Kite Surfing

The GKA Big Air World Championships took place from Fri 2nd to Tue 6th within the long event window of 26th of May to 16th June 2023 on Playa Lances Sur opposite Balneario.

The GKA Big Air World Championships take place within the event window of 20th of June to the 6th of July on Playa Lances Sur opposite Balneario. In addition competitors and fans will be able to enjoy the Kite Expo that will be from the 21st to the 26th of June at BIBO Beach House, at Playa Valdevaqueros.  

Each year many top Spanish and international kite surfers join beginners in Tarifa keen to try out this sport, which started in the 1990s. An international championship is usually held in the early summer in Tarifa,

Since the sport can be potentially dangerous, with boards moving along at up to 80km/h, surfers and bathers are separated by yellow buoys on Tarifa’s beaches. Two kitesurf zones along the beaches to the north of Tarifa are strictly enforced in the summer when the beaches are crowded with bathers. In the winter, rules are more relaxed.

Since the sport can be potentially dangerous, with boards moving along at up to 80km/h, surfers and bathers are separated by yellow buoys on Tarifa’s beaches. Two kitesurf zones along the beaches to the north of Tarifa are strictly enforced in the summer when the beaches are crowded with bathers. In the winter, rules are more relaxed.

Playa de los Lances (Hotel Dos Mares)

Surfers have to pay close attention to up-to-date wind reports from websites such as Wind Guru, although kites can be flown in lighter winds than for windsurfing. The best kitesurfing months are May to November.

Thanks to its ideal situation on the Strait of Gibraltar opposite Africa, where the Atlantic and Mediterranean meet, with constant winds, Tarifa is already known as the European capital of windsurfing. The beaches of this historic Moorish town have also now established themselves as a world-class destination for another hugely popular, and very beautiful, wind-powered watersport: kitesurfing (also known as kiteboarding).

Kitesurfing is an extreme sport which involves racing over water on a surfboard pulled by a kite. Experts can achieve speeds of 80km per hour and leap into the air to perform somersaults and manoeuvres up to 40m above the water's surface.