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Most popular From first kite control to riding upwind — gear & free IKO included.
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Learn · Glossary · El Gouna since 2004
Every term a beginner runs into — body drag, waterstart, cross-onshore, IKO vs IWO — explained in plain English by the people who teach it on the El Gouna lagoon every day. Tap a word to see where you'll actually use it on the water.
No term matches that search. Try a simpler word, or just ask us on WhatsApp →
Kite
Steering the kite so it pulls you through the water without a board. It's the first time the kite does the work — and a core IKO skill before you ever stand on a board.
On our spot: On our lagoon you practise it in the first roughly 800 m knee-to-waist-deep teaching area when conditions suit, so many learners can stand and reset.
Using a controlled power stroke of the kite to lift you out of the water and onto the board. The moment beginners wait for — it's where kiting starts to feel like riding.
On our spot: We coach it live through a two-way Bluetooth helmet (BB Talkin), so your instructor talks you through each pull while you're in the water.
Riding back to where you started instead of drifting downwind. It's the line between needing a rescue boat and being independent — and the real goal of a beginner course.
On our spot: There is no fixed hour range that guarantees reliable upwind riding. We assess the skills you actually demonstrate and tell you honestly where you stand after every session.
Tilting the board on its edge to carve against the kite's pull. Good edging is how you hold a line, control speed, and ride upwind.
On our spot: Flat water means clean edging practice with no chop fighting you — one reason beginners progress faster here.
→ The spot that makes it easyThe most common kiteboard — symmetrical, so it rides the same in both directions and you never turn it around. The board nearly every beginner learns on.
On our spot: All beginner gear (twin-tip board, kite, harness, helmet, wetsuit) is included in our courses — nothing to buy or bring.
Riding a surfboard-style kiteboard with no foot straps — the discipline behind kite-surfing waves and strapless freestyle. Advanced, stylish, and harder than it looks.
On our spot: Coached as Open Hours sessions once you ride confidently — we set the first trick, then refine your technique.
→ Strapless on our flat waterPowered, board-off and handle-pass tricks done off the water's surface. The competitive, technical side of kiteboarding.
On our spot: Finn Flügel — 2025 GKA Freestyle World Champion — trains at our home spot, coached by co-owner Lukáš. Flat water is ideal terrain to learn your first tricks.
→ Freestyle coachingWing & Foil
Standing on a board with a hydrofoil, holding a handheld inflatable wing for power. The fastest-growing watersport — quieter and lower-impact than kiting, with a quick first taste of flight.
On our spot: We're a full wing & foil school with 50+ wings on the beach. We use a dedicated, deeper foil zone and match the zone and mast length to the actual water depth.
The handheld inflatable sail you grip in wingfoiling — no lines, no bar, no board attachment. You can simply let go to depower, which makes it forgiving to learn.
On our spot: Demo and learn on current Flysurfer wings; all wing gear is included in our wing courses.
An underwater wing on a mast beneath the board. Past a certain speed it generates lift and the board rises clear of the water — you 'fly' silently above the surface, with almost no drag.
On our spot: Our lagoon includes a dedicated deeper foil zone over a sandy bottom, used when tide and conditions provide suitable mast clearance.
Rhythmically flexing your legs and the foil to generate or keep lift — how foilers stay flying through a lull or get going in light wind.
On our spot: Light, steady thermal wind on our lagoon is friendly terrain to learn the pumping rhythm.
→ Foiling on our spotBriefly touching the water and lifting off again while learning to foil. A normal, repeated step on the way to your first sustained flight — not a mistake.
On our spot: We teach it in stages so the first 'flight' feels controlled, not random.
→ Your first flightWind & Weather
Wind blowing toward the beach at an angle. It's the safest, most beginner-friendly direction: it carries you back toward shore rather than out to sea, while still letting you ride along the beach.
On our spot: El Gouna's prevailing wind is cross-onshore from the N–NW — exactly the direction you want when you're learning.
The unit wind speed is measured in — 1 knot ≈ 1.85 km/h ≈ 0.51 m/s. Most people learn comfortably in roughly 15–25 knots.
On our spot: Our own weather station logs the wind around the clock; you can check live knots before you come down to the beach.
Our honest measure of a good day: one where the wind holds at 12+ knots for at least two daytime hours — long enough for a real session. We never quote a misleading 'average wind speed'.
On our spot: Measured on our own station (4 years, 2 million+ readings): about 77% of days a year are rideable, peaking near 85% in August.
→ Month-by-month wind dataA short, sharp increase in wind speed above the steady average. Gusty wind is harder to manage; smooth, steady wind is easier to learn in.
On our spot: Steady cross-onshore wind off the desert gives us cleaner, less gusty conditions than many coastal spots.
Wind created when land heats up and draws air in from the sea. It builds through the afternoon and is reliably predictable — a big reason desert-edge spots are so consistent.
On our spot: El Gouna's desert backdrop reinforces a dependable afternoon thermal on top of the trade wind — part of why we count 300+ windy days a year.
Spot & Lagoon
A sheltered stretch with little or no breaking surf. It is commonly preferred for learning and freestyle, although wind chop and water movement can still change with conditions.
On our spot: Our private gated lagoon runs roughly 2–3 km long and about 1 km wide. Water is usually flat, while depth, wind chop and water movement vary with wind, tide and daily conditions.
Water shallow enough to stand up in. The single biggest accelerator for beginners — you can pause, reset, and re-launch the kite on your feet instead of being washed downwind.
On our spot: The first ~800 m off our beach is knee- to waist-deep — a huge standing area that does half the teaching for you.
Marked areas of a spot that separate learners from independent and foil riders. Good zoning keeps a busy spot safe — beginners aren't dodging fast riders.
On our spot: Our lagoon is split into teaching/beginner, independent, and wing + foil zones. Rescue support is available during operating hours; response times are not guaranteed.
→ How our spot is organisedEquipment
The control bar you hold to fly the kite: push or pull to power up and depower, steer left and right, and trigger the safety release. Your single connection to the kite.
On our spot: You learn on current, well-maintained gear — all bars, lines and kites are included in our courses and serviced in-house.
Reducing the kite's pull by sheeting the bar out (away from you). Depower is your primary control: the more you understand it, the safer and calmer you ride.
On our spot: Mastering depower early is built into the IKO progression we teach from your first session.
The padded waist or seat belt that hooks you to the kite's bar, so the pull goes through your hips and core instead of your arms. It's what lets you ride for hours without burning out.
On our spot: Provided in every course and rental — seat harnesses for beginners, waist harnesses as you progress.
A short line connecting you to the kite's safety system. Pull the release and the leash keeps the depowered kite with you instead of letting it blow away.
On our spot: Safety systems are checked before every session and taught as standard, not an afterthought.
Safety
The mechanism that instantly cuts the kite's power in an emergency. One pull and the kite depowers completely — the most important thing you learn before going on the water.
On our spot: Every student practises the release until it's instinctive; it's the first safety drill, every time.
A set technique to secure your kite and use it to get yourself back to shore if you can't relaunch. A required IKO skill — knowing it is what makes kiting safe.
On our spot: Easier to learn confidently on our flat, current-free lagoon where you can stand in much of the standing area.
A two-way Bluetooth headset built into your helmet, so your instructor can talk to you in real time while you're out on the water — not shouting from the beach.
On our spot: Standard in every Kitepower lesson. It's the difference between guessing and being coached through each move, live, as it happens.
→ How we teachThe dome-shaped area of sky downwind of you where the kite can fly. The edges are low-power and safe to park the kite; the middle (the 'power zone') pulls hardest. Reading it is fundamental to control.
On our spot: We teach the wind window on day one — understanding it is how you stay in control of the kite's power.
Certification
International Kiteboarding Organization — an international kitesurfing training standard. Your digital IKO record documents the rider skills and level an instructor has seen you demonstrate; it is not an automatic rental pass.
On our spot: Kitepower is an IKO Pro Center, El Gouna's oldest school (since 2004). Recording the level you actually demonstrate is included with every course; each rental centre still makes its own assessment.
Often confused: IKO Levels 1–3 are instructor ranks — how far an instructor is qualified to teach — not student levels. As a student you progress through named skill stages (kite control, bodydrag, waterstart, riding) toward independent riding; your IKO record lists the skills you have actually demonstrated.
On our spot: We log your skills honestly after each session — your free IKO record reflects what you actually demonstrated, no inflated cards.
→ What each level meansInternational Wing Association — the certification standard for wingfoiling, the wing equivalent of IKO. Wingfoiling uses IWO, not IKO; the two are separate sports with separate licenses.
On our spot: Our IWO record reflects the wing skills and level actually demonstrated. Previous board-sport experience can help, but there is no fixed timeline to foiling.
→ Wing courses & IWOA German watersports association whose license is popular with DACH riders and some insurers. It's a separate certification from IKO/IWO, not a replacement.
On our spot: A VDWS assessment is available via our VDWS-qualified instructors (€40 exam). Recording the IKO skills and rider level you actually demonstrate is included at no extra charge; completing a course does not guarantee a preset level or rental.
→ Certifications we offerEight languages on our beach
Our instructors coach in Czech, Slovak, English, German, Polish, Russian, Italian and Arabic. Many term cards above include the native word German, Polish and Czech riders actually use on the beach — tap "In other languages". Learning in your own language means nothing gets lost between the instruction and the water.
→ How we teach
Glossary FAQ
Semi-private means 2 students of similar weight share one kite. If we can't pair you with a same-weight partner, you have two options: ride private 1:1 at the private rate, or keep the semi-private price and ride 1:1 for the equivalent (shorter) water time. We tell you up front, so it's never a surprise — and you never pay more than you booked.
IKO (International Kiteboarding Organization) certifies kitesurfing; IWO (International Wing Association) certifies wingfoiling. They're separate standards for separate sports — a kite license doesn't cover wing, and vice versa. At Kitepower we certify both: IKO for kite, IWO for wing.
We're an IKO Pro Center, so with every kite course your instructor records the IKO skills and rider level you actually demonstrate at no extra cost. Course completion does not guarantee a particular level or rental access. VDWS is a separate German license popular with DACH riders — it's available via our VDWS-qualified instructors for a €40 exam fee, but it's optional, not a replacement for IKO.
A rideable day is one where the wind holds at 12+ knots for at least two daytime hours — long enough for a real session. We deliberately don't quote an 'average wind speed', which can mislead. Measured on our own weather station over 4 years (2 million+ readings), about 77% of days a year are rideable, peaking near 85% in August and still 6 out of 10 even in December.
Yes — cross-onshore is the safest direction to learn in. It blows toward the beach at an angle, so it carries you back toward shore rather than out to sea, while still letting you ride along the beach. El Gouna's prevailing N–NW wind is cross-onshore, which is one reason it's such a good place to start.
Kiting terms revolve around a kite flown on lines from a bar (body drag, waterstart, depower, wind window) and use IKO skill records. Wingfoil terms revolve around a handheld wing and a hydrofoil under the board (pumping, touch-and-go, flight) and use IWO skill records. Previous board-sport experience can help, but progress depends on the rider, coaching, wind, water depth and conditions rather than a fixed number of hours.
Not at all — that's what your instructor is for. This glossary is here so the words in our course descriptions make sense, and so you arrive already knowing what 'waterstart' or 'cross-onshore' means. We teach standard lessons with a maximum of 2 students per instructor.
