Kite Area guide
Bofa Beach, Kilifi, Watamu & Kilifi Coast
Bofa Beach at Kilifi is Kenya's quieter learning water: side-onshore Kaskazi, flat at low tide, and space to use.
When to kite
Best months: December, January, February, March, May, June, July, August, September, October.
About this Kite Area
Bofa Beach sits on the coast at Kilifi, north of Mombasa, on a quieter and greener stretch than Diani to the south.
The accessible season is the Kaskazi, from mid-December to mid-March. The wind starts around ten in the morning, builds through the day on a sea-breeze effect and averages 15 to 20 knots, arriving side-onshore with enough space to learn in. The Kuzi, from May to October, is southerly and driven by tropical storms, averaging 20 to 30 knots with swell that can reach three metres on the reef — advanced conditions.
Tide changes the spot completely. Low water is flat and shallow, good for kite control and first sessions; high water brings chop and waves, better for body-dragging, waterstarts and anyone wanting to ride them.
An IKO-certified school operates here, and the creeks, baobabs and marine park around Kilifi give the area a character quite unlike the resort coast further south.