Rou Chater heads to Qatar on a voyage of discovery to check out a new world-class kite spot and discover what this small peninsular in the Arabian Gulf has to offer the travelling kitesurfer. Read all about what he found in this exclusive article!

If it wasn't for the World Cup in 2022 and you didn't work in the oil industry, you'd be forgiven for not having Qatar on your radar. Certainly, as a kitesurfing destination, it is relatively unknown. This small Arabian nation has visions of being on the world stage, and the World Cup is definitely going to thrust it into the spotlight later in the year. 

If you take the trouble to look on Google Maps, you'll notice that while it is small, it is almost completely surrounded by coastline. Small wonder then that for many years, indeed since pre-roman times, the nation was a proud producer of some of the world's finest pearls. Its rich pearl diving economy afforded the tribespeople a decent life for centuries until cultured pearls changed all that. 

Fortunately for the Qataris, the discovery of oil gifted them a further economic boost that is still going on today. It's enabled them to turn the desert of Doha into one of the most vibrant skyscraper cities in the world. The architecture is a testament to what can be achieved when you aren't constrained by a budget. 

Indeed as you drive around Doha and see not just the buildings but also the eight gleaming stadiums poised to host the biggest football tournament in the world, the amount of investment is something to behold. It's this investment that has led me here; Qatar Airways and Visit Qatar are investing in the Global Kitesurfing Association World Tour as headline sponsors. 

That's big news for the sport of kitesurfing - a sport that is often seen as lacking in funding on the world stage, especially from external businesses. You can read all about the partnership on our website, though this article isn't about that; this article is about discovery and the possibilities that lay before us. 

For years, kiters, like the Qataris of old, have been tribespeople. We have a lot of love for the members of our tribe, and we follow each other around the world on a migration that follows the wind. Some of our best friends are made on far-flung beaches as we chase warm winds and better conditions. 

For me, I've found that intriguing on the one hand but bemusing on the other. Like the trade routes of old, the kitesurfer's travel itinerary seems to become ever more set in stone. As budgets are squeezed, we don't want to chase new locations with a risk of no wind, and the tried and tested locations become favoured over and over again. South Africa from November to March, Egyptian, European and Hood River summers, Brazil for the autumn, Mauritius and Morocco in between; the same old countries get the same old stamps in our passports. Over and over, year after year. 

I've always been keen on adventure. Indeed when we started kitesurfing back in 2000, once mastered, it wasn't about heading to the same spot for me. It was all about finding and riding new locations to see what they had to offer. It was the same with travelling, driving up and down the Western Australian coastline when you would maybe see one other kiter on the water the whole trip, or heading back to Cabarete long after it had fallen victim to the lure of South Africa to discover spots away from Kite Beach that I consider world-class, and being the only person to really kitesurf some of them. 

Sometimes the best conditions are around the corner, or on the other side of the coast, or even where you least expect to find them. With kitesurfing being around for over 22 years now, you'd think all the best spots have been found. However, we are tribal and victims of going to the same hallowed playgrounds over and over.

I recently moved to Wales and have loved working out where to kite and when. In a rich tapestry of untouched spots, I find it hard to believe you can still be a pioneer here. Yet you can. The same is true of Qatar. It's an untouched gem, known only to the locals and those privileged enough to have visited. 

Kitesurfing has been around in Qatar for a long time, and even some of the ruling Al Thani family are keen kitesurfers, so I'm told. With so much coastline, it's easy to see why it's a popular pastime for some of the locals and ex-pat community. If you run a quick Google Map search for Fuwairit Beach, you'll quickly find the pearl of the Qatari kitesurfing scene. 

It's a rich inlet lagoon of sandbars and mangroves with a cross onshore prevailing wind that blows between 15 and 30 knots from November to July. From above, it's not dissimilar from the lagoons of Brazil, and from the ground, it bears a striking resemblance too. 

So good is the spot that the GKA will be hosting not one but two events there each year, with an event already planned for November. Speaking to Bruna Kajiya, a multiple world freestyle champion who was out there with me, cemented the quality of the spot. "I've spent my life searching for perfect freestyle destinations and never thought there would be one as good as this that was relatively undiscovered. Kitesurfing here has been incredible, and I get emotional thinking about coming back to compete at this incredible spot."

Nick Jacobsen was equally positive, "it's so much fun. Upwind of the main spot, there are mangroves and lagoons to play around and jump over. Right out front of the centre is the most incredible sandbar for freestyle, and the water is so warm." 

Standing on the beach in front of the soon to be finished centre, it's easy to see why Nick and Bruna love it so much. Right out front is a freeride playground that stretches as far as the eye can see. Just 100 yards upwind is a long sandbar that runs at right angles to the wind creating perfect flat water with a deep landing area. Upwind of this and its lagoons, sandbars and mangroves for as far as you care to ride. 

With a spot this good on the doorstep, it's easy to see why the Qataris kitesurf. It's even better that they are keen to share it with the world. A purpose-built kite centre will be finished in September. Looking at the plans, it's fair to say it's arguably going to be the best kitesurfing centre on the planet in terms of facilities and layout. The Qataris don't do things by halves, and this is no exception. Chatting to Charles Francis about the project, he explained that while the finished centre will be grand, Fuwairit Kite Beach (FKB) resort has been designed with the spot in mind. They are limiting the accommodation to just over 40 rooms, so the spot can fit the kiters, rather than having hundreds of rooms and giving visiting kiters a bad experience. It's a centre that is being built from the ground up around what kitesurfers want and need, rather than the other way around. 

Equally impressive is the speed at which all this has happened. FKB was the brainchild of Sarah Lord, an ex-pat who's lived in Qatar for 38 years and one of the pioneers of kiteboarding here. She explained to me that kiteboarding has been happening at Fuwairit Beach since the very beginning. It's where the Olympic team were training and is the spot most Qataris go for the weekend. Just an hour or so from Doha, it's an easy drive along incredibly well-maintained highways from both the Hamad International airport and the city. 

In 2018 she approached Charles with the idea for a proper kite centre here, one that could put Qatar on the map as a kitesurfing destination. With funding and support from higher up, Sarah's dreams started becoming a reality, one that is now just a few months away from completion.

Putting Qatar on the kitesurfing map is really what it is all about. Having now been there and checked the spot out, it certainly has the potential to be up there with Brazil. The spot is world-class; there is no denying that. The plans for the centre are quite literally out of this world, as most Qatari building projects are. It's warm and windy, and you won't need much of a wetsuit, all elements the travelling kitesurfer wants. On its day there is even a good wave spot further up the coastline too. I didn't get to kite here, but Sarah said it can have overhead high waves breaking on a reef when it's good. 

I think that's the key - while Fuwairit Kite Beach is going to be the jewel in the crown of kitesurfing in Qatar, there is potential for much more to be untapped. Almost completely surrounded by the sea, who knows what pearls could be lurking over the next sand dune? All you need to do is get out there and explore. Have a look at the Inland Sea on Google Maps if you want a glimpse of what I mean…

Fuwairit Kite Beach resort will be opening in September, and it should be your first port of call to get the lowdown on kitesurfing in the country. Sarah and the team will be offering trips out to other spots and excursions to the souks (markets) and dunes as well. While the spot might be one of the best in the world, there are still plenty of other things to keep you entertained. If you can find any tickets, you could even get to watch a bit of football if you go in November, but as kiters, we know if the wind is blowing, there's almost zero chance of finding us in a stadium. 

I didn't know what to expect when I jumped on the plane. The warmth of the welcome and hospitality was matched only by the warmth of the winds that blew at the beach. The Qataris are opening their arms to the kitesurfers of the world, and it should be a bucket list spot for many of us. There are more than just pearls in the Arabian Sea here. Kitesurfing gold can be yours too.

 

By Rou Chater
Rou has been kiting since the sports inception and has been working as an editor and tester for magazines since 2004. He started IKSURFMAG with his brother in 2006 and has tested hundreds of different kites and travelled all over the world to kitesurf. He's a walking encyclopedia of all things kite and is just as passionate about the sport today as he was when he first started!

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