MapEgyptSoma BaySoma Bay / 7 BftSoma Bay

Soma Bay / 7 Bft

Red Sea · Soma Bay · Safaga

also known as 7BFT KiteHouse Somabay, KiteHouse Soma Bay, Soma Bay North

Part of Soma Bay →

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

flat waterbeginner-friendlymedium crowds

On this page

The spot
Wind
Forecast
Month by month
Water
Level
The scene
Launch
Schools
Tips
Getting there
Photos
FAQ

Riding essentials

Season

Apr–Sep

Months riders and schools name

How windy

14 kt

Character: thermal

Room to launch

huge

access rules on record, below

Water

flat

28.2 °C in summer

Hazards

Reported by riders

Level

Beginner to advanced

With a caveat: see Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Crowds

medium crowds · busy Jul Aug Sep

Schools

named at this spot

From the airport

50 min

International Airport (HRG)

On the clock

11:00 · 13:00 · 14:00

In spring and summer the wind often starts overnight and is already strong first thing, blowing cross-side-offshore from the right as you face the water. It rotates further around 11:00. From December to March it fades earlier, sometimes by 13:00-14:00, so a winter session is worth starting at opening rather than after lunch.

The marks are the clock times the record names, laid on a 24-hour day. The bar between the first and the last covers those hours; it is not a promise of wind.

Nearbystraight-line distance

Backup spotsWhere riders go when the wind doesn't work here.

Soma Bay / Surf Motion
KBC Ras Somano page yet
Abu Soma Ridersno page yet
Tornado Surf Safagano page yet
Hawa Safagano page yet
Tobia / Utopia Island downwinderno page yet

The spot

The 7 Bft KiteHouse sits on the private Somabay peninsula near Safaga, at the north end of the Soma Bay lagoon, and it is a resort spot rather than a public beach: you get in as a resort guest and you pay for the beach, the storage box and the rescue boat.

Setting and water

The Red Sea water is warm, clear and flat, with a standing shelf in front of the station and about 3 m of depth beyond it. The northerly arrives side-offshore to cross-off, which is exactly why the inside is so smooth and exactly why the rescue boats matter.

Wind and season

The spot is sold on 4-8 Beaufort and 300+ windy days a year; the nearest station measured a 14 kt average from NNW over 2020-2026, which counts the calm hours too. May to September is the reliable stretch, sometimes stretched to October, and from December to March the wind can be gone by early afternoon.

Who should come

Beginners do well here inside the school setup, with teaching boats alongside them in deep water. Riding on your own in an offshore component, on a rescue package that counts your call-outs, is a different proposition; if your upwind is not reliable, this is not your spot.

The wind

Direction

cross-offN to NNWwind blows away from land — rescue cover matters here

Direction to shore

cross-off

Dominant direction

N to NNW, with NNE/NW also reported as usable

Kite sizes

567891011121314151617

metres · typical quiver highlighted

The quiver, in words

For a 75-85 kg twin-tip rider, a 9 m covers the ordinary summer day and a 12 m the lighter mornings and shoulder months; a 7 m earns its place from May to September when afternoons run to the top of the range.Foilers go smaller again.The centre keeps around 150 kites and 50 boards on the wall, so a private quiver is optional rather than necessary.

Character

thermal

When it fills in: see above ↑

Average strength

Typical strength

4-8 Beaufort is the shorthand 7Bft uses; nearby observations average 14 kt with 17 kt gusts for 2020-2026.

steady overall but side-offshore/offshore-influenced; rescue is important when riding away from shore

Open the whole year with no rest day and marketed on 300 windy days a year. The strongest stretch is spring to autumn, usually put at May-September and sometimes stretched to October; December to March is less probable and rewards an early start, and those months need neoprene.

A station on the Soma Bay side measured a 14 kt annual mean from NNW with 17 kt average gusts across observations from 2020-11-01 to 2026-07-31 - an all-hours figure well below the windy-hours strength a visitor actually rides.

Forecast

Live forecast

Windguru Windfinder Windy

Month by month

10 ktJan23°
10 ktFeb22°
10 ktMar22°
10 ktApr23°
11 ktMay24°
12 ktJun26°
11 ktJul28°
12 ktAug28°
12 ktSep28°
10 ktOct27°
10 ktNov26°
10 ktDec24°

avg knots per month · water °C below · season highlighted

Monthly averages. Highlighted: the months riders and schools name (Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep).

Measured at Makadi Bay, ~6 km from the spot (multi-year modeled/historical (Weatherspark)).

Every figure, month by monthKnots · Wind from · Air · Water

Month	Knots	Wind from	Air	Water
Jan	9.8 kt	N	16.7 °C	22.8 °C
Feb	10.2 kt	N	17.8 °C	22.2 °C
Mar	10.3 kt	N	20.6 °C	22.2 °C
Apr	9.9 kt	N	24.4 °C	22.8 °C
May	10.7 kt	N	28.3 °C	24.4 °C
Jun	12 kt	N	31.1 °C	26.1 °C
Jul	11.2 kt	N	32.2 °C	27.8 °C
Aug	11.9 kt	N	32.2 °C	28.3 °C
Sep	12.1 kt	N	30 °C	27.8 °C
Oct	10.2 kt	N	26.7 °C	27.2 °C
Nov	9.6 kt	N	22.2 °C	26.1 °C
Dec	9.7 kt	N	18.3 °C	24.4 °C

How this was measuredmeasured · multi-year modeled/historical (Weatherspark)

A ground station recorded this, at the distance the page names.

The typical daily max and the direction are columns of the table above, month by month. Highlighted months are the riding season from the spot record.

Makadi Bay · Weatherspark · multi-year modeled/historical (Weatherspark)

The water

Type

flat

Standing depth

A standing area of roughly 500 x 100 m sits in front of the station: flat water, sandy bottom, no shore break.Past it the main riding area deepens to about 3 m, which is why lessons run from boats that stay alongside the student rather than from a walkable shelf.The half-metre tidal range moves the edge of the standing water without closing it.

Tides

Range is small and rarely a planning factor: highs around 0.6-0.8 m against lows of 0.1-0.4 m, so a swing near half a metre, widest at full moon. It shifts where the standing shelf ends rather than whether the session happens.

Temperature

28.2 °C summer · 23.5 °C winter

Modelled monthly average: 22–28 °C

Wetsuit

Shorts/lycra in July-August; shorty or 2 mm shorty in shoulder months; 3/2 mm or shorty/longer suit November-March depending on rider tolerance.

Conditions

Clear, shallow, flat to choppy lagoon water on the 7Bft/KiteHouse side, flattest close to shore because the wind there is side-offshore. Coral sits around the wider bay, so most riders keep reef shoes in the bag.

Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

The 7Bft school teaches beginners and coaches advanced riders, and the water works for both. Because the usual wind is side-offshore, a beginner belongs in the school setup with its teaching boats rather than out alone.

The scene

What riders come here for

intermediateadvancedfreeridebeginner lessonsfreestyleflat waterwingfoilspeed runs

Dedicated resort kite-house scene with German-speaking service, beach assistance, storage, compressors, restaurant/chill-out facilities and shuttle access from Somabay hotels; quieter than public city beaches but still a package-holiday hub in peak windy months.

Launch and rules

three ways on to the water, and what each one asks of you

With a school or a boat

7 schools name this spot

See who they are

On your own

Room to launch: huge

Read the access rules

Somewhere else

4 spots nearby

All 4 spots within 40 km are under Nearby

Rescue

Up to three rescue boats patrol the water through opening hours, and four separate teaching boats stay alongside students so lessons can run in deep water.

Rescue is metered, not unlimited: the beach-use and storage package carries one rescue for a stay of one to three days, two up to nine days, three up to thirteen and four for a fortnight, with further rescues bought individually.

A clinic sits about 1 km away inside the resort; the nearest hospital is in Hurghada, roughly 45 km and 35 minutes away.

Launch

Launch from the sandy 7Bft KiteHouse beach at the north end of Soma Bay: a wide beach with hard and softer sand, no shore break, no ordinary beach users and marked launch and landing zones.On site are food and a bar, hot showers, toilets, a storage room, a compressor, a repair service and a retail shop, plus beach volleyball and a slackline for the flat days.A free shuttle runs from every Somabay hotel, a 3-4 km ride.

Hazards riders report 12 reported

Wind

gusty/offshore-influenced wind near the north shore buildings
Usual northerly wind is side-offshore/cross-off; do not ride without rescue cover or a reliable plan to return upwind.
The air directly in the lee of the station is turbulent; the clean wind starts further out.
Past the 500 x 100 m standing shelf the water is about 3 m deep, so wading back in is not an option once the cross-off wind takes you out.
December to March the wind can die by early afternoon, which is exactly when an offshore drift matters most.

Bottom

reef sections
Coral around the wider bay; reef shoes for walking out and for a self-rescue.
Coral reefs sit around the wider area; reef shoes are the standard precaution.

Protected areas and rules

Strong sun and summer heat; sun-protective clothing is recommended.

Other

gated private-resort access
Private-peninsula access means the kite beach is not an open public beach.
Rescue is counted, not unlimited - a beach-use package carries one to four call-outs depending on length of stay.

Rules & access

1 min read

2026: Somabay is a private peninsula, so the KiteHouse and its kite beach are open only to resort guests. Water hours are 08:30-17:00 and there is no rest day; station hours are given as 08:00-18:30 in one place and 08:30-18:00 in another, and the two do not agree.

Storage and rental prices

Independent riders buy a beach-use and storage package, one box holding 3-5 kites and 2 boards, which carried a 2024/25 price of EUR 22 for one day, EUR 112 for a week and EUR 196 for two weeks, with one to four rescues included by length of stay and extra rescues charged. Kite rental requires VDWS level 4, IKO level 3 or equivalent, and without a licence a EUR 60 check-up buys one. Foil rental requires VDWS level 5 or IKO level 3-N; wing rental needs a VDWS basic wing licence.

Lessons and cancellations

Courses are capped at four students. Bookings cancelled inside 30 days of arrival are charged on a sliding scale from 25% to 60%.

Access rules drift faster than anything else we hold — check locally, and propose an edit if this has changed.

Schools that ride here

Rider tips

Count your rescues: a week of beach use includes two, and every recovery after that is billed, which should change how far downwind you drift.
Bring the licence card. Without a VDWS level 4 or IKO level 3 you pay a check-up fee before you can rent kite gear at all.
Be on the water at opening from December to March, when the wind can die by early afternoon, and remember water time ends at 17:00.
Judge your upwind against the standing shelf, roughly 500 x 100 m, because past it the bottom drops to around 3 m.
Pack a 9 m and a 12 m, add a 7 m for the strongest summer afternoons, and keep reef shoes in the bag for walking and self-rescue near coral.
Take the free shuttle from your Somabay hotel, a 3-4 km ride, rather than expecting to launch off the hotel beach.

Getting there

Airport

Hurghada International Airport (HRG)

Route

Fly to Hurghada, then a resort transfer, a taxi or a car south to Soma Bay.The airport run is 30-40 minutes by the centre's own reckoning and up to about an hour by other counts.From any Somabay hotel a free shuttle covers the 3-4 km to the KiteHouse, roughly 8 minutes from The Breakers, so plan on a shuttle rather than a walk from your room to the water.

Transfer

50 min

Cost level

medium

Staying

Most riders stay in Somabay resort hotels such as The Breakers, Kempinski, Sheraton, Robinson, The Cascades, or nearby Soma Bay/North Safaga properties; The Breakers specifically packages easy shuttle access to 7Bft.

No-wind days

Diving and snorkelling on the Red Sea/house reef, golf, spa/thalasso, gym/CrossFit, pool time, desert excursions, horse riding and boat trips.

Photos

FAQ

When is the best time to kite at Soma Bay / 7 Bft?

May to September is the most consistently recommended high season, though the spot is marketed as windy on 300-plus days a year.

Is 7 Bft suitable for beginners?

Yes through the school setup, since the usual side-offshore wind means independent beginners should ride with rescue cover rather than alone.

What is the wind like?

Wind is mainly N to NNW, side-offshore to cross-off, averaging around 14 knots with 17-knot gusts at the nearest measuring station.

Is there a kite school and rescue on site?

Yes, 7Bft KiteHouse runs lessons and beach-use packages that include limited rescue tickets, with extra rescue tickets sold separately.

Are there access rules or restrictions?

Somabay is a private peninsula, so the KiteHouse and kite beach are exclusively available to guests, with 2026 water hours listed as 08:30-17:00.

The bigger pictureEverything about Soma Bay

Last updated: August 2026