As one of the hottest up and coming water sports in the world, kitesurfing is quickly gaining popularity and followers all over the world. An exciting and intense sport, kitesurfing is a great way to tune into nature, as your body and senses must be fully aligned with not only the waves, but the wind as well. Whether you have been kitesurfing for many years or you are a relatively recent devotee, these 5 destinations are must-visit spots for some of the best kitesurfing opportunities in the world.
Editor’s note: To avoid confusion, this is NOT a ranked list of the top 5 kiteboarding destinations in the world, but rather a list of top destinations we think you should experience. There are of course many other great spots; however it is virtually impossible to create a ranked list of the top 5 kite spots, because everyone will have varying opinions on what makes a spot great. It is also virtually impossible for one rider to have kited at every single kite spot around the world. If you know of a spot that should be on this list, tell us about it in the comments below, and we’ll include it in our reader’s choice post in the near future.
1. Cape Hatteras, North Carolina
While North Carolina is neither the most exotic nor warmest place in the world year-round, it’s hard to beat this location in the summer months, especially if you live in the United States. And for those who live on the East Coast, Cape Hatteras is just an easy drive or quick flight away to find yourself on its beautiful beaches dotted with blowing coastal grasses! Kitesurfers love it for its generous open space and perfectly consistent summer winds, as well as the fact that they have access to both the shallower sound side and wide open ocean side with plenty of rolling waves. Plus all travelers alike can appreciate the area’s quaint charm, fresh seafood and serene surroundings.
2. La Ventana, Baja California
On the other side of the country and across the border to Mexico you’ll find La Ventana in Baja California. Kiteboarders flock to this breathtaking coastal town for its beauty as well as its pristine kiteboarding conditions, thanks to its steady winter winds and large L-shaped beach. The conditions are perfect for both beginners as well as more advanced kitesurfers looking to practice their skills. Known to locals as the Sea of Cortez, UNESCO declared the sparkling waters a World Heritage Site for its abundance of sea life and natural beauty. Warm, sunny days will lend the perfect backdrop for kitesurfing here, plus you can look forward to awesome Cali-Mex cuisine when you need a break from the water.
3. Maui, Hawaii
There’s no doubt about it–Maui, Hawaii is truly a tropical paradise, but it’s also one of the most incredible kitesurfing spots in the world. Maui has steady trade winds year-round, but you’ll find that the strongest winds are in the spring and summer; and for those who are seeking out monstrous waves, winter is definitely the time to go. Maui offers a lot of space to kitesurf, as surfers, snorkelers and those simply looking to spend the day lounging often flock to different beaches that are better-suited to their needs. The island is warm throughout the year and it’s perfect for both beginners and those with a more advanced skill-set. Plus when you’re not concentrating on the surf, you can enjoy the lush greenery, tropical flowers, incredible sunsets and laidback Maui vibe.
As testament to the quality of kitesurfing on Maui, particularly for wave riding, MAUI was chosen as one of the stops on the KSP World Pro tour two years in a row. Here’s what went down at the Kite Surf Pro Hawaii, along with great images and videos.
4. Boracay, Philippines
Located in Southeast Asia, Boracay is known for its stunning white sandy beaches, and it has become one of the most popular travel destinations amongst tourists. And as an added bonus, it offers some of the best kitesurfing in Southeast Asia! On one side there are a ton of beach-front luxury accommodations perfect for lounging, while the other windier side is ideal for kitesurfing and windsurfing. The windy season is during the dry, winter months, making Boracay perfect for kitesurfers who are looking to escape the bitter chill of winter. In addition to the kitesurfing, Boracay boasts tropical scenery, friendly natives and great nightlife making it the perfect spot for both families and kiteboarders alike.
5. Nabq, Egypt
Situated on the southeastern coast of the Sinai Peninsula in between Dahab and Sharm-el-Sheikh, Nabq, Egypt is by far one of the most exotic kitesurfing locations in the world. The Gulf of Aqaba provides the area with smooth and steady winds while the desert-like beach town provides a beautiful backdrop. The Red Sea is crystal clear and relatively smooth depending where you go, while the weather is great year-round. You won’t have to travel far to find glamorous chic resorts or basic backpacker accommodations, allowing you to lodge wherever you (and your budget) are most comfortable.
Like traveling, kitesurfing is all about adventure, and in addition to these spots, there are so many more to see. Start planning your travels and see where the wind takes you!
Editor’s note: We think Cape Town, South Africa should also be mentioned as one of the top kitesurfing destinations everyone should experience, although we might be a bit biased… 
What’s your favorite kitesurfing spot and why do you love it? Let us know in the comments below…
Update: We’ve had a lot of suggestions for top kiteboarding destinations from our readers via our social channels, so we’re planning on doing a follow up article that includes all the suggestions from you guys. So please post a comment below of your favourite spot and what you like about it, and we’ll include it our future post.
Image 1 (Maui, Hawaii) by Richard Hallman courtesy of the KSP World Pro Tour
Image 2 (La Ventana, Baja California) by Raúl Amador Geraldo
Image 3 (Maui, Hawaii) courtesy of the KSP World Pro Tour
Image 5 (Nabq, Egypt) courtesy of High Tech Kite Travel
About the author: Susan is a blogger for InStyleSwimwear.com, an online swimwear retailer based out of Philadelphia. To read more of Susan’s articles or to catch up on the latest news, styles and trends in the swimwear industry, check out their swimwear blog today.
Thanks for sharing this!!! I would like to suggest Diani Beach in Kenya , Paje and Kiwengwa on Zanzibar Island!
Thanks for the suggestions Francis. We’ll be sure to include them in our readers post once we’ve collected enough suggestions.
Francis says good words! Not nec. St. francis,, but I wholeheartedly AGREE with FRANCIS!!
Diani Beach, in Kenya,, yas!
As your tendency is towards the US …you missed River Gorge and spots in Florida. Dakhla in Marocco should be on the list as well. But the list is never complete without Prea in Brazil and other brazilian spots.
Thanks for the suggestions Michael. We’ll be sure to include these spots in our readers choice round up that we are planning to publish as soon as we have enough suggestions.
Please note that this article isn’t a top 5 spots post, but rather a 5 top spots… meaning that it is just 5 spots that the author suggests, and by no means claims to be the best 5 spots to kite. It is virtually impossible to list the top kitesurfing destinations, because everyone has a different opinion of what makes a spot great, and it is also almost impossible for one person to have kited at every single good spot around the world. So a list like this will always be subjective…
Our goal is to just collect and curate as many of the great spots around the world as we can, without ranking them in any order, or claiming one better than the other.
I’m surprised that Maui came in at number three when:
1) Maui is the place where all of the elements and people came together and created the sport known as kiteboarding,
2) Maui has enough wind to kite every month and other destinations are just seasonal,
3) the wind usually lines up perfectly for riding the world class waves,
4) on any trade-wind day there are waves to be surfed,
5) during the winter months you can kite with humpback whales breaching in the back ground,
6) Wainman Hawaii, Airsuh, Naish, Cabrihna, North, Core, Slingshot and Vari all test their kites here
7) you can surf from Maui to other islands and return in the same day.
8) we have world class resorts, golf, biking and restaurants.
All valid points Troy, but as I tried to explain in the comment above, this isn’t a ranked list, or even a list of the best spots. To stress this point and to avoid further confusion, we’ve added a note at the top of the list explaining this.
I’m sure you’ll agree that there no way to make an objective list that claims the best spots in the world, but we will do a future post that lists great spots that our readers like and what makes them so great. We’ll be sure to include all the points about Maui mentioned in your comment.
Thank you for your insightful contribution.
La Ventana is definitely one of the best kiteboarding locations in the world. You should visit this amazing mexican kite spot during the winter ( from October to March). More info about this kiteboarding destination: http://kitesurfvacation.com/?page_id=2156&lang=en
Barbados – specifically Silver Sands beach has been highlighted as one of the best launch areas for kitesurfing.
Awesome, thanks for the input Karla. We’ll email you for more information on the area before we write the next article.
Great! Looking forward to it, I can provide info and some pics.
Perfect, thanks Karla!
Good stuff! Can’t please everyone all the time, but any info on the topic is good info, IMO. I am from Atlanta, but have lived in Cabarete for almost 3 years. I learned in Cab when I moved here, so I am partial and hope you will include it in an article sometime. I am excited to hear about Cape Hatteras, since I am from the South and all!
Yeah, unfortunately we can’t… even though we did try to make it clear what the intentions of the post were…
Cabarete should definitely be on our up coming list, so we’ll email you when the time comes to ask if you can provide us a bit of information about the spots etc. Cape Hatteras is definitely a special place, and I was lucky enough to kite there many, many years ago…
That’s a bet. Def keep me in mind! I am a kite beach baby, but I frequent all of the spots within a close distance – and there are plenty. Strong winds to ya in the meantime!
Awesome! We’ll definitely be in touch… thank you!
Great article! Am looking for a good kite spot in October-November…
At the moment my partner and I are teaching kitesurfing on beautiful Koh Phangan with KiteSurfAsia Koh Phangan Kiteschool. Clear and flat water, white beaches, good winds: a beautiful paradise in the Gulf of Thailand.
Hopefully we’ll have a few good options for you in our coming post Diana…
Any votes for Blackpool?
Just got back from Soma Bay – by far the best spot in Egypt I’ve been to!
No votes for Blackpool yet Royston…
We’ve been hearing great things about Soma Bay lately too, especially with the recent Kite Racing Championships that were held there: http://www.inmotionkitesurfing.com/2014/african-kite-racing-championships-2014-results.
Why not Mauritius island? It is one huge place with many nice spots for each kiting level
Yeah, we definitely like Mauritius, especially One Eye for wave riding!
Have you seen our article on the East Coast?
http://www.inmotionkitesurfing.com/2013/mauritius-east-coast-kite-spot-guide
I’m from Dominican Republic but I’ve been living in Southern California for almost 4 years so I know about Ventana and I have been in North Carolina. and have to say that i’m very surprise that Cabarete it is not in your list . knowing that the winds are consistent year around, warm whether, great price in rental places, which all we like, not to mention the international competitions each June. Cabarete should be definitely in your list.
Hope next time!
Hi Yuliana,
Thank you for your input, regarding Cabarete. As we mentioned at the beginning of the article and in the comments above, this isn’t an all inclusive list of the top 5 destinations to kitesurf, but rather just 5 destinations out of many, many potential destinations that one should experience. We agree that Cabarete is a great spot, as are many others around the world, and if we get enough suggestions from readers, we’ll do a readers choice post that will include Cabarete and any other good spots that weren’t mentioned in this list.
Thank you.
where is the Gokova in Turkey? it should be in top 5 and i think best school is kitebasegokova.com from there.
Hi Zack,
Thank you for your suggestion. As mentioned at the start of the article: “this is NOT a ranked list of the top 5 kiteboarding destinations in the world, but rather just a list of top destinations we think you should experience.”. I think claiming that any one spot should be in the top 5 is rather subjective, as you are very unlikely to have kited at every single spot in the world, and we certainly haven’t. It’s for this reason that we titled the article 5 top kiteboarding destinations, and not “The Top 5 Kiteboarding Destinations”. I hope this makes more sense now.
We have been carrying out extensive research on the topic and came up with an interesting infographic which provides you with an overview of the top seven kitboarding destinations in the world. See if you agree with our findings: http://www.zenithoceanvoyages.net/2015/02/top-kiteboarding-destinations/
Bulaobog, Boracay from November to April is Kitesurfing heaven and direct flights from Asia hubs 2016 to avoid Manila! This place is gorgeous and the best party island ever, just 7km long and with something for everyone! Really inexpensive too, with plenty of affordable options for surfers right on Bulabog beach. Then after a surf-fest…just 10 mins walk to everything on offer on Whitebeach (surfing May to September). Enjoy.
There is a super spot south of Spain called Tarifa. Like Maui the wind blows pretty much every day. The world Kitesurf Championships has an event there and you can enjoy the amazing Spanish food as a bonus. You have hostels and some hotels and I believe the most expensive one cost around €300 per night in August. So it’s a non expensive location. There are 3 airports nearby and the views are amazing. Sandy beaches with even dunes. It’s like a paradise :).
There’s a really cool service called http://www.spotfreak.com which gives you real time wind info to the best spots you should hit this season. They even have flight search info from your local airport. That’s really cool!
Hi there,
for who wants a kite cruise in the Grenadines don’t hesitate to contact us at https://caribbeankitecruise.com/. We are the Official North Kiteboarding Catamaran, and our season runs from November to July (high season during winter).
Windchasers South Africa would like to mention the amazing diversity of our country when it comes to epic flat and wave conditions.
Come and visit South Africa!!!!
Season from Oct to March. Cheap for International travellers.
http://www.windchaserssa.com offers accommodation and lessons.
La Ventana is so sick, one of my favourite spots!!
Los Barriles is a great kiteboarding location in Mexico Baja California Sur From November through April each year the East Cape region of Baja California Sur is blessed with frequent “El Norte” winds that blow down the Sea of Cortez. The wide plain laying just South of Los Barriles bay has an accelerator effect on the wind drawing in and boosting its strength typically from mid-morning to late afternoon.
The El Norte winds tend to come in spells lasting several days with a few calm days between. Obviously winds can vary from year to year but typically we can expect 55 to 60% windy days each season – more for those riding the increasingly popular hydrofoil kite boards.
For launching and landing there is a wide sandy and uncrowded beach stretching for several miles in both directions. Winds invariably blow cross shore from left to right, typically starting around 11am and shutting down around 5pm. Winds strengths range from a steady breeze to very strong with a typical day averaging around 18 to 23 knots. Some sections of the beach experience moderate to heavy shore-break on windier days and there are a few clearly visible sections which can be rocky at in the latter parts of the season, but there are always plenty of easy entry points and exit points available.
The cross-shore winds mean there is ample space for all riders on the water to enjoy the occasionally sizable swells beloved of the surfboard style riders. Winds are relatively constant only becoming a little gusty late in the day especially in the most downwind area of the bay.
Vela Baja Hotel playa del sol offer accomodation, lessons and rentals http://velabaja.com/
Cape Hatteras sounds perfect for me. Seems to be not crowded, beutifull nature, flat water.
About Boracay – i heard that they dump all filth straight to the bay. You drink some water from bay – You suffer.
I suggest some european spots for egzample: Sardinia (Italy), Greek islands, Hel Peninsula (Poland), Bornholm Island (Baltic sea).
Hi all!
After years visiting the world to find the best kitespot I chose to settle in Sakalava Bay, North Madagascar, 20 km from Diego Suarez! We are blessed by incredible wind stats, blowing eight consecutive months at 25knots. Our Region has become lately THE paradise for kitesurf and also windsurf in Indian Ocean.
Wake up overlooking the magnificent white sand bank in the middle of the lagoon.
https://www.kiteparadise-madagascar.com/
Thanks again and we look forward to see you soon