Dubai Kite Session (UAE)

Want to plan a kiting trip? Just got back from one? Post you experiences, questions and information here.
Post Reply
User avatar
rolla_rage
Joey
Joey
Posts:7
Joined:Tue May 12, 2015 12:32 am
Contact:
Dubai Kite Session (UAE)

Post by rolla_rage » Wed Jan 11, 2017 12:08 am

I was in Dubai last week for a friends wedding and decided to take my gear along to possibly catch a session on the water. Sure enough, the one day I had free had the best forecast of the week - low twenties, gusting mid-upper (mph).

I ended up leaving the board and "golf bag" at home because from the looks of the website Lufthansa doesn't have exemptions for "golf", and I would be subject to their over 159cm fee of $300USD each way! No thanks. I checked all my gear, minus the board, for free in a std piece of luggage figuring I could round up a board easy enough.

Board rentals are possible, but not cheap - nothing is in Dubai. The going rate seems to be 100AED ($27USD) per hour. If I remember correctly this is about what you will pay for a full-day board rental in Hawaii... Anyway, Xavier at Kitesurf School Dubai or Charlene at DuKite can help you for this rate.

It seems there are two major kite beaches right near the Dubai area - probably more further out, but I didn't check. The upper one is where the two stars on the map I attached below are, there is a small parking lot there too. The other beach is a few kilometers south. I didn't go to the lower one, but I could see the kites from the northern beach.

The northern beach reminded me of a larger Alameda. Busy, lots of newbies, several beginners taking lessons, and all the sights a sounds to prove it: I saw a pair of kites tangle - twice, a foil kite spiraling across the beach with user in tow, and I heard plenty of THWAAACKS! as misdirected kites tomahawked into the water. The majority of riders were your usual intermediate and a handful were pulling bigger air and some tricks - despite the wind being lighter than forecasted.

The sand beach is long, deep, and made of very nice white sand that tapers rather nicely into inviting water. The SW wind was side-onshore and water temps left users split down the middle between shorties or no wet suits at all. I opted for just boardshorts and was just fine considering the cloudless sky and low 80 degree air temps. 70's and or clouds and I would have gone with the wetsuit.

Everyone I spoke to was super friendly - as I have found with most all kiters, go us! In fact a fella named Tom offered to loan me his board after nothing more that the two of us shooting the shit on the beach for a while. We traded off a couple sessions and then I ran into Xavier who was teaching a lesson and I tossed him $100AED to ride a board for another hour. The wind ended up being on the light side for my 11M (prob around 14-18mph). I was able to tack consistently, but the boosting wasn't really great and the lost ground took some effort to get back. Like Alameda, no flatwater just you average chop with some decent waves mixed in here and there.

While talking to the locals it seems the winter is "the kite season", tho "season" is defined more like a good day every week or so. And "good" being upper teens to mid-twenties. This is based on a very small sample set, many locals may have a different opinion so take mine with a grain of sand. In short, I get the feeling this isn't a destination kite spot. But like I did, if you are already in town drag along your gear and hope for a good day. Worst case you soak up some sun, gaze as glistening skyscrapers and make some friends.

Happy Kiting,

-J
Attachments
Kitebeaches in Dubai.JPG
Kitebeaches in Dubai.JPG (75.5KiB)Viewed 3581 times
Kite Beach Dubai Jan 2017_.jpg
Burj Khalifa in the background
Kite Beach Dubai Jan 2017_.jpg (678.27KiB)Viewed 3581 times

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests