After my Tour du Mont Blanc ride, I picked up a rental car at the Milan airport and drove to Lake Garda for a few days to windsurf. In the late 90s and early 2000's, I saw photos and videos of windsurfing on Lake Garda in Italy against a stunning backdrop. I told myself then that one day I would windsurf there. That dream finally came true and it didn't disappoint.
Windsurfing on Lake Garda with a few hundred other windsport enthusiasts is wild but it didn't feel crowded. It's a stunning and surreal place to windsurf with the surrounding mountain peaks. I based myself in Torbole and rented my windsurfing gear from the Duotone Pro Center. It was within a short 10 minute walk from my hotel and a great place to launch and windsurf from right there in Torbole. I windsurfed 3 days in a row before driving back to the Milan airport to go home.
I stayed at the wonderful Hotel Paradiso, which has great lakefront views, has a nice on-site restaurant/bar, is a short walk to both all the restaurants and the town center, plus a short easy walk to the Duotone Pro Center. I didn't have to move my rental car the entire time I was there. If the wind doesn't cooperate, there are plenty other things to do such as hiking, biking, and sightseeing all around Lake Garda.
Some other observations:
Windsurfing is still very popular here.
Wing foiling is also popular. Lots of kids doing both windsurfing and wing foiling. Seeing kid wingers doing loops and 360s. Probably a 60/40 mix of windsurfing/wing foilers. There was also a gigantic youth Opti fleet out practicing every day, all day.
They have a designated kiteboarding zone far south away from the windsurfers and wing foilers but plenty of kiters there too.
The summer wind pattern is clockwork each day. The morning "Peler" wind coming from the mountains out of the north - gusty and the water is flatter. It started early. There were some people out as early as 6:30am. That blows until around 11am-noon, then the wind drops. Everyone has lunch and a siesta. Then the wind picks back up out of the south starting early afternoon, called "Ora" wind. It's a longer fetch and more consistent wind along with choppier water. This happens almost every single day during the summer season, driven by temperature and mountain valley pressure differences.
This place remind me of The Gorge and Hood River with all the windsport athletes and vibes here. Camper vans, boards, sails, wings, and bikes everywhere. The obvious difference being it's a lake, not a river...and very European. I think I was the only American there.
I'm extremely grateful to have had the experience and being able to fulfill a long time dream.
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