Dahab got something! ❤ Kitesurf-Reisen.eu

Dahab is different from the rest of Egypt. Mass tourism is far away. And it will stay that way for some time to come. The journey from Germany is a little tougher, taking at least 15 hours from check-in. A large international community of digital nomads lives a colourful life here. The most important thing for us, however, is that the wind blows very reliably over shallow water at a pleasant 30 degrees, even in October.

I meet up with friends from England, Berlin and Munich for a good time. Pegasus Airlines rewrites ancient mythology into a contemporary “boom bomber to Bangkok”. Despite a long stopover in Istanbul, they don’t even offer free water, let alone any free food. I had been looking for a cheap way to get here for a long time. But even the cheap and fast flights to Hurghada are no longer an option now that the ferry service to Sharm El Sheikh has been cancelled.

After landing in Sharm El Sheikh, the transfer bus takes us to the last hotel before the world-class diving spot Blue Hole within an hour and a half. The Tropitel Dahab Oasis offers by far the best food in 15 stays in Egypt, good rooms and super friendly staff. As everywhere in the Sinai, swimming is rather difficult due to the rocky beach – but that’s not what we’re here for anyway. In the evening, we look out over the Gulf of Aqaba to the glowing red mountains of Saudi Arabia 40 kilometres away.

The hotel is just ten kilometres north of Dahab’s main kite spot, the lagoon. But the road to the hotel is very bad. Thanks to numerous speed bumps, it takes us 20 minutes to get to the spot by taxi on some days. But as someone always needs an ATM on every journey or has forgotten something, we often need an hour.

My British friend Dan recommends the Soulkiters centre right by the lagoon. Bull’s eye! Super nice Russian owner, compressor, shower, toilet and storage for €10 a day. Storage is only charged if you also go kiting. You can also hire kiteboards for €10 a day. The Soulkiters provide training via radio 1:1 in the safe standing area of the small lagoon. Only after a few days do I realise that expats from Russia and Ukraine are sitting around a table peacefully discussing the wind. The world needs more places like this…

With 15 kiters and five students, it gets quite crowded on the lagoon. If you want more space, go out at the western end of the lagoon and walk across a 200 metre wide spit of land full of broken glass to the open sea. Here the wind blows a little stronger and more constant – but also side offshore. The entrance to the lagoon lies somewhat in the wind cover of the buildings. The wind blows at 18 to 25 knots almost every day. The mountains in front of Dahab and the buildings in the town make the wind a little bit stubborn.

Although there are practically no dangers in the lagoon, kite buddy Chris somehow manages to tear his feet up and down several times on the very first day. At high tide, you can jump from the approx. 300 by 500 metre lagoon in the west over a three metre wide sandbank into the surfing area in front of Harry Nass. Officially, kitesurfing is prohibited here.

The wind system in Dahab is slightly different to the rest of the Red Sea. Presumably due to the mountainous hinterland with its stronger heating, a thermal current forms from midday that is slightly opposite to the main wind direction from the north/north-west. On the Red Sea, the wind usually blows until late afternoon, with the strongest peaks around 2.00 pm. Here in Dahab, the sea wind wakes up in the middle of the night and then goes back to sleep by 2.00 pm at the latest. We are at the Soulkiters centre almost every day from 9.00 am, take advantage of the stronger winds until midday and rest in the afternoon.

At low tide, the kiteable area is reduced by up to two thirds. You then also have to walk a little way to the water. You should definitely check the tide charts before planning your holiday! We were unknowingly lucky: the tide was mostly in the windy morning hours. If it shifts towards the afternoon, this can restrict your kitesurfing holiday quite a bit.

The best wind forecast is Windguru Dahab WRF3. It is almost always accurate to the knot and the hour. The Soulkiters station also feeds in live wind data. There’s always a bit of chop in the lagoon – and unfortunately not a single area with really flat water. I test the Surfr app on the Garmin Watch. My top values as calculated in Surfr.ai are around 7.2 metres. Feels correct. The real-time altitude display on the Garmin is simply completely wrong.

The city centre of Dahab is a lively international crowd. Some of the expats seem pretty stuck in their ways. Presumably also a result of the delicious strawberry ice cream swirling through the air everywhere. Belgians invite us to a pub quiz evening. Afterwards, the good Blue Beach Bar plays clean techno at high beer prices with a gay quota of 70%. We only go out once. We usually fall straight into bed after dinner and go kiting again early in the morning.

Unfortunately, we don’t manage a downwinder over eight kilometres from Assala Beach north of Dahab down to the lagoon. The wind dies down a little on the last few days – but there’s always plenty of other things to do. Dahab is something…

The return flight to Bangkok with Pegasus Air is a real bum-bomber. On the outward flight, Pegasus Air smashes my bag. Response to my e-mail within two weeks: Zero. The return flight from Sharm El Sheikh is first brought forward, then arrives an hour later. The rows of seats in the Airbus A321 are the narrowest of all my 150-plus flights. At 1.93 metres tall, I have to spread my legs to somehow fit in. There is absolutely no room to move, let alone recline. My feet fall asleep and my knees hurt. I have no problems with wooden class. But this was way below that. For a small water 3 €. No free snack at all. For a meal €25. They even want to charge €3.99 for 15 years of old films (on your own mobile phone via WLAN). Pegasus Air? Never again!

Dahab Pro: