While all borders have been closed by health authorities in Kuwait about a week ago, I got to cross borders and kite on the water between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia on Christmas day. The kite session on the very south shore of Kuwait with side-shore winds blowing from the North was very thrilling, as any accident could drift one downwind crossing Kuwait-Saudi’s borders.
When I returned from El Gouna earlier this month, and after finishing my two weeks of house quarantine, I got a call from Abdulaziz Albanna, athlete and kite instructor, telling me about the newly discovered spot on the very south end of Nuwaiseeb ‘ النويصيب ‘, about 110 km south of Kuwait City, and 1.5km north of Kuwait-Saudi‘s border. Nuwaiseeb is known for its shallow water and sandbanks appearing during low-tide.
The spot is one of my favorite spots so far I have been to it twice already, a day on a South East wind, and the recent day was on North North West wind direction. On both directions the spot was amazing, but maybe some of cons are that during high-tide the beach gets narrower to launch and land kites comfortably. and the area is full of ruins and rocks on the shoreline, in addition to the piles of trash that people leave behind. during both days three kites got ripped while parked on the beach because of the waste and rocks all over the shore. But this won’t stop us from kiting there, maybe we will be adding a new warm up activity and start cleaning up the area more.
Only during the peak of the high-tide that the shoreline gets narrower, for the rest of the day, the water drifts away from the beach, and it becomes an easier and smoother kite setup experience.
The shallow-water area goes more than 1 km into the sea, and the depth of the water varies from 3 to 4 ft during high-tide, and about 1 ft during low-tide. Compared to Dubaiya, from my experience of kitesurfing there, the depth in Dubiaya is generally more, and especially during high-tide, it gets deeper than 6 feet all the way to the shore, which makes the water very choppy. On the contrary, in Nuwaiseeb, even during the high-tide, there is a plenty of flat water spots and more comparable to the conditions of spots like Tawila Island and Ashrafi islands on the Red Sea. I find Nuwaiseeb as one of the most beautiful kitesurfing spots in Kuwait, with clear water, sand bottom, and vast space of flat and glassy water. Kitesurfing in Nuwaiseb during high-tide or low-tide can be equally beautiful and fun.
Getting There..
Reaching the spot in Nuwaiseeb is not hard at all. It’s about an hour and a half ride from Kuwait city, with only the last 1 km off road. The off road track is very decent and probably any car could reach to the spot on the beach by following the track. The spot is located in an abandoned house on the beach surrounded with trees and plenty of space to park. It is also common to see other people having a picnic around the area or motor bikers passing by.
On different wind directions, the spot will have different favorability. I would certainly favor the south wind direction, to prevent the risk of crossing borders, specially for beginner riders. The other direction that could work is the North North West as the wind blows side shore. However, with NNW direction, I should be careful and have enough buffer for drifting down wind as end Kuwait-Saudi border is only 1.5 km away.
Thank you for reading. I wish you happy holidays and a wonderful new year.
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