Whilst Isla's knee issues have put a damper on 2008's skiing & snowkiting fun, it did give us the opportunity to try something new in the form of a hot place winter holiday. Believe it or not, this is the first time in 12 years we've done this! Anyway, we chose a visit El Gouna on the Red Sea coast of Egypt, just North of Hurghada. It's a very pleasant resort, largely geared towards diving (always fun if there's no wind) and there are a couple of handy kiting locations. We stayed in the Movenpick hotel which was handy as that's where The Dive Tribe and  The Kite People are based (You don't need to be staying in the Movenpick to kitesurf there).

There are several male and female instructors if you need lessons and they have a full range of Slingshot kites/boards plus a wide selection of North kit for hire. If  you really want to you can hire a wettie but, take my advice, sacrificing a couple of t-shirts to fit your own in your bag is SO worth it. Kit rental is charged either by the session or by the day and don't worry if you book equipment in advance and the wind isn't there, you won't get ripped off! Added bonuses are an air compressor to pump up your kite, some fine gents who will launch/land you and put your kit away and a handy hosepipe to wash all the salt off your stuff at the end of the day.

 The kiting area is in the lagoon just north of the Movenpick beach swimming area and off out to sea. The lagoon can get very shallow depending on the tides but there are charts available on request from Waveriders. The wind is most reliable in 'winter'. Be Warned - even though the air temp is generally above 20C you'll probably want a wettie (even a shortie will do) as the wind will chill you off quickly.  The conditions at the spot are flat water in the lagoon and more chop out to sea. You can kite out to a reef offshore where you'll find shallow lagoons and more flat water. Watch out for rocks and coral (it's bloody sharp as Tom will confirm). As the Kite People don't seem to have their own website, for more info , take a look at Waveriders. There is more information about other kitesurfing centres in El Gouna, take a look at the official El Gouna website.

 Unfortunately the only helmets you can hire are pink and shiny...

Karina from the Kite People kicking ASS!