerk but the guys out there are sound.
Looks like they've tried to sort some of their bad points out but still need to work on a few ??
Out of interest TwoFish, how much travelling did you do with them and where to ??