Kitesurfing on Corsica’s east coast

Everyone says kitesurfing on Corsica’s east coast is not possible. There’s never any wind and when there is, it’s too little and when there is enough, it’s completely offshore. None of that is true. I was here for 10 days in July. I was out for several hours on four days. I had a 12 and a 19 kite with me. I only used the latter. But it works.

My kitesurfing spot is about 15 kilometres north of Aleria. A wide sandy beach, no trees, but no bays either. No rocks and plenty of space. The wind forecasts from Windfinder.com are practically never right. There are no fixed times, the wind can come at any time of day and from any direction.

Of course, that means a lot of waiting. But at some point it comes, usually diagonally onshore from the south-east, sometimes from the north-east. The wind is always very laminar, gusts are minimal and easy to flatten. The swell depends on the wind direction. In the north-east it can be a good metre at 15 knots, in the south-east it is significantly less.

There are no shops nearby, just a few surf schools. You have to bring all your own kitesurfing equipment. In the 10 days I’ve been here, I’ve only seen one other kiter, which means that there are always enough people to launch and land and they are generally quite friendly if you walk against the wind on the beach.

Of course, you can’t make big jumps at 15 knots… but you learn other things. Shallow water heating in the surf zone. Maximum upwind running. Or even a kiteloop with a 19 to turn round. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to go over to the west coast this year. Spots like Ile Rousse must be a marvellous kitesurfing mecca – with supposedly around 25-30 knots almost every day.

In the evening, there are bonfires on the beach almost every night – now finally with live music from a couple of good guys from Munich. We burn whole tree trunks including thousands of ants. The sun rises.

Kitesurfing on Corsica’s east coast was a bit quiet and not every day – but nice and wonderfully relaxed after the Neusiedler kite wars a few weeks ago.