New Windsurf / Kitesurf Centre opens on Kenya Coast.
H2O Extreme Watersports, East Africa’s first dedicated kitesurf and windsurf centre, opened Christmas 2003 at Diani Beach on the South Coast of Kenya.
Kenya is windsurfing and kitesurfing’s best kept secret! Warm water, constant side-shore trade winds, flat water in the lagoon and down-the-line wave riding on the reef.
Combine this with Africa’s best game parks, beautiful coastline, and a wealth of alternative activities (from climbing Kilimanjaro to scuba diving) to make an unbeatable holiday destination. And just over 7 hours from London, with warm water and no sharks it has a distinct advantage over other destinations like South Africa.
The Watersports Centre is located at the Nomads Beach Hotel. It’s not a ‘hotel’ in the real sense, but rather a collection of beach-front cottages surrounded by a magnificent tropical forest. In addition to the watersports centre, the complex features the famous Nomads Beach Bar & Restaurant and Kenya’s top PADI scuba-dive centre.
All windsurf and kitesurf equipment is from Naish Hawaii, everything brand-new for 2004. For windsurfing the fleet includes 2004 Kailuas, Titans and Supercross boards with Evolution and Boxer sails rigged on Naish carbon masts. For kitesurfing the fleet includes 2004 Sky Pirates, Soft-deck TTs, Haze TTs and Stubbie boards with Xeon, Explorer, X3 and V4 kites.
With light morning breezes and flat water inside the reef it’s perfect for beginners. Wide, uncrowded beaches means it’s easy to launch kites and practice kite control without fear of landing your kite in a palm tree. Intermediate windsurfers and kiters can blast happily inside the reef whilst, for wave-sailors, the reef picks up fun-sized swell year-round, reaching logo to mast-high on big days during the monsoon season (June-August). The best time to travel is December to March when the Kaskazi trade wind blows side-shore (port tack) F3-5 every day. Average year round temperature is a tropical 29 degrees.
A range of windsurf and kitesurf lessons are available. The windsurf curriculum is based on the RYA’s 5-Level system whilst kitesurfing courses follow BKSA and IKO guidelines. We guarantee 2:1 ratios for all lessons with Level 1 windsurfing generally being one-on-one. Rental rates and lessons are keenly priced – roughly 10-15% cheaper than equivalent centres in Europe.
Extreme-Safari, specialists in sports and adventure travel in East Africa, can arrange complete kitesurf and windsurf packages from the UK. Most clients combine their trip with a safari and can chose from a range of other activities including mountain climbing, mountain biking, white water rafting, golf, fishing and scuba-diving. Extreme-Safari, in conjunction with their IATA bonded-partners, can arrange everything from flights and accommodation to safaris.
Craig Rogers, the UK-based director of H20 Extreme, said “we have made it our mission to put Kenya firmly on the map for kitesurfing and windsurfing. The Kenya Coast has so much potential for watersports – this has been sorely overlooked for the past few years and has resulted in Kenya losing ground to alternative destinations. We hope to change all that!”
For further information and rates log on to www.extreme-safari.com or www.h20-extreme.com email [email protected] or call 0207 652 7577 or 07818 007 163.
