A Kite Safari – The truth behind the Kite Holiday

Let’s talk about a different perspective of a kite safari. My perspective. I’ve been organizing kite safari since 2015, and I’ve seen many things happening on and off the water (and on and off board). Here I want to tell you a few details that may surprise you about what is like organizing these trips.

1. Saturdays are crazy

Saturday is the first day of our kite safari, the day all kiters come on board. But Saturdays are also the last day of a kite safari! So, while my team rests, I need to be on point and ready for a new week—the boat needs to be prepared, and we don’t have much time. So yeah, Saturdays are crazy – some more than others…

I normally wake up around 7am on Saturday in El Gouna and I head straight to the boat. I have breakfast on board with the kiters from the kite safari week before. I say a few goodbyes and make sure all transfers are organized to the airport. That’s when my phone starts ringing. It won’t stop all day.

So far so good.

I head around 10am to the storage to pick up anything I may need for next week, and on the way I buy coffee (we never have enough), and print some papers we may need. If some kite broke down, I may try a last second reparation in El Gouna, so I will organize a transfer for my kites to be repaired in El Gouna and back. I order beers and wine for the week. Around 11am we start cleaning and preparing the boat for next week (ok, I don’t do any cleaning, but I help out with moving things). In the meanwhile, new kiters are arriving on board (normally they start arriving from midday). They don’t arrive all together at the same time, so slowly I welcome everyone on board and explain a little bit how is life on board.

I order sushi, cause I need sushi to solve problems. Baggage lost? I’m on it. Forgot a kite? Let’s see what I have on board. And so on. Kiters arrive till well over midnight sometimes, and I need to thank my team, as they most of the times help me out after 10pm. The team is off from Friday afternoon till Saturday night (they need to rest) – I head home around 11pm, to have a last night home – I will wake up at 5am to go to back to the boat. The kite safari starts at 7am on Sunday. Saturdays are crazy.

2. Not all yachts are the same

In pictures, all yachts seem nice, but reality is sometimes different. I always use the same yacht to avoid surprises in quality and crew (since the crew needs experience), but I’ve made mistakes in the past by choosing the wrong yacht.

Right now, with Heaven Liberty, New Regency and Galaxy, I feel safe when organizing a kite safari. I know i’m in good hands, I know the food will be good, I know the crew will be on point, and I know there will be no surprises like extra costs. Period.

3. The stress of filling up the yacht

Why it’s so important to have a full yacht? Cause when I rent a yacht, I pay a fixed cost REGARDLESS of how many kiters will come on board. Having half yacht full for example means literally losing money, for me as an organizer. So yeah, the yacht needs to be as full as possible. That’s why it’s a problem when someone cancels last second. So please don’t cancel last second.

4. Every week is different

You would think that all weeks for us are the same, but they are not. Every week is unique: my kiters are always different, and the chemistry of the group is always different. So it’s always fun for me.

5. I don’t pay for Gas

Moving the yacht doesn’t cost me money, it costs me time. Every time we move the yacht, we lose valuable time that could be spent kitesurfing (the yacht moves only with the light, to avoid hitting any hidden reef). That’s why we can’t move the boat every day to go to a new spot. We try to spend 2 days per spot, and we aim to vist at least 3 kite spots. We may visit more, we may visit less.

6. It’s important for us to have a good time

Ok, it’s work. But we spend a week at sea all together. It’s very important for us to have a good time while on board, so we try our best to create good energy. Good energy brings back good energy. This actually happens all the time, and I can’t remember a trip where I didn’t have fun.

That’s it for the moment, I will add more stories and details soon…