St. Thomas Activities: Windsurfing and Kiteboarding

Windsurfing is available year round in St. Thomas thanks to the tropical breezes and great weather. Beaches on the East End of the island offer the best conditions. You can also get in on kiteboarding action while visiting St. Thomas. It’s a fairly new sport that has rapidly gained popularity in the water sports world. Another on the water, action sport option is wakeboarding; lessons and excursions are available.

Windsurfing

Windsurfing combines characteristics of sailing and surfing. Using a windsurf board and the power of the wind acting on a single sail a windsurfer can travel over the water; controlling movement by tilting and rotating the mast and sail. In addition to zipping across the water, windsurfers can perform jumps, spins and freestyle moves; traits of windsurfing that athletes of other board sports like skateboarding, waterskiing, wakeboarding and snowboarding might identify. St. Thomas has great windsurfing conditions; warm weather, beautiful waters and the windy beaches on the East End of the island. Beaches like Bluebeards Beach, Vessup Bay, Cowpet Bay and Sapphire Beach. Windsurfing equipment and lessons are available at several locations. With instruction and favorable conditions the basics can be learned in a few hours; advance moves require practice.

Kiteboarding

A board plus a power kite, and you have the fairly new sport of kiteboarding; also known as kitesurfing and fly surfing. Kiteboarding on St. Thomas has gained popularity amongst local athletes of other board sports in recent years. Kiteboarding relies heavily on favorable wind conditions, so the popular locales for kiteboarders are beaches on the windy East End of the island. A kiteboarder stands on a kiteboard and uses a large controllable power kite to harness the power of the wind – with the right conditions this power allows the kiteboarder to glide across the water and sometimes through the air. Lessons are available. With instruction you can learn about this new sport, techniques, equipment, safety and get out on the water.

Wakeboarding

Wakeboarding, a surface water sport, is a cross between water skiing and surfing. It is also closely related to other board sports such as snowboarding and skateboarding; many of the tricks cross over. In wakeboarding the rider stands on a wakeboard and is towed behind a boat, riding the wake created by the boat. Lessons and excursions are available on St. Thomas.