You have to find out the exact wind direction before you Kitesurf to be able to control your kite and to make sure you don’t get blown away from the land.
To find out the wind direction, stand with your back to the wind, feel the wind on the side of your cheeks and listen to the noise of the wind in your ears. When you have an equal amount of noise or feeling on both sides of your face and ears then you know that the direction of the wind is blowing directly in front of you.
Firstly, for safety, you need to know what direction the wind is blowing, in relation to the land.

Off-shore wind
Also known as bang off-shore, straight off-shore or cross off-shore winds all blow from the land and out to the water. All off-shore wind is highly dangerous for Kitesurfing and should be avoided at all costs unless you have a rescue boat. Off-shore wind can also be of poor quality because it has to travel over land so is more likely to become turbulent which can cause your kite to become unstable and difficult to fly making off-shore winds the worst of all the wind directions for Kitesurfing.
Cross shore wind
Also known as side shore wind, comes from the left or the right and blows parallel to the shore line. It can be dangerous because if something goes wrong you will not be blown back to land. To Kitesurf in cross shore winds you need be able perform a self-rescue and a deep water pack down so you can get back to land if something went wrong.
Straight onshore wind
Also known as bang onshore or directly onshore wind can also be dangerous because you and your kite can be blown into the land and dangers very quickly. Straight onshore winds can generate bigger waves on the shore which make getting in to the water tricky. Even experienced Kitesurfers can have trouble in onshore winds especially in deep water. Most Kitesurfers avoid straight onshore winds unless they have a large area of shallow water where you want walk out away from any dangers on the land.
Cross on shore wind
This wind comes from the sea to the land at an angle from either the left or the right. It is an easy wind direction to ride away from any dangers on the land plus if something goes wrong out to sea you will always be blown back to the land. This makes cross onshore wind the easiest and safest wind direction for Kitesurfing.
Cross onshore wind is the easiest and safest wind direction for Kitesurfing.


Wind Direction Check Made Simple
- Stand with your back to the wind to find out the wind direction
- Cross on shore winds are the easiest and safest wind directions for Kitesurfing.
- Never Kitesurf in any off-shore winds, remember if in doubt don’t go out.
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