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Learn · Disciplines · Strapless & wave
Riding a surfboard with no footstraps — the closest kiting gets to surfing. What it is, how it splits into strapless freestyle and true wave riding, and the honest truth most schools skip: you learn the skills on flat water first, then take them to the waves.
What is strapless (wave) kitesurfing?
Strapless kitesurfing means riding a directional surfboard with no footstraps. The board is held to your feet by wind pressure and body control alone — not by being strapped or booted in. That single difference changes everything about how the board feels and rides.
Crucially, the same board feeds two different branches, and confusing them is what scares people off:
Riders fall for it because of the feeling: a loose, surf-style freedom and full foot mobility that no twin-tip can match. Set expectations honestly, though — strapless is almost always a second discipline you take up after twin-tip, not a first-timer's entry point. Strapless coaching is available on request — message us and we'll build it into your session plan. And we're upfront that waves are a separate ingredient you add later.
Strapless vs twin-tip
If you already ride a twin-tip, this is the quickest way to understand strapless: same kite, same harness, completely different board relationship. Here's the honest side-by-side.
| What changes | Strapless (surfboard) | Twin-tip |
|---|---|---|
| The board | A directional surfboard — one nose, one ride direction. You switch your feet to change tack. | A symmetrical twin-tip — same shape both ends. You ride it either way without moving your feet. |
| What holds you on | Nothing but wind pressure and body position. No footstraps — the board can wash off your feet. | Footstraps or boots keep the board attached, so the board comes with you through chops and jumps. |
| The new skill | The water start and simply staying on the board — keeping it weighted and under your feet. | Edging and going upwind — the board stays put, so the focus is on control and direction. |
| Footwork | Switching feet to change direction, toeside and heelside, constant fine foot positioning. | Feet stay home in the straps; you change direction by switching edges, not feet. |
| Feel | Loose, surf-style and free — the closest kiting gets to actual surfing. | Locked-in, planted and forgiving — a familiar starting platform for learning and later working on jumps. |
The honest takeaway: strapless isn't harder or better — it's a different skill. And there's a clear shortcut to it: riders who already ride a twin-tip confidently and go upwind both ways find strapless far easier, because the kite is already automatic and they can put all their attention on the board. That's why the freeride path — or a solid beginner course first — is the smartest run-up to strapless.
The question everyone asks
The myth says you must have waves to ride strapless. The reality is that the fundamentals are learned on flat water, and those skills transfer straight to waves later. It's the single most repeated piece of advice from experienced coaches — and almost nobody builds a clear answer around it.
Put simply: flat water is the classroom; waves are the playground you graduate to. Spend your early sessions drilling the building blocks where you can stand up and reset — then, when you reach a wave spot, you arrive already able to ride, and you can spend your energy learning the turns instead of fighting the basics.
Where to build the skills
Let's be upfront: our home spot is usually flat. There is no regular surf break in our lagoon, although wind chop and water movement vary, and we won't pretend there is. But for learning strapless, the flat sandy teaching area gives you room to repeat the movement; its exact usable zone and timing follow the actual water level.
And the wind shows up: from our own weather station, about 77% of days a year are fully rideable, peaking around 85% in August — and even December still gives roughly 6 in 10 rideable days. (We always say "about" — that's four years of our own data.) Lots of water means lots of reps, and reps are exactly what the strapless water start needs.
Proof of coaching depth: 2025 GKA Freestyle World Champion Finn Flügel trains at this very spot, coached by co-owner Lukáš. The flat water and coaching eye that sharpen a champion's board skills are the same ones that get your strapless basics dialled fast.
See the full spot →Where the waves are
Honesty first: El Gouna — and our lagoon specifically — is a flat-water spot. For genuine wave riding you travel to a wave spot. That's not a downside; it's how almost every wave kiter's journey works.
The wider Red Sea has spots with wind-swell and chop, and the classic kite-wave destinations sit on more exposed coastlines around the world. We're keeping this deliberately general rather than naming specific breaks or distances we can't stand behind — if you're planning a wave trip, ask us and we'll point you honestly toward what's realistic from here.
What we can do for you is the most valuable part: build the strapless skillset so that when you do reach a wave spot, you're not starting from zero. You arrive able to ride both ways, carve and stay on the board — ready to spend your wave time learning bottom and top turns instead of basics.
How to start strapless
Strapless is a ladder, not a leap. The smartest first rung is something you do before you ever pick up a surfboard: be comfortable on a twin-tip and ride upwind both ways. That one prerequisite makes everything below dramatically easier.
This is a general reference, not a fixed syllabus or timeline. The next step depends on the skills you already control, the conditions, the board and the session; no stage or progression time is guaranteed.
Getting used to a board that isn't attached to you — beach and water handling, sinking the board and finding it again. The mindset shift starts here.
The single hardest new skill. Weighting the board with your feet only, timing the kite pull, standing up before the board washes away. This is where most of the early reps go.
Linking your first metres, then learning to switch your feet to ride the other direction — there's no riding switch on a directional board.
Smooth toeside and heelside carves, then tacks and gybes to change direction without stopping. Carving is the bridge skill into real wave turns later.
Small jumps and board grabs while keeping the board pinned to your feet — pure strapless freestyle, and it needs no waves at all.
The part only a real wave can teach — carving down-the-line on a moving face, bottom turn into top turn. This is what you graduate to once the flat-water skills are dialled.
Wherever you are on the ladder, coaching turns the next step into a clear plan instead of a guessing game. The first five stages are flat-water skills we can work on here; your starting level and conditions determine the pace. See how the wave course works →
How we teach it at Kitepower
The strapless water start is the hurdle, so we attack it the same way we teach everything: into the first roughly 800 m knee-to-waist-deep teaching area when tide and conditions suit, where many riders can stand and reset between attempts. The coach chooses the actual session zone for the day.
And you don't need to own a surfboard to try. As the official Flysurfer distributor and the brand's largest test point since 2009, we offer a broad board range. Ask which suitable boards are available to test on the water in safe, rideable conditions before you buy.
Real-time, in-helmet coaching is uniquely suited to the strapless water start, where the right cue a split-second before you stand up is the difference between riding away and swimming.
