Hip-Notics Cable Park Antalya – made for Ladies Mornings!
Many of you will have noticed there’s been a recent ‘lull’ in posts from WAW, well that’s because we’ve been indulging in the magnificence, the paradise, the heaven that is Hip-Notics in Turkey. This cable wakeboarding sanctuary is one not to be missed, by anyone at any time! Whether you go for a long weekend (only 3-4 hour flight from London) a week or a month, you’ll never want to leave. It’s the ultimate European wakeboard retreat.
I was only there for a week, and a week on since returning, I miss it desperately! The water is warm as a bath, the cables are fantastic with great obstacles and the personal treatment from the super friendly staff made it tough to leave. This was a cable park experience with a level of service above and beyond! Whilst a wakeboarding mecca, this place is has everything for a relaxing, indulgent, soporific experience; chill out bean bags around every corner of the lakes, Jacuzzi, sauna, on site masseuse, incredible home- made meals, bar, games room and a manager who’ll do whatever he can to meet your needs. Baris Ozoral will quite literally bend over backwards to make sure your stay is as good as it can possibly be and backed by his awesome team, Hip-Notics caters for every guest from the hard core rider, to the supportive ‘other half’.
Cables
As you may have gathered, there are two cables and two Little Bro systems, covering every need. The first 5 tower cable runs slower, considered a beginners cable and has a slalom course where you can periodically see the mental slalom skiiers taking a tumble or two! The beauty of this lake is that it’s the perfect beginner lake and perfect for practicing surface tricks. We loved the slalom course to practice switch toes side cutting… and body dragging and flyers! It’s like it was made for a ladies morning session.
The main 5 tower cable with great user friendly obstacles caters for all abilities. It runs at normal speed, has an island in the middle, (great vantage point for filming) and is surrounded by astroturf pathways for comfortable returns to the dock. Whilst not a beginner lake, the cable operators are quite happy to help with dock starts, slow starts and if the cable is quiet, they have been known to send out a line and pick you up! That kind of treatment, a girl could get used to! There are (currently) two kickers, a transfer box, a step up rail, fun box and long rail, something for everyone and plenty to develop your rail and kicker work. They also have two trampolines with handles to practice before you hit the water.
The little Bros are on hand to help with air tricks, but to be honest, the main cable is so tight that you should easily be able to head straight out! Again, the staff will help with short lines too if that’s your request.
Facilities
It’s as if this place was made for the girls! The facilities are awesome; the on-site accommodation varies between twin cabins, two bed chalets and family chalets. All come with hair dryer, towels, fridge, complimentary water replaced each day, full air conditioning, black out blinds, a safe, ample storage and TV all set in immaculate grounds. The only thing we suggest you bring is a day bag, as the cabins are far enough away to make forgetting your sun cream a pain when you’re at the main cables. There are lockers by the lakes to store your kit and showers and toilets too, so you really don’t need to head back to your cabin till night fall if you don’t want to.
Food
With your overall package, 3 daily meals are included. Now this is a main part of not liking being back home! The food was outstanding! Breakfast was a pretty regular banquet of cereals, spreads on freshly baked bread (again made on site) a variety of cold meats, cheeses, tomatoes and cucumber with boiled eggs, pancakes or sausages.
Lunch and dinner was a veritable feast of local dishes, from Turkish kebabs to stews and flatbreads with lush refreshing salads and pastas and rice dishes to a few western dishes thrown in like home-made burgers and chips. Then watermelon, lots of fresh, local watermelon. Generally speaking the food was perfect for replenishing energy levels after a long day’s riding. Whilst the meals were laid on, you had the option of ordering other foods, but these were not included, alas neither was beer or ice creams!
Staff
Admittedly, it was pretty quiet when we went, but there were so many staff around to keep the place running smoothly, we were left in no doubt that this was the usual standard. Baris has a great team with a variety of backgrounds that provide the guests with whatever they want whether it be selecting their own playlists for the on-site speakers, to getting a chipped board fixed, working out those tired muscles with a massage or getting a shuttle into town to barter with the locals for ‘ a velly good prayce’ ! And if it’s your Birthday… cake, flowers and fireworks no less! Oh yes, this place is impressive!
Getting there
Hip-Notics will put on a shuttle service from Antalya airport for a small fee. Many airlines including Easyjet, Thomascook airlines, BA and Pegasus fly to Antalya, so with advance booking you can grab a good deal. Make sure you book in a sports bag for your board – there’s currently no weight limit for them, so you can pack it full and only take on hand luggage!
Their peak times are the start and end of the European season, so a week at the end of May/early June was like a private cable! Don’t miss your chance to have a fantastic cable park all to yourself this summer and make a date with Hip-Notics. If you have a major competition coming up, why not head out for a week solid training to polish everything? Contact Baris OZORAL ((JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)) to make your reservation.
We like Hip-Notics so much that we want to take you all there, so we’re working with Hip-Notics to arrange a Chicks week at the end of the season. Dates and details to follow, we just need to iron out the details.
Photos: H Owens, G Evans
Sunday 26 June 2011 | Permalink
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