Darkfoils creator, Farid Sayfulin, shared his opinion of our watersports center.
Part one is household.
Until 2020 I had never been to Egypt and to be honest I thought I wouldn't go either)
But the covid did its job. We had to check the spots in Egypt. We scouted the following spots for suitability for hydrofoil:
- Hurghada
- Sharm
- Dahab
- El Tur.
Today I will tell you about El Tur.
In this Arabian town is located the station of our friend Max Kolpakov.
In our personal rating of Egyptian hydrofoil spots SurfDacha station is on the first place.
The station is a couple hours by car from Sharm airport. Shuttle service is no problem upon request. The accompaniment of a military escort is not necessary.
Dacha is a station with a windsurf past, but kiters and wingers are always welcome here too. And most importantly, without Dahab snobbery, where you can't go there, you can't go here either.
The food at the station is delicious, alcohol is better to order in advance, also Max can buy you fruit in town.
Accommodation is either in a hotel in the city (we did not live in it), or in gestas near the station. Gestas with a spartan bias))))) There is something to sleep on, a conder, refrigerator, hot water are present. But the conditions are not for sissies)
If you came with a spouse and children, in this area for them will be available a lot of entertainment, for example:
- sunbathing
- water procedures in the Gulf of Suez
- excursion to a real Arabian city
- hammock
- hookah
- SUP
- refrigerator
- occasional dolphins.
- That's all folks!
Part two - riding.
In our opinion here are the most interesting conditions for hydrofoiling in Egypt:
- the station is located 30 meters from the beach
- The beach is sandy, sandy bottom with a slope of 45 degrees and through 2 meters abyss. No corals, no urchins.
- practically zero traffic.
- in the puddle, a perfect flat with a little push. It's a bit choppy.
- wide exit to the sea, where it blows along the shore. In the sea rocks a good wind wave.
- In the sea there are no unexpected reef fields as in Hurghada. No nets, ropes and boats. No bags and other garbage. The water is very clean. You don't get stuck behind the fish either. Sometimes there are turtles. Rarely, but dolphins come and it is very cool. At this visit our dream came true and we rolled with dolphins or they with us. In general, they were also interesting)))
- Ideal conditions for beginners. Since it blows along the shore with a small push and if you do not play, there is always a chance to go ashore and make a walk of shame along the shore to the starting point. Not using the rescue. But as a last resort Max will rescue you. On this visit I was also in the role of a beginner. In 2 weeks I learned to start sitting down, make turns and at the end even started to go out on the wave.
- The spot has good wind statistics. Been in both winter and spring. Never had a bad day. For example, this May we rolled out 100% of 14 days. Two days it blew 4-8, two days 15-17 ms, the rest 10-12. Usually blowing north, very rarely south.
I will tell separately about winter. Winter here is probably the coldest in Egypt. Stock up on warm clothes. And even down jackets. During the day you can ride in a short 3 mm (if walrus) or in a long 5 mm (if frozen) and walk in shorts. But in the evening and at night it will be freezing.
In May it was very warm. Just our Siberian summer. Water 23-24 degrees. I rided in a short 3 mm. Alina combined. But a long 5 mm will be clearly unnecessary.
At the station there is our test equipment:
- foilwing set with wings Nemo1800, Mojo1380, Rock 880.
- aluminum masts 90 and 70 cm
- Max's personal kite kit - carbon mast 90 with Toro wing.
Farid Sayfulin/Darkfoils
Author's photo.