Kitesurfing in Thiès
3 spots · 2 destinations · 2 schools
Three spots on the Petite-Côte south of Dakar, riding November to May on the north-east trade.
Somone is the one to learn on: a shallow lagoon at the river mouth with a sandbar holding the Atlantic off, where the tide and the current through the inlet decide the session more than the wind does. Saly is the resort bay, open water shared with hotels, jet-skis and every other watersport, on an afternoon thermal of 15-20 knots from April to June. Popenguine has the longest and emptiest beach of the three, and no school on it.
Thiès holds 3 kitesurf spots in our atlas, grouped into 2 destinations. Riding here is mostly lagoons. The season runs January to August. Every spot suits beginners. 2 schools operate in the region. The busiest areas are Somone.
When you may ride
the rules these spots carry, with the year on each
SalySaly20262026: no kitesurf permit, zoning or seasonal ban is known to apply at Saly. The real constraints are physical - hotel furniture on the sand, swimmers in front of the hotels, and the watersports bases.
SomoneSomone20262026: the lagoon sits inside the Aire Marine Protégée de La Somone, 4,098 hectares created from the 1999 community reserve and raised to marine protected area by presidential decree in 2020. Seven control posts staffed by thirteen eco-guards from the surrounding villages handle surveillance and issue visit permits, and the AMP enforces a non-building zone, mangrove restoration areas and closed periods during species breeding.
Each block is the opening of the record's own rule, kept in its own words. Where two postings do not line up, both are kept and neither is picked for you.
The winds here
what the spot records call the wind, and the knots they quote
Harmattan
named by 2 spots here
No spot record quotes a knot range against this wind by name.
The spots this region is known for
tier 2 of the 3 spots here
Destinations in Thiès
All spots in Thiès
Regions come from OpenStreetMap administrative boundaries; each spot page carries the record behind it. This list runs A to Z; the block above it is the tier order.
Last updated September 2026