2019 is not over yet!
Kitesurfing in Kuwait during the first 6 months of 2019
During the first 6 months of 2019, I spent about 130 days in Kuwait while traveling the rest. Out of the 130 days I was in Kuwait, I went out kiting on 50 days. There were obviously windy days that I missed while traveling, but anyway starting with 50 days in Kuwait the first 6 months, I believe is quite inviting.
On those 50 days, the seasons have changed three time, from winter in January, through spring, and summer from May.
Wind
I would say from May onward, the wind has been consistently coming from North North West or North West directions, this season and wind is also know as Al Bawarih.
During this period, we started to kite on Subiya Lagoon, when we discovered that the North North West wind blows more frequently there and with more knots. The opening of the Sh. Jaber Causeway back in April, made the distance from Kuwait city to the Subiya spot less than 60 km. And subsequently having access to more days of strong Al Bawarih wind.
Bawarih , also al-Bawarih (Arabic البوارح, DMG al-Bawaari ; ancient Egyptian sebiu ), is the Arabic term for the hot northern winds, which cause an unpleasant climate at the beginning of the summer due to their appearance as desert storms in Kuwait , Libya and on the Arabian Peninsula and in Egypt . According to the Almanac , the hot north winds between the 22nd and 28th Bashans (28th May to 3rd June) arrive and then blow for about 40 days until mid-July
Google translate de.wikipedia.org
Winter months
During the winter and spring season, the most of the windy days are South East winds, however there are days of North North West wind that also blows big air. The South East wind comes more steady and less gust than the Northern directions wind. Also worth mentioning that usually over estimates the northern direction winds and underestimate the south eastern winds.
Tempreture
The water temperature in Kuwait starts to drop from November, where short or half wet suit are sufficient. During Jan through March the water temperature drops to 16 or 15 degrees, while air temperature goes down to 8 or 6 degrees, a full wet suit of 3.2mm or more is required.
From end of March onward, the use of wet suit become unnecessary, as air temperature starts to increase rapidly. The temperature stays well above 40 degrees from June through August. Having that said, when going out to kitesurf during these months, you must plan for shade area during break, and having enough water to stay hydrated. I also encourage everyone to wear lycra for UV protection.
Overall
From January to end of June this year, I was able to kite on 50 days, on 9m, 12m, and 15m kites. I would say most frequent was the 12m kite. I would also say most of the days were good kiting days, and I got to progress and learn new tricks while kiting in Kuwait. As of second week of July I’m in Spain, and I will stay in Tarifa till August, which puts me away from covering kite conditions in Kuwait, but hopefully I will be able in the coming days to add some insights about kitesurfing in Tarifa.
Half year in media
Note that some of the pictures are courtesy of Yousef Alqallaf
