Egypt is a great place for kiteboarding. And especially the Red Sea area.
Kitesurfing in Hurghada, video
In the above video, Jonathan and Lina is kitesurfing in Hurgada in December 2011. There are a lot of crashes in the end, so be sure to watch it all..:)
What kite-sizes suits for kitesurfing in Hurghada?
Kites that were used when kitesurfing in Hurghada was the new Spleene kites we got a month ago from JesajaSport. There were quite light winds, so we used mostly the Spleene SPX 14,5 m2 and the Spleene QX 9 m2. We brought our 7m2 Gin Zulu with us as well and were able to use it the two first days when the wind was a little stronger. The wind profitability in December in the Red sea area is between 50 and 60 %, and of 7 days we could ride 5 days without problems, and the two other days we could ride quite well with the 14,5 m2, as you see in the video. Those days there was only one other kite in the air, and that was a big Flysurfer foil ridden by a German. Wearing a white wetsuit, a sit-seat harness, and a really big Door-board. And a Flysurfer foil-kite. You can imagine how “German” that looked, right? 🙂 Nothing bad with that, though.
Simply, I recommend bringing at least one small and one bigger kite with you if you go for kitesurfing in Hurghada, at least in the winter season. For Lina (the girl in the video), the quiver 7 + 9 was perfect, and for me, 9 + 14 was perfect (I am a quite heavy dude).
The spot for kitesurfing in Hurgada
We stayed all week at Colona Watersports, probably one of the best spots in Hurgada, and really easy to reach. It is on the hotel beach for the Magawish Swiss Inn hotel, and we lived at the hotel, so we could just walk down to the beach from our hotel room every morning for some sweet kitesurfing. I really recommend this combo, Magawish + Colona Watersports. It is cheap, and the crew at the kite beach are really friendly, and you can get burgers for a few pounds right at the beach. And if you are lazy and don’t want to kite back to the shore, just drop your kite into the water and the crew will “rescue” you with the boat. The storage and rescue package we bought at Colona Watersport was about 40€ a week, and with 24/7 guards that ensured that no gear was stolen. The only bad thing was that the free wireless internet connection they were supposed to have on the kite-center was broken. But the internet was broken almost all over Egypt the week we were there, so I think we can’t really blame the kite center..:)
This is what it looked like at the Colona Watersports and Magawish beach for kitesurfing in Hurghada, the wind came from the left when looking out to the sea, and was a little gusty close to the shore due to the turning shoreline and some buildings near the beach. In the morning it was a little offshore, but in the afternoon the wind grew stronger and changed to side shore. You see the two sandbanks, almost all the kitesurfing took place close to them where the water was shallow. All the clips you see in the “Kitesurfing Hurghada” video above were filmed from one of those sandbanks. The crew at the kite center shipped us and the cameras out there with their RIB when we asked them, for no extra fees (Yes I know, that does not sound really “Egyptian”, right?). So you can b sure of getting a friendly crew that all could speak English very well if you go there.
Could beginners go for kitesurfing in Hurghada?
Absolutely, the kite school seemed to work very well. The only problem that maybe could cause some problems would be the gusty winds close to the shore, which could cause the kite to drop into the water now and then. But if the wind was too gusty or offshore, the teachers brought the beginners out to the sandbanks and held the lessons there instead. We met a girl that took a “Get back on water”-lesson after being away from kitesurfing in 5 years, and she liked the school. As well a guy that was a complete newbie liked it. So I think it is good.
Do you want to go for kitesurfing in Hurghada?
You can read more about kitesurfing in Hurghada in Swedish on “Linas kitesurfingblogg“. Thanks for reading about kitesurfing in Hurghada, I will still add some photos I think, feel free to comment and ask questions below! // Jonathan