Kiteboarding in Paros

The Greek island of Paros is a kitesurfing heaven. Beautiful, relaxed island with great, nearly constant, wind and crystal clear water. Here are some travel tips:

Arrival – We arrived in Athens by place, took a bus from the airport to Pireaus  (1 hour), and continued with a fast afternoon ferry directly to the island (3 hours, ~50 Euros).

The kiting beach is in Pounda, which is located in the laid back part of the island. There are two kite-surfing schools there, and I highly recommend Paros Kite. It has a very friendly atmosphere, their teaching staff seems very professionals and although we didn't take any lessons, they happily let us use their place for pumping the kites, washing the gear and for a few Euros, also store our gear overnight.

The real highlight of Paros Kite is their beach-front restaurant which has great music, good vibes and very descent food. That's where you'll spend your resting time between kiting sessions.

We stayed in the kite surfers friendly Holiday Sun hotel. A beautiful beach spot, 800m from the kiting beach. Staff is very friendly, kiters get deep discounts, and room rates includes breakfast and dinner.

Season is between April and September. Wind varies, but on the average is between 20-30 knots. We were less lucky last week, with wind drops down to 13 knots. Bring kites in different sizes. I used a 12m kite and a 9m one.

Misc: it's a great spot for beginners and experts alike. They have a rescue boat service so as a beginner, you never drift too far before someone is there to help you. Or, in my case, sudden 30 knots gust took me by surprise with a 12m kite, and I lost my board at sea. A board search mission was launched with a rescue board, with a happy ending.

Other things to do: On a non-windy day we rented motorcycles and circled the island. Lots of beautiful spots, cute small towns and great restaurants. Opposite the kiting beach there is a cool small island called Anti Paros, a 15m ferry ride away. It has good restaurants, bars, shopping (or so my friends say, I fell asleep the night they went).

source: http://blog.agmon.com/2012/07/12/kiteboarding-in-paros/

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