There are plenty of places to go on a kitesurfing holiday in Europe. Over the last 10 years Steve Stubbs has been to some of the best. Here is his run down of some of the best places to kitesurf in Spain, Portugal, Tenerife and Rhodes…
Tarifa in the very south of Spain is an ideal place to Kitesurf. It delivers a very strong and very consistent wind almost guaranteeing you of kiting for around 6 months of the year.
There are 2 winds that blow in Tarifa, the main wind is the Poniente which is cross shore from the right resulting in hardly any waves, just wind chop, making it an ideal location for freestyle. The Poniente is dominant wind and tends to be slightly weaker than its counterpart which is known as the Levante. The Poniente wind allows you to kite on the very long beach at Tarifa itself, It has many spots within this beach but the most popular one is called Valdevaqueros. The Levante comes from the left and is known to be very powerful and a bit gusty.
A lot of people travel about 45 minutes west to the beach of Los Canos de Meca to kitesurf, this is on the cape of Trafalgar where the battle of Trafalgar took place in 1805.
Getting there – Fly to Malaga which is about 1.5 hours away.
Pros – consistent wind so guaranteed to get on the water, the old town is really nice for tapas and meals out.
Cons – Very very busy
Guincho Beach, Portugal is a wave destination, you wouldn’t normally go here to do freestyle, the waves can get very big with a strong cross on shore (from the left) wind which is gusty. Guincho Beach has hosted numerous Windsurf championships over the years and in 2013 hosted part of the KSP tour. You can camp near the beach or in the car park, there are numerous hotels near the beach, but if you want a bit of nightlife you can stay in Cascais, although Lisbon is only about 45 minutes away.
Getting there – Fly into Lisbon with an hour transfer
Pros – excellent surfing venue
Cons – gusty wind. Need a 3mm wetsuit as the Atlantics cold.
Viana Do Castelo, Portugal is a great wave or flat water spot to kitesurf with a thermal wind. There is a long curved beach where you can have perfectly flat water behind the water break and further down the beach you get some really nice waves.
The wind is pretty consistent. From my experience if Wind Guru is predicting a northerly wind, it doesn’t matter what strength, then the thermal will accelerate it to kitable conditions. The town is really nice with some lovely restaurants and bars.
Getting there – Fly into Porto with 1.5 hour transfer.
Pros– Waves or flat water and a thermal wind
Cons – need 3mm wetsuit as again the Atlantics cold.
Prasonisi, Rhodes – is located down the west end of the island and is a unique kitesurfing location. I have spent about 5 years coming to Rhodes with the family and bought my kites with me each time, I drove to Prasonisi every day and only once did I have no wind. The beach is a 100 m wide sand bar, which you can drive onto, so, if you want, you can park your car where you launch your kite. Because of the sandbar, the wind is either dead onshore with some waves/ramps which can be quite fun, the other side is dead offshore where the water is perfectly flat. One advantage is that there are many kite schools located here with inflatable boats keeping an eye on everyone so you won’t get drifted out to sea. The sea here is about 24 degrees so no wetsuit is required.
Getting there – fly to Rhodes
Pros – Perfectly flat water, very warm location
Cons – not much happening there apart from kiting.
El Medano, Tenerife a great location with all year round wind, wind is cross on from the left, a great location and home to ex world champion Mark Shinn. Fairly consistent wind there, probably not as consistent as other European destinations, but you can still get wind and warmth there all year round. The water is warm there so no need for a wetsuit in the summer.
Pros – warm destination, better in the summer although can be a year round destination
Cons – 4 hour flight
Thats all folks!
Steve