Kiteboarding in Azerbaijan, Baku – First Impressions

I came to Baku to study for half a year. And since I’m a classic kite addict, it was kinda obvious I wasn’t coming here without my gear.

Packing was a bit more complicated. Trying to fit everything you need for six months plus kite gear into your luggage isn’t exactly easy, so I only brought the essentials, which is a Flysurfer SONIC 5 12 m² and a Naish Pivot 8 m². So far, I’ve only taken the Sonic out. The Pivot is still sitting in the bag waiting for its chance, because according to the locals, the heavy winds are still to come.

That’s actually one of the interesting things about wind in Azerbaijan.

Baku is called the “City of Winds”, and there’s definitely a reason for that. IT'S WINDY HERE A LOT.

If you start looking for information about kiteboarding in Azerbaijan online, you’ll usually read that the main season runs roughly from June until the end of October. But when you ask the local kiters, you get a slightly different answer.

According to them, summer is great mainly because it’s warm and the wind tends to be relatively stable, just not that strong. The proper heavy winds apparently start sometime in November and continue through winter and spring. During this time, they say it’s pretty normal to be out on 7 m² kites.

Of course, I also asked about the water temperature. And surprisingly, it doesn’t sound that bad. According to the locals, they kite throughout the whole winter and a full 3/2 wetsuit should be enough.

What it’s actually like, I’ll find out over the next few months :)

For now, at the end of September, the water is still pretty warm. You can easily ride in boardshorts, although for a longer session a shorty is definitely more comfortable.

Kiteboarding here is still a bit punk

Another thing that surprised me is the size of the local kite community.

IT’S REALLY SMALL.

So far, I’ve met around five kiters here, and the most experienced one has been riding for about four years. He told me that kiteboarding basically only arrived here around four years ago. Since then, it’s been growing very slowly. Apparently, a few new people join the community every year, mostly locals living in Baku, although the occasional tourist shows up as well. Kiteboarding is still a relatively expensive sport here, so among locals it’s mainly being discovered by people who can afford this kind of hobby.

Awesome is that everyone here is super chill.

When I arrived in Baku, I messaged a small local kite school called KiteBaku, which is basically run by one guy, and asked if he could give me some advice about where to ride. He simply told me he’d let me know when the conditions were good, sent me the location, and that’s exactly what happened.

No talk about money, no rental, no fees for using the beach. I had a great kite session and afterwards he even offered me tea.

I also met a few other kiters there who, just like me, live in the center of Baku. And they’re so chill that whenever it’s windy and they’re heading to the spot, they simply pick me up and I go with them. That actually makes it so much easier for me, because you really don’t want to travel to the kite spot on public transport with all your gear. Taxis are very cheap compared to the Czech Republic, but it’s still roughly an hour’s drive from central Baku.

Just don’t expect to have a perfect conversation in English with everyone. Younger people usually speak at least some English, but with older people it can be more difficult. Azerbaijani and Russian are the main languages here.

But somehow, you always find a way to communicate.

So what’s life in Baku actually like?

Kiting is great, but since I’m going to spend half a year here, it’s probably worth saying a few things about Baku itself as well.

The city sits directly on the Caspian Sea, on the Absheron Peninsula, and one interesting fact is that Baku is the lowest-lying capital city in the world, at roughly 28 metres below sea level. My first impressions have been really good. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a clean city. Baku is very modern, full of skyscrapers and new architecture, but at the same time you’ll find a historic old town and plenty of buildings that still remind you of its Soviet past.

For a Czech, life here is also pretty cheap. Taxis cost almost nothing compared to back home, and public transport is even cheaper. The metro is probably the best way to get around the city centre, because there are an insane number of cars here and traffic jams are very common. But what I probably like most about Baku so far are the locals. From my experience, people here are incredibly friendly and helpful. English isn’t something you can automatically rely on, though, so sometimes it comes down to a lot of hand gestures and Google Translate.

The mix of cultures is interesting too. Azerbaijan is a majority-Muslim country, but Baku feels much more relaxed than what someone might imagine when they think of a Muslim country. Alcohol is widely available, people mostly dress in a Western style, and you don’t see that many women wearing veils in central Baku. There are plenty of pubs, bars and places to go out. In a regular local pub, you can get an Azerbaijani Xırdalan beer for less than 2 EUR. You’ll also find döner places on pretty much every corner, where you can grab a kebab for around 2 EUR. Unfortunately for me, that’s become something I eat almost every day :)

So far, I have to say I’m really enjoying life in Baku and having plenty of wind is a pretty nice bonus.

Next time, something about my first kite spot here.

Ondra