In mid April we had our first surf camp with our coach Kristiin and her crew from Surftown. As Anne-Mai is expecting a baby, Triin was, unfortunately, the only one representing us.
In general, El Gouna surprised a lot. Somehow we have always been a bit sceptical about it, because it’s in Egypt and the impression about Egypt in the eyes of Estonians is not always the best. Estonians are quite modest and therefore the locals may seem a bit too intrusive and even repulsive, but it was nothing like that in El Gouna. The city is nice and quiet, separated from the buzz of Hurghada and all the tourist over there. It was also surprisingly clean and safe.
Spot: El Gouna is known for its wide lagoon that is surrounded by a reef and therefore completely flat. Ok, the water gets a bit choppy when its 10m/s wind, but you can still consider it flat. There’s space for everybody – both kitesurfers and windsurfers. And you have turquoise water!
The lagoon is also shallow around 500m and then gets deep. Depending on the low or high tide the lagoon area depth is from 20cm up to waist, therefore perfect for all level surfers. The bottom of the lagoon is mostly sandy, but there are visible spots of corals that you need to avoid or wear boots to be safe! The beach strip is also wide and sandy providing enough space for rigging.
Furthermore, the surfing area is nicely marked – there different areas for beginners and advanced riders so that no one would disturb each other.
Weather: The weather is nice all year round, in April there’s 10h of sunlight which is basically all that people from northern regions need for a good vacation 🙂 The day temperature was around 26-28 degrees and in the evening around 20. It rarely rains, mostly during winter months (December-February).
The wind is blowing mainly from the same direction – NW. NE and SW winds are quite rare and more common during winter months. Thanks to the trade winds the wind is quite constant and according to local surf school statistics you have 70% of windy days per year. We were extremely lucky with the wind as we had wind in 6 days out of 7.
The water temperature was around 23 degrees. It was the only downer regarding the spot, because you still need a wetsuit. There was a day when you could kite in bikinis, but as Triin was practicing mainly her jumping skills, then occasional splashes in the water were guaranteed. So wetsuit it was.
Unfortunately there was a fire last November so that the surf club was completely burnt down. They opened the school once again in the beginning of April and they’re still rebuilding it. As told the new club is even bigger then before.
The club hosts a nice cafe with very tasty dishes and reasonable prices. There’s also an office with very helpful staff (always willing to call you a tuc-tuc to go home). There’s enough room to store your kiting equipment + dry your equipment. We had our equipment stored there throughout the week, meaning you didn’t need to carry the stuff along and needed only a backpack to go to the beach. You can also find changing rooms, lockers, restrooms, showers, etc. essential. There’s also a wide relaxation area with sunbeds and a children playground. Basically you can spend the entire day there and not to worry about anything.
There’s also a compressor and helpful beach boys who will pump the kite and also help you to pack the kite when session finished. Of course they help you to launch-land and even do your lines if the beach is not too crowded. There’s also a rescue boat working from 9am-5pm.
We were completely surprised how well the surf club functions!
Kiting experience: As already told we were lucky with the weather and had 6 windy days out of 7. In the first days Triin kited with a 14m2 and 12m2 kite, but at the end even the 5m2 was overpowered.
Triin went to El Gouna with one mission only – to master jumping with a grab. So far we only knew how to jump and those jumps weren’t even that high, but it still remained a mystery at which moment you should let go one hand. Must say that it was rather an inner fear that had stopped us from trying it so far. But there Triin was – to learn the damn thing!
Of course the first days kiting with a 14m2 kite were quite disastrous – too much hassle to get a decent jump. But then, when the wind picked up and Triin managed to fly either the 12m2 or 9m2 kite – suddenly everything was so much easier. Kristiin also gave some good tips and encouraged to edge more and move the bar faster so that the kite wouldn’t start stalling. Don’t get wrong now – there were plenty of crashes, swallowing of salty seawater, losing the board and crashing the kite, but better day by day!
When the wind picked up even more and Triin started with a 7m2 kite everything seemed so easy. Edging enough – easy! Moving the kite quickly to 12 – easy! Gaining enough height – easy! Getting enough hang time – easy! As the crashes and kite stalling occasions followed with a crash decreased, Triin gained more and more confidence to try the damn grab.
The feeling after the first attempt of grabbing which ended with even a perfect landing was amazing! It wasn’t as tricky as we had imagined! On the contrary – it is very easily doable even with a smaller jump. So practicing the jump with grab continued and Triin was happy like a puppy! Mission completed! No we only need to improve the style of our grabs 🙂
The restaurants we visited offered good food at a really reasonable price (not to say cheap comparing to the prices in Estonia). Also the pricing in supermarkets or fruit shops is cheap. The only place where they try to rip you off is in souvenir shops so be ready to bargain the price down (something that Triin hates!).
As we had windy days and spent most of our days either on the beach or in the pool, then we didn’t do much more than nice group dinners in the evenings. It was a true surf camps – people where on the beach already at 9am, which meant that bedtime was also at a reasonable time 🙂
Activities on no wind days: As we had only one no wind day, then Triin took the kids snorkelling. We rented SUP boards and went to discover the underwater world. Of course it’s not a true experience that you could get from a real snorkelling trip, but it was enough for the kids. But there’s also a cool wake park in El Gouna, many golf fields, tennis and squash fields, karting, horseback riding, etc. Of course you can do all the tourist tours if like – like bedouin desert trips, etc.
As a conclusion, El Gouna is a perfect spot for a quick 1 week getaway. For Estonians like us it is the closest spot that is warm enough day and night during spring time. As our weather is quite cold for most of the year we always seek for warm sunny places. And have found a new one. Most possibly will go back to El Gouna one day, because need to drag Anne-Mai there as well!
