When you dream of learning kitesurfing and you live in Poland (or you are there for vacations) the easiest and most obvious choice when it comes to starting your adventure with this sport will be Hel Peninsula. It is a place not only for beginner kitesurfers, but also for advanced ones, some of them have been coming there every year for twenty years! This place has such a unique atmosphere that it attracts crowds year after year and if you go there once, you will definitely want to come back there many times. Not only the wind conditions make Hel a unique place, but also people who are able to talk about wind and new tricks for hours, wide sandy beaches, sunrises and sunsets, events that last until dawn and it’s an escape from the big city noise.
The headland is 35 kilometers long, so you will find dozens of different schools and kitesurf rentals, both smaller and larger, so you will surely find one that will meet all your requirements.
What conditions can you expect there? First of all – on the side of the Puck Bay you will find perfectly flat and long (even up to 1000 meters from the shore) shallow water, while on the side of the Baltic Sea you will find a spot with small waves. It gives many possibilities, both for those who want to try their hand at a directional board, for those who want to practice freestyle, and also for beginners. The great advantages of this place are the sandy bottom, no reefs (so you don’t have to worry about your feet), huge spaces and no tides (so significant that they affect the water conditions).
In high season (May – September), wind statistics show that it blows for about 50% of days (a little bit better in May and September), so it is also worth going there when wind forecasts show that in the coming days you can expect a good wind. On the Hel Peninsula, the wind usually blows from the west, so it’s the side shore wind.
Hel also has a well-developed accommodation base, the most popular option is to sleep at campsites located in each of the towns (Chałupy, Kuźnica, Jastarnia, Jurata, Hel).