Kitesurfing in Bermuda
The island and its winds
Bermuda’s weather is not like the Caribbean. There are no trade winds and you may need a wetsuits for a couple of months in the winter.
Instead, the winds are created by passing weather systems, which make the winds come from different directions on different days and sometimes even changes during the day. And although the wind may not be as consistent as some other kiting destinations, we do get considerably more wind some days than many other places. You may end up foiling one day, only to go for boosted jumps on your smallest kite the next.
The seasons
The strongest winds in Bermuda come during the winter months. And in the months of January to March, you may need to wear a wetsuit. Usually, a long suit would be needed in northerly winds in winter, but a shorty if the wind is from the south. Some people brave it and never wear wetsuits.
In winter, we tend to get an average of around four days a week with smaller kites.
August is the lightest month wind wise, but if you haver a foil or a 17m kite, you should get out a few times per week even in August.
The water
The waters in Bermuda are tremendously blue and mostly very warm!
In summer, temperatures get up to a toasty 32 degrees Celsius (89-90F), but can get a little chilly in February down to 17 or 18 degrees Celsius (63-64F).
The water is also quite salty. The Sargasso sea surrounding Bermuda is rumoured to be the third saltiest in the world after The Dead Sea and The Red Sea.
The tides are not huge but average around three feet in difference. Due to the reef structure, most places are better in low tide, and some places only exist on low tide as some beaches only appear below a certain sea level.
Waves, flat water or chop?
Due to Bermuda’s rather unique rocks and reef formations, there are only sometimes you can get great waves. The flat water spots are also limited mostly due to limited launching areas near flat water. Most of the kite spots have smaller waves created from chop, unless there is a hurricane bearing down, when you can get major swells with long periods a little further out. Of course, as Bermuda has some beautiful spots to discover, you can always kite out and jump the odd wreck like the Vixen here on the right.