Fuerteventura Kiteboarding

After Fuerteventura was discovered in the eighties as a surfers paradise, the kitesurfers quickly followed. A lot of kitesurfers from the northern part of Europe used the opportunity to practise their sport as the flight time is only about four hours to strong winds, big waves, high temperatures and a lot of sun. Ideal conditions to practise all kinds of watersports. You can see the colourful kites as you approach the kitesurfbeaches near Corralejo and the Jandia coast.

Especially appealing to kitesurfers are the beaches of Jandia. The winds are very strong there because they are forced through the hills and are therefore enhanced. This phenomenon is also called the Sotavento Jet and occurs mainly in summer. This is the reason why since 1986, the International World Cups in Windsurfing (Freestyle, Speed and Slalom) and since 2001 also the freestyle, boardercross, hangtime, best tricks and kitespeed World Cup take place. Speeds of over 80 km/h can be reached! The hangtime (the time that board and rider are in the air) record is 8,87 seconds and was set here on Fuerteventura.

The Sotavento Jet is best left to the more experiences kiteboarder. To kitesurf there you should already have some experience and, for example, be able to sail up the wind because otherwise the prevailing northeast passat (tradewind) will take you out to open sea without you being able to reach the shore again! Beginners might, therefore, prefer to go to the beaches south of Corralejo or the lagoons near the dunes of Jandia (Risco del Paso). The wind overthere is a little bit less strong and in the lagoons of Jandia the water is only shallow which makes it easy to step on the board. Both the beaches of Jandia as the beaches near Corralejo have a special reserved watersport area. This to make sure there won´t be any collisions with other bathers.

Kitesurfing on the westcoast is only recommendable for experienced kitesurfers. Strong currents and high waves might be spectacular, but they can become dangerous for beginners. So just stick to spectating there if you are a beginner!

When you want to start kitesurfing it´s best to go to a kitesurfschool to get lessons, because kites can reach high speeds and you risk hurting yourself and others when you´re not able to keep your kite under control. There are kitesurfschool in Corralejo and in Jandia, where you can also rent kiteboards.

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