The Salty and Windy Red Sea: Soma Bay, Egypt
The beautiful Red Sea has some of the bluest waters that you will find on this planet and it also delivers wind 300+ days a year. These two factors make it one of the best places to visit if you are kiter.
Quick Location Overview:
Windy Months: March — October (but they say they get 300 windy days/year)
Air Temperature: 25–40°C (77–104°F)
Water Temperature: 21–28°C (70–82°F)
Water Flatness: Flat along the bay beaches and ocean chop in the open bays
Beach/Ground Type: Sandy with coral in certain areas
Wind Direction: NNW — NNE
Wind speed: 16–28knts
Wind time: Morning to early afternoon (6am — 3pm)
Wind Expectations: 6 out of 7 days
Experience level: Beginner — Expert
Gear rental/Storage: 7Bft Kitehouse
Accommodation: The Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge, The Sheraton, Robinson Club, Kempinski
Closest Airport: Hurghada Airport (Airport Code: HRG)
My trip suggestion: Stay and eat at The Breakers and store your gear at 7Bft Kitehouse. The Breakers has a shuttle that runs every 30mins between the two locations (5min drive).
Wind Conditions: The wind blows in from the NNW in the early morning and turns around to NNE as the day progresses during the peak summer months. The wind normally reaches its maximum at 11am and then finishes up around 2pm but if the wind is blowing strong in the morning (25+ knts), you will expect to see the wind stick around longer in the afternoon.
Water Conditions: The water is warm (~26°C) and you most likely will not need a wetsuit for most of the year. The waters around the Soma Bay region are turquoise due to the shallow sandy ocean floor and clarity of the water.
The kiting area around the 7Bft Kitehouse is a bay with small sand dunes protecting its beaches which makes for it being such a great place to kite. The water is flat (<10cm chop) around the edges and then small chop (30cm) as you venture further out. If you kite early in the morning the wind blows more from the west giving glass like conditions along the western beach. This makes for a great speed spot and I have reached 53.2km/h (recorded using my Trace GPS Tracker).
Where to stay: The best place to stay if you are wanting a comfortable and clean hotel is The Breakers Diving and Surfing Lodge. They offer nice hotel rooms at an affordable rate with halfboard meals included. The food was mostly western but it was fresh and they did Egyptian themed nights once a week where the food was fantastic.
Note: It is mostly Germans that visit this area (>70%). Nobody could tell me why.
How to get there: The best way to get to Soma Bay is to fly into Hurghada airport and have your hotel pick you up. The drive to Soma Bay takes about 40 minutes. Flights to Hurghada from Europe can be cheap (especially from Germany) but they have started to reduce the number of flights to this area recently as they are not getting the visitor numbers like they did in the past.
Is it safe: The area of Soma Bay is a gated community with only a few hotels so it is quite safe. There has been some troubles of recently around Hurghada (40mins North) but don’t let that reflect on the Soma Bay region as this area is a lot smaller.
Experience level needed: If you have never kiteboarded before or if you have since the sport started, Soma Bay is a fantastic place to kite. The shallow waters around 7Bft Kitehouse make it one of the best places to learn and they always have rescue boats.
The 7Bft Kitehouse has separated the bay into two areas. The East side for Beginners and the West for more experienced kiters.
Note: I want to make a comment that the 7Bft Kitehouse is something pretty amazing. It is a huge dedicated kite surfing facility with air conditioned lounge area inside, bar/cafe, kite shop, kite school, storage lockers and sun beds. It does cost money to kite here but it is well worth it as the facilities are the best I have seen anywhere in the world to date.
Who goes there: It seems like there is a lot of German couples traveling to this area. There is very few solo travelers (<5%) but you will always find people to talk to at the 7Bft kitehouse.
Internet: The hotels and the 7Bft Kitehouse all have pretty good free wifi but be aware, it is an unsecured network and VPNs don’t seem to work in Egypt either.
No wind activities: The Red Sea is famous for diving so when the wind isn’t on you can always go and check out the underwater action. Also, the area around Soma Bay is very historic with Luxor being a great day trip to see some of the Egyptian ruins.
Must Do Activities: The down winder to Tobia Island (4km South) is a must as the waters around the island are just amazing. Tobia Island is uninhabited but it does get a lot of day boats with people snorkeling and diving.
Luggage Tip: The Soma Bay/Hurgahda region has quite a few golf courses so saying you are traveling with a golf bag works well at the airport. Just remember to keep it under 23kg (50lbs) and use a bag that says GOLF on it.
Have I left anything out? Feel free to comment below to help others out with this kiting location. Also make sure to checkout my blog for many other reviews of kiting locations at www.ikite.surf
Originally published at iKite.Surf.
