A mate of mine has hatched a plan to do a bit of tropical exploring by kayak.
I've seen plenty of surf boards on planes but never a kayak or windsurfer.
I know that a lot of airlines allow special weight consesions for sports gear but is it possible to take a sit on top kayak on a plane or is he going to be limited to either a folding or inflatable option ?

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An old friend of mine took his Prowler 13 to Portugal on a weeks holiday, he booked the yak in with the airline when he booked the holiday, can't remember how much it cost, but it wasn't much. Check with the airline, some will be more helpful than others and cheaper.


SM

So 13' seems to be possible.
My concern was that it might have been to big for the aluminium boxes that go into the aircrafts hold.
Thanks SM, I'll suggest that he contacts some airlines.
Virgin have just been pretty good with shipping the pushbike that he used to ride from the UK to India (37kg's of "sporting goods" at no extra cost) so they'll be the first option for a shot at repeat business.

With kayaks about half the price in the US that they are over here, I'm suprised people don't simply pick one up on a shopping trip to the states. The price difference would cover the price of the flights and any fishing tackle or clothing that you bought back would be a bonus.

good topic my fellow yaker 'just came back from fishing trip to south india' all the good fishing spots are never where you can get to 'so a kayak would get you there for sure ..will ask the question next time i get away..it will make for a better holiday and no wet/dry suits needed ..

Had an e-mail from my mate yesterday. He's already confirmed that Virgin will carry kayaks upto 4.5m long.
As he says, a couple of dry bags, a deck bag and we might never need to strap on a backpack again...

How did the guys get on in India ? Were they fishing the coastal waters for Barramundi and MJ's or did they head inland in seach of the mahseer ?

hi ken its good to know you can take kayak on board 'virgin to the rescue again ! i love to fish so the idea of taking my baby with me makes my next holiday to south india [ december till march ] much more fishable ....you asked about fishing india 'i was just in goa for break 'took a couple of shimano travel rods [ as you do ] fishing river mouths 'bridges 'and a little offshore by boat ''catching mostly catfish n crabs but the odd snapper or mj will pull good .. taste nice !!. found out that live prawn is the only way to catch ;will take cast-net next time. the beauty of taking your yak means you can take better gear with you [ inside yak]... tnx for reply ken

I'm another Goa/Karnataka/Maharashtra regular and this years trip is just about comming to an end.
I'm not sure if I'll be in India next season (might have a break and see Africa or South America for a change) but if I am, we should arrange a meet up.
You can do much better than catfish though.
Have a look here and on my mates blog for a little inspiration.

nice barra ken 'havent seen one that big since north oz /barron river in cairns ' lots of nice spot s in gokarna that you could get to in yak ken' never went to arumbol [kicking myself now ] .but allways next time .. tnx for report on india ken . billy

The biggest of Scotts barra this year was 27.5lb (the bottom photo) and as you will have seen from my India thread, the average size is up arround 7kg's.
Good fishing but hard work, 'cause you're throwing plugs into the night for 3 hours for just a couple of bites - although it used to be better and we suspect that a visit to some of the rivers in Karnataka will be mind blowing.

Did you have a look at his sharks from Maharashtra ?

Edit: I'm not going to bounce this thread back to the top, but if anybody is interested, here is the statement from Virgin about carrying kayaks.

By comparison, here is what British Airways have to say:

Sporting equipment we do not carry
Due to the large size and handling complexities, some sporting equipment cannot be accommodated through the airport baggage system or within the aircraft hold. Therefore we no longer accept the following equipment at check-in as part of your sporting equipment allowance.

hang gliders
windsurfing boards and sails
surfboards
kayaks, canoes and oars
pole vaults
javelins
Please contact British Airways World Cargo or your local freight company or to arrange carriage for any items that exceed the permitted weight and size.

Even if they did carry kayaks, they'd probably loose it at terminal 5 !


This post has been edited by Ken L: Apr 20 2008, 10:44 AM