Kitesurfing offshore wind: why beginners should avoid it

Kitesurfing offshore wind is a risky choice for beginners. It blows from the land out to sea, so if you crash, can't relaunch your kite or simply run out of energy, it carries you away from the beach. The safest wind for kitesurfing blows along the shore or at an angle from the sea onto it. Those directions are known as sideshore and side-onshore.

Wind direction decides whether a session is safe just as much as wind speed does. The same wind can suit a beginner on one beach and be unsafe further along the coast, because the shoreline bends.

Being wary of the wind when you're starting out is normal. It gets easier once you know what each direction will do to you when something goes wrong.

How to find the wind direction on the beach

Face the wind and turn your head until you hear it equally in both ears. You're now looking straight into it. Beach flags help, and so does a handful of sand dropped from your hand.

Then turn to face the sea. Wind in your face is onshore, wind on your back is offshore, and wind from the side running along the beach is sideshore. The angled directions in between are side-onshore and side-offshore, which makes 5 in total.

When reading a wind forecast, compare the direction with the shape of the coast where you plan to ride. Check it again on the beach and ask local kiters about the effects of nearby obstacles.

The 5 wind directions relative to the shore

Side-onshore and sideshore: where you learn

During your course and for a while after it, you'll lose a bit of ground downwind on most runs. Riding upwind, getting back to where you started, is something you learn after your first rides. In side-onshore wind every mistake drifts you back towards the beach, just a bit further along it. That's why instructors and experienced riders treat it as the safest direction.

Sideshore runs along the beach. It tends to be steadier when it arrives over open water without obstacles. An upwind headland can make this direction gusty too. Along a straight coastline, the wind alone carries you parallel to the beach, without bringing you ashore. Before you launch, check how you will get back and where you can safely leave the water if you end up further downwind.

For your first independent sessions after a course, go with another kiter. Stay within swimming distance of shore while leaving room between you and the beach, people and obstacles. Riding independently after lessons still means having someone who can help if you get into trouble.

Kiteboarding in onshore wind: looks easy, needs upwind

Onshore wind blows straight from the sea onto the beach. It comes in over open water, so it tends to be steadier than wind off the land. Buildings or dunes behind the beach can still make it messy right at the water's edge.

The catch is that onshore pushes you straight back at the shore. From the moment you start you have to ride upwind, or you're back on the sand. Waves and current make getting away from the beach harder. And a small mistake close in, like your kite surging in a gust, can drag you out of the water onto sand, rocks or people.

I'd leave onshore days until you can ride upwind reliably and use your quick release. This main emergency release opens the main connection to your harness, which transfers the kite's pull to your body while you steer with the control bar. The pull drops substantially, but the safety leash keeps the kite attached to you. Complete separation uses a separate release.

Offshore kitesurfing: why it's the riskiest direction

Offshore wind blows away from the shore. It has 3 traits that stack up against a beginner.

It carries you away from the beach. If you fall, your kite stays down in the water or your lines tangle, the wind takes you out to sea. During self rescue, getting yourself back without outside help, you can use the kite as a sail and actively steer towards shore. That won't bring you ashore in offshore wind, because the wind blows away from it. Practise the procedure with an instructor before you need it.

It can be gusty behind obstacles. If the wind crosses trees, houses, rocks or dunes on its way to the water, they create turbulence downwind. Your kite can be powered one moment and dropping the next. A rough guide for gusty wind and turbulence is 7 times the height of the obstacle, but that isn't a boundary beyond which the wind is guaranteed to be steady. Trees and buildings break the wind up more than low sand dunes. I know this from snowkiting on Moldava in the Czech mountains: when the wind comes off the forest and I'm close to it, the kite gets restless and I have to move further away.

It can be misleading at the beach. Wind behind obstacles can be lighter or changeable, while conditions further out are different. That depends on both the obstacles and the wind speed. A light breeze while you rig on a sheltered beach doesn't tell you what to expect further from shore.

For your first independent sessions after a course, skip offshore and side-offshore days, even when they look gentle. Experienced riders still need a rescue boat already on the water, a trained rescue operator and someone ashore who knows they are out. Shallow water doesn't replace those arrangements.

Same wind, different shoreline

Wind direction is always judged against the stretch of beach you're on. Riding sideshore near a point where the coast bends away, the wind turns side-offshore past that point. In a bay, sideshore can turn onshore where the beach curves round.

Islands make this obvious: the same northwesterly blows onshore on one side and offshore on the other. Before riding a new spot, walk along the beach a bit and ask local kiters where the wind changes and where not to go.

When you're still unsure about the conditions

If you're unsure which conditions you can handle, I'd take another lesson. A kite safari in Egypt offers shallow lagoons, lessons with instructors and an included rescue boat. The beginner course costs €600 for 6 days including equipment, and a refresher after previous lessons costs €180 for 3 hours. Before riding, agree with your instructor where you'll kite and how help is arranged; a boat listed in the package isn't a reason to head out independently in offshore wind.

Before you pump up: 5 checks

1. Find the direction. Face the wind, listen with both ears, and compare it with the line of the beach.
2. Look downwind. What's where the wind will take you: beach, open sea, a pier, rocks, people.
3. Look upwind. Buildings, trees or dunes can cause gusts. Treat roughly 7 times their height as a guide, not the edge of a safe zone.
4. Make sure you can get back. If you can't ride upwind yet, skip onshore days.
5. Know who will help you. Offshore and side-offshore require a boat already on the water with a trained rescue operator and someone ashore who knows you're out. Stay ashore if any of that is missing; skip these directions for your first independent sessions even with a boat.

When assessing wind for kitesurfing, consider its direction and strength alongside the shape of the coast and your own ability. If you're unsure you can handle the conditions, stay ashore.