Duotone Pro Center Kappaladi powered by Kitekuda — Hotel in Sri Lanka

I stayed with Kitekuda for 10 days with some friends and we had a lovely time there.||Mike and his crew made us feel welcome from the start and always went the extra mile to make sure we had a good time.||||We stayed in the cheaper option (bungalows) and they are pretty basic but it’s clean and have everything you need ,I really liked the bathroom with a partly open ceiling where you can shower under the stars (in total privacy ofc). ||||There are no other restaurants in the area so you eat at their restaurant with full pension and it was really tasty and you always got enough (which can be a lot after a full day of kiting). When we traveled around the country a lot of restaurants served really small portions but that was not the case at kudas buffet .||They usually mix up with Sri Lankan food and western food every second day.||||My friends learned kitesurfing there and they had a good time in the small lagoon (most parts are waist deep) with their instructors and The Beach Boys-crew were alyways ready to help out with launching and setting up the gear. Shoot out to Irfan who was such a sweet and lovely guy.||||There is a pretty big patch of grass (rare, usually it’s sand) just in front of the place where you can launch. When we were there during the pandemic it was lots of room on the lagoon . I even had it all for my self a couple of times but we hear it’s usually more busy, especially in the summer season when the wind is stronger and comes more from the south.||||We stayed here i February and we usually had good wind for the bigger kites. The wind usually came right after lunch (no wind before then unfortunately but that’s the same in the big lagoon. direction usually started from west and moved around to end from the north end of day . This was a bit of problem since it means it goes more and more over land, creating a area with weak wind in front of kite kuda making it difficult to launch sometimes, especially for beginners. ||||For 2000 rupees (roughly 10 euro) you can take a tricycle (25min ride) to the big lagoon where they don’t have the problem with northerly wind so you can kite there longer in the day but it’s also way more busy and not as flat water (still flat though) so we ended up doing that the last days to be able to kite as much as possible. It’s huge (2km wide vs 250m on small lagoon) so there is a lot of space but can get really busy. When we were there I counted 60 kites one day and 40 another when the wind was not as strong. ||I guess it can get really busy when there is no pandemic going on so I think it’s easier to learn in the small lagoon where you didn’t gave to worry about other kiters. Most people were beginners on both places so can be a bit caotic, for example I got a kite in my head at some point when a rider passes by without rising his kite. ||Me, who has some experience had a better time in the big lagoon since I could ride out from the beach to find some space but if I just stared taking lesions I would probably prefer kite kudas smaller lagoon. Big lagoon is deeper so for the most parts you can’t feel the bottom, making it harder for beginners. ||There are also some sharp clams on the bottom there that you can really hurt your feet in so good idea to use thin wet shoes. Small lagoon also has some sharp shells but they are smaller and not as bad as in the big.||||If you stay at a kite place at the big lagoon you have to get there by transport (kites schools in that area usually have a few shuttles per day that are included in the stay there), it’s not far but too far to walk so you aren’t as independent as you can be at kite kuda where you live 30 m from the small lagoon. ||||The ocean is also available for kiting at both places and if you go there you can kite similar amount of hours on both places but it’s really choppy at best and like a washingmashine at worst and the reason we fly from Sweden to Sri Lanka is...

A small grateful post about our recent home of KiteKuda - our little Sri Lankan paradise.

Initially, we’d only planned to be there for a couple of weeks, but ended up staying for four months.

We even tried to leave once to explore the island, but came back the very next day.

We did not plan to learn kitesurfing, but when we departed, we were already jumping licensed kitesurfers. With our own kite😆.

We fell in love with this place, with the people who create all this energy and comfort, with the unique beauty of the daily sunsets, and even with the local dogs.

It's beautiful there - a lagoon winding among palm trees and mangroves, a narrow sandy spit between the lagoon and the warmest ocean, and all the windows facing sunset🧡.

It's cozy there - care, attention to detail, to the decoration of each room, fantastic dream catchers and wind chimes, flowers everywhere, colored little fish in the pond, comfortable hammocks under palm trees, barbecue, cakes and singing Mike (the owner of the hotel) for birthdays.

There were no crowds of tourists, the whole beach was ours! The place seems to attract the “right” people, like-minded people - kitesurfers, journalists and researchers for National Geographic, marine biologists, even ambassadors from different countries. All are very interesting!

The place is great for kitesurfers - shallow flat water lagoon, ocean with waves and onshore wind, a comfortable landing areas for kites on the grass right in front of the houses, and assistants who are always ready to help. In fact, we were there in the off-season and kitesurfing a lot - imagine how cool it is there in the kiting season, from May to September!

Overall, it felt like home there.

We will miss you @kitekuda, Mike, Natalie. Thank you for everything! We will...

I don’t usually write reviews but I think Kitekuda (Mike, Eric and the whole team) warrants it.

I was heading to India on a work trip and had a long weekend to spare so was wondering what to do. I haven’t kited for a few years and thought I might give it a go again. I found a review somewhere online about Kitekuda and did some basic research and looked like an amazing location, so I contacted Mime and booked directly. As I was on a work trip, I had no gear and two pairs of board shorts :).

Mike organised everything from the moment I landed in Sri Lanka to the moment I left. The aircon room was spacious and looked straight onto lawn and the water. The food was healthy and fresh (spicy omelette delicious).

They had new rental gear and my first session I was a mess. I struggled to keep the kite under control, drifted down wind and had to be rescued. They watched me closely and came to my rescue early enough for me to not be worried at all.

Eric then (wisely) suggested a 1 hour refresher with an instructor, which I welcomed. After 45min of remembering, reminding and not pulling on the bar it all clicked again and I was off and running.

The resort is right on the water, so by day 3 I could go anywhere I wanted with confidence and ease. The location so caters for lagoon kiting, inner reef ocean kiting and outer reef ocean kiting. They can also organise downwind safari days.

I wanted for nothing, the service, location and food were amazing all in a smallish community/friendly/relaxed environment.

I will be back and highly recommend Kitekuda for great kiting in a relaxed and amazing place.

Thanks Mike, Eric and team. See...