Hurghada
Wind, schools and cheap lessons in and around the city — less refined than El Gouna, considerably cheaper, and more variable.
- Season
- Best roughly April to September, with usable days year-round.
- Wind
- North to north-west, with more turbulence near the built-up areas.
- Launch
- Various, mostly attached to hotels along the northern strip and out towards El Gouna. Quality of the launch varies enormously.
Hurghada has wind and has schools, and it is the cheapest place on the coast to take a lesson. What it does not have is a single good beach the way El Gouna does — conditions vary a lot between launches, and some of them are genuinely poor.
Choose the centre rather than the city. A good Hurghada school on a good stretch is excellent value; a cheap one on a gusty hotel beach is a bad week.
Suits
- Riders on a budget
- Anyone already staying in Hurghada who wants sessions rather than a kite holiday
- Combining kiting with everything else the city has
Hazards
- Wind quality is the issue. Buildings and hotel blocks produce gusty, turbulent air at some launches that simply does not exist at Mangroovy.
- Boat traffic near the marina and the day-trip departure points.
- Reef and shallow coral at several spots — local knowledge matters more here than anywhere else on the coast.