Kite Academy · El Gouna · The Red Sea Atlas
Riah Kite Academy
Riah opened on the El Gouna beachfront in June 2024 and took an IKO 5 out of 5 rating almost immediately, which is not a thing new schools usually manage.
It runs in partnership with North Kiteboarding on a stretch of side-onshore wind with a shallow learning area and open water past it, so a rider can start on their first drag and keep the same beach all the way to riding upwind. El Gouna gets more than 300 windy days a year and has hosted the GKA Kite World Cup. The conditions here are competitive standard, which is a useful thing to learn in.
Book Through The Atlas
Lessons, rental and wing sessions
Tell us what you want and when. We pass it to Riah and come back to you with their availability and price. No payment is taken here and no account is needed.
The Wind & The Water
Shallow to start, open water to progress
The learning area is shallow and the wind is side-onshore, which is the combination every instructor wants for a first lesson: a rider who loses the board drifts back toward the beach rather than away from it. Past the shallows the water opens up, so progression does not mean changing spot.
El Gouna’s season is long and the wind is dependable, typically 15 to 25 knots across more than 300 days a year. It is the most consistent kite wind in Egypt, and the reason the World Cup comes here.
Atlas Note
El Gouna is a resort town, so it is the easy option: flights into Hurghada, a short transfer, and everything else you need within walking distance of the water. That convenience is priced in. Ras Sudr is cheaper and rougher around the edges.
Learning Here
IKO instruction on North equipment
Riah teaches to the IKO syllabus and holds a 5 out of 5 school rating. The North Kiteboarding partnership means the school gear is current rather than the previous decade’s rental fleet, which matters more than most beginners realise: modern kites are more forgiving and relaunch far more easily.
Courses run from a first lesson through to independent riding, with private lessons for anyone who wants to move faster. Riders with their own gear can use the beach and the storage.
More Than Kiting
Four ways onto the water
The academy is not kite-only, which is what makes it work for a group where not everyone rides. There is a restaurant on the beach and a co-working space on site, so the no-wind hours and the working week both have somewhere to go.
Kitesurfing
The core of the academy, taught on North Kiteboarding equipment across the shallow learning area and out into open water as riders progress.
Wingfoil
The fastest-growing discipline on this coast, and the one El Gouna's flat shallow water suits best. Instruction runs alongside the kite school.
Windsurf
The original El Gouna sport, still the right answer on the days the wind sits at the top of the range.
SUP
The light-wind option, and the reason a non-kiting partner is not stuck on the beach all week.
Key Facts
Keep reading, and open the whole Atlas.
A free account opens every kite center and dive site guide, the marine life library, the weather and wind pages, and the full Red Sea Atlas. Free to join.
Join free to keep readingFrom The Log
The Red Sea Wind: Why It Blows, Where It Blows
The meteorology behind the wind that makes El Gouna work: the gradient systems, the thermal cycle, and where the coast funnels the air. Worth reading before your first session.