During July we spent a couple of weeks kitesurfing at Faros Drepano in Greece. These are some of our tips and information which should make your stay equally as enjoyable and ensure you get maximum time on the water. Looking online apparently, Drepano has around 300 days of kiteable wind per year, so it’s a great spot to learn and progress your riding in consistent conditions.
Due to the flat water and consistent winds, this location is very popular with professional kiters who come here to train and shoot media with and for their sponsors. As well as kitesurfing Faros Drepano is a great spot for windsurfing, winging or SUP.
The location
Situated around 12 miles North East of Patras along the coast, Faros Drepano is an easy spot to access. There is a large sandbar which extends into the sea which runs North West to South East. This means that for the best possible flat water riding you’ll want winds around North East/West or West/South West.
During our visit we had winds from both directions. The winds were typically stronger from the West however we are unsure whether this is the expected conditions.
The wind tends to start late in the morning and blow until sunset, some of the best riding we had was around 4-7pm. During the stay we used the 11m with a Hydrofoil and twintip and also the 9m with a twintip when the winds hit 25 knots a few times later in the day.
With warm waters and temperatures rarely below 30 degrees in the day time you’ll be able to leave your wetsuit at home, or just ride in a shorty.
For current Faros Drepano forecasts you can look up the weather station on the Rio bridge
Facilities
Access to the kitespot is down a small road which narrows for the last couple of hundred meters along the edge of the water. It is around 1 mile from the main road where you’ll also find the local kite shop/school and a spot to grab coffee on route. The carpark has ample space for parking however it does get busy with locals on weekends. There is a large kitesurfing and windsurfing scene here but also some people do come just to enjoy the beach and swim. On calmer evenings and mornings you’ll also find local fishermen camped up along the shore.
There are portaloos, fresh multiple water showers and also bins on site which were all emptied regularly during our stay. The area is well respected and looked after by the locals so please ensure you keep it clean during your own visit.
Riders
Although there is a large amount of people learning to kitesurf here, the general riding ability of the locals is very high. There are lots of technical freestyle riders who utilise the flat waters to master unhooked tricks but equally lots of riders boosting large board offs and rotations higher than the trees along the shore.
During our visit there were professional sponsored kitesurfers from Airush, Duotone, Mystic, Prolimit, Ion, F-One and Core including several world champions in the freestyle discipline.
Kite school and boat rescue
The local school operating here is Kitesurf Greece. It seems that they are on site and running lessons any day the wind is blowing. You’ll pass their shop also on the way to the beach. They also had two boats in the water during our stay, one for teaching and one that appeared to be reserved for rescues (which we saw plenty of)
