Kitesurfing in Bali, is it possible?

Kitesurfing in Bali. Yes you read the headline right. You can actually kitesurf at some spots in the well-known surf-country Bali. But not always, and not everywhere. Anyway, check the story!

First some spoiling of your Bali-dream:

Oh Bali Bali, the awesome surf- and get-yourself-together-and-find-inner-piece-location of the world. It is all very untrue. Bali is crowded, filled with tourists, mushrooms, prostitution, and drugs. The water at the most visited places around Kuta is full of plastic bags and waste and you can’t really see the bottom because of the polluted gray water. That’s part 1, spoiling your vision of the Bali you have seen in movies, check.

Then, kitesurfing in Bali

We visited Bali for two weeks in February 2013, and I would say that half of the time it was enough wind for kitesurfing with my 9m2. And the wind always picked up in the afternoon. There were also some kites seen almost every day. We kitesurfed only 3 days though because we wanted to focus on the regular surfing in waves during our short visit. And when kitesurfing, focus on kitesurfing in waves, do not bother using your twintip. I used my 6’3 surfboard.

Video from kitesurfing in Bali:

This is how it looks over there. The video is not mine, cause we did not film any. But it quite clearly shows the waves and wind you can find there.

Spots in Bali suitable for kitesurfing

We stayed in Seminyak, and there it was possible to kite in cross-shore winds. We also visited a few more spots.

• Seminyak: Side- to onshore winds in “our” winter (about Dec-Apr). Quite small and broken waves during the hard wind. Quite good for beginners that want to test kitesurfing in waves. In “our” summer, the winds are offshore, if there are any. Located in the southwest of Bali.
• Canggu. Same wind direction as Seminyak. Bigger and cleaner waves. Fun. In our summer side-off winds, and a lot more clean waves. Really fun in February when we were there. Located in the southwest of Bali.
• Sanur: Located on the other side, the eastern side. That means offshore winds in February when we were there. And flatwater near shore, with beautiful green waves further out. Really amazing place to ride waves in offshore winds. A shipwreck on the reef is also included in this business.

I do not feel that any of the well-known surf spots Uluwatu, Padang-Padang, Dreamland or Bingin would have suited for kitesurfing because of their small beaches. And the more professional “real” surfers can have them. I do not think they would have liked kites in their line-up anyway. At the other places described though, there were no problems at all with the local surfers. Many of them seemed interested in kitesurfing as well. And it seems like kitesurfing is becoming more and more common in Bali.

Pictures from kitesurfing at Bali

As I said, we did not shoot any video there. But we snapped a couple of pictures, and here is a few of them:

Would I recommend going to Bali for kitesurfing?

Not really. There are nicer places, with more steady winds. But if you are going to Bali for surfing waves or some “finding-yourself-crap-you-have-seen-in-movies“, bring a kite or two in your checked luggage. You will not need clothes anyway.

Thanks for finding time to read my post about kitesurfing in Bali. Now comment!