Luxury Kitesurfing journal

The 5 Most Remote Kitesurf Destinations on Earth Without Giving Up the Comfort

Every experienced kiter knows the moment. You're on a spot that used to be a secret, and you count forty-three kites in the sky. The water is beautiful, the wind is steady, and still something is missing: space. Silence. The feeling of being first.

The story

That feeling is still for sale — just not nearby. The last genuinely empty kite spots sit behind a helicopter transfer, a domestic flight in a twelve-seater, or three hours in a 4x4 through the dunes. The good news: in exactly those places, a handful of lodges and resorts have appeared that give up nothing on comfort. Private chef, butler, villa on the lagoon — and not another kite in sight.

Here are five destinations that deliver that combination most purely, with the wind months, the level you'll need, and where you sleep. Nosy Ankao, Madagascar — heli-kiting from a private archipelago

Why here: Miavana sits on Nosy Ankao, the largest island in a private five-island archipelago off Madagascar's northeast coast. You arrive by helicopter from Diego Suarez, and that isn't a luxury flourish — it's the only realistic way in. The resort runs two R66 helicopters, which unlocks something that barely exists anywhere else: heli-kiting. You get dropped on a sandbar or empty beach that has never been kited, with a safety boat nearby and lunch already waiting.

The conditions: The varatraza trade wind blows here from May to October, day and night, across a spread of spots around the island — mirror-flat lagoons, mangrove channels, sand spits that dry out at low tide. Water around 25°C; a shorty is the most you'll want.

Where you stay: Miavana by Time + Tide. One- to three-bedroom beach villas, private pool, dedicated butler and concierge, and most activities (diving, lemur walks, boat trips) included.

Best months: June through September. Level: Confident water starts and riding upwind is the minimum. For the heli-kiting programme you want to be genuinely comfortable in changing conditions. Atins and the Lençóis Maranhenses, Brazil — lagoons between the dunes

Why here: Northern Brazil is the most reliable kite region in the world, and Atins is where that region stops being civilised. The village sits at the mouth of the Rio Preguiças, right up against Lençóis Maranhenses National Park: a few hundred thousand hectares of white dunes with rainwater lagoons scattered between them. You reach Atins from São Luís by small plane, or by a combination of boat and 4x4 — no asphalt, no signposts.

The conditions: Side-offshore to side-onshore trades from August to January, most consistent between September and December, running 18–25 knots through the afternoon. The river gives you butter-flat water at low tide, the ocean a soft rolling wave, and the dune lagoons a backdrop you won't believe in photos. This is also the start or finish of the classic downwinders past Barra Grande, Guajiru and Preá.

Where you stay: Atins has gone from fishing village to a cluster of boutique pousadas with a handful of rooms each, open architecture and surprisingly serious kitchens — Rancho do Buna is the best-known example. Don't expect a five-star lobby: the luxury here is space, privacy and personal service.

Best months: September through December. Level: Any level with the right guidance. For the downwinders: solid upwind riding and self-sufficiency. Bazaruto Archipelago, Mozambique — sandbanks inside a marine park

Why here: Five islands in a protected marine park off Vilanculos, with sandbanks that run for kilometres and change shape with every tide. You ride between passing dhows in water clear enough to see your own shadow on the sand. Dugongs, whale sharks and manta rays live in the same park.

The conditions: The southeast trade delivers the most dependable window from August to December, typically 15–22 knots. Shallow flatwater flats at low tide, more chop and open water as it fills in. January to March is the rainy season with cyclone risk — you don't want to be there then.

Where you stay: Azura Benguerra and the other lodges on Benguerra Island offer private villas with their own pool and butler, built with local craftsmen. From there you take a speedboat or dhow to whichever spot is working that day.

Best months: September through November. Level: Beginner to advanced, but the tides call for someone who knows the banks. The outer atolls of the Maldives — kiting from a private island or a yacht

Why here: Everyone knows the Maldives; almost nobody knows them as a kite destination. That's because the places with the best wind aren't in the busy atolls around Malé, but in the outer ones — Laamu, Raa, Gaafu — where the international flight is followed by a seaplane or domestic hop plus a speedboat. The payoff is a lagoon the size of a small county, with you in it.

The conditions: The hulhangu season (southwest monsoon) from June to September brings the most consistent wind, usually 15–20 knots. It's also the least predictable season for squalls — that's the trade-off. December to March is lighter and often foil territory. Flat lagoon water inside the reef, swell outside.

Where you stay: Two flavours. A resort with a serious watersports centre (Six Senses Laamu and Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru are the names kiters mention most), or a kite safari on a private yacht with a tender, hitting a different sandbar every day. The yacht option is the most remote way to experience the Maldives.

Best months: June through September. Level: Any level at a resort; for the safari you want to ride independently and be comfortable launching off a boat. Ningaloo and Exmouth, Western Australia — the emptiest coastline you'll ever ride

Why here: Ningaloo is a 260-kilometre reef that starts right off the beach, in a corner of Western Australia where the nearest city is a twelve-hour drive. Cape Range National Park drops red rock gorges straight into turquoise water, and on most days the beach you're riding is completely empty. Bonus: March to July you swim with whale sharks here, August to October the humpbacks pass through.

The conditions: A very reliable thermal sea breeze from October to April, filling in daily through November and December at 20–25 knots — often stronger than you expect. Flatwater behind the reef at Sandy Bay and Coral Bay, waves on the outside. It's also the only destination on this list that runs through the European winter.

Where you stay: Sal Salis, an eco-luxury camp of a few safari tents set directly in the national park, in the dunes and off the grid. All meals and wines included, and at night nothing but stars and the sound of the reef.

Best months: November through January for the strongest wind; March to May for milder conditions plus whale sharks. Level: Advanced. Strong wind, remote location, deliberately minimal facilities.windy from June to September.

Honourable mentions

Los Roques, Venezuela — an archipelago of 350 islets with knee-deep lagoons, February to June. Unmatched as a spot; always check current travel advisories for Venezuela before booking.

Aitutaki, Cook Islands — arguably the most beautiful lagoon in the world, trade winds from May to October, and about as far from Europe as you can get.

How to choose

The practical question is rarely which spot is most beautiful, but which spot is switched on during the weeks I can actually take off. Roughly: Window: June – September — Best choice: Madagascar, Maldives Window: September – December — Best choice: Brazil, Mozambique Window: November – January — Best choice: Western Australia Window: February – June — Best choice: Los Roques, Rodrigues (June)

Budget at least ten days for any of the five: travel time to places like this eats a booking week on its own. Bring your own bar and lines, because spares do not exist out there. And match the stay to your travelling companions — somewhere like Miavana or Sal Salis works beautifully for a non-kiting partner, while a yacht-based kite safari very much does not.

Not sure which destination fits your month, your level and your group? Use the Wind Assistant to see where the conditions are each month, or get in touch — we are happy to think it through with you.

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