Duotone Pro Center El Gouna — Local services in Gamsha

I was doing a downwinder from Kitepower to KBC and found a stunning, empty lagoon in front of Duotone Pro Centre Casa Cook. Had about 20 minutes of epic solo kiting, then another guy joined and we happily shared the lagoon. Pure bliss… until staff stormed in.

They told me the water itself was private (yes, the actual Red Sea), and when I argued that it's public and I'm not using their beach or facilities, they tried to open my chicken loop to kick me out. What followed was basically a live-action Tom & Jerry episode: me kiting, them chasing me around the lagoon like cartoon villains.

I could understand if the lagoon was packed with students, but there was literally just me and one more person. Reading the other reviews, I see this is not the first time this happened.

In Egypt, even if you own land that directly borders the sea, you don’t actually “own” the water in front of it. Here’s how it works:

The seashore and water are public property under Egyptian law. The coastline, beaches, and territorial waters are considered state/public domain, meaning they cannot be privately owned.

Owning beachfront land gives you rights to use and develop the land up to a certain boundary (the “setback” or protection zone), but the beach strip and sea itself remain under state control.

Edit reply: First of all, your staff didn't come and kindly asked me, but came to me and shouted that it's private, only for your clients. They said nothing about safety and it was far from being kind. Second, your 2 clients that you have at your center, were launching their kites 100m downwind pass the sandbar, so there is no talk about me endangering somebody. At no point at all I was blocking someone from riding, jumping, launching or landing a kite. Instead of promoting the sport and creating friendly place to kite you are just money hungry and claiming the sea to be yours. If the situation repeats ever again, I will pass the matter to Orascom....

Kitesurfing scam with a view – German-run, Egyptian-style coaching, and zero respect.

I signed up for a “full-day” kite initiation: 5 hours for 460 euros. What did I actually get? Two rushed hours of flying a kite, a long pointless break “waiting for more wind”, and then… game over. The kite suddenly exploded — supposedly due to the heat — and the coach casually decided to end the session, claiming there wasn’t enough wind anyway. That was it. Session terminated — not by me, but by them.

And yet, I was still billed 260 euros — more than half the full price, for less than half the promised time. No refund, no gesture, no explanation. Just a clean, clinical invoice.

Let’s talk about the coach. His Egyptian-accented English was barely understandable, and he made no effort to slow down or be clear. He rushed through instructions, obsessing over tiny details without ever giving a sense of the whole. The tone? Completely infantilizing, like he was explaining rocket science to a five-year-old. Honestly, aside from physically handling the kite, I would have learned far more from a decent YouTube tutorial — in a language I could actually understand.

And yes, the whole place is run by Germans, and it’s obvious. I’ve seen it in Thailand, and now again here: when Germans run businesses abroad, they somehow manage to be more rigid, more money-hungry, and less customer-friendly than the locals. Everything is calculated, nothing is negotiable, and you feel it in every interaction.

Sure, the setting is nice — beach vibes, palm trees, stylish beanbags for influencer wannabes pretending to be athletic. But behind the polished aesthetic is a tourist trap with poor teaching, zero flexibility, and inflated prices.

If you actually want to learn kitesurfing, go somewhere else. Here, you’ll just learn what it feels like to be overcharged, underestimated, and underinformed — all while smiling politely...

This kite center doesn’t understand what it is all about. Money on the fist place. No problem if they think like that but there was no service. The manager doesn't know what managing is. This guy doesn’t understand how it works. It is obvious why there are no customers compared to neighboring kitecenters. Casa cook is very good though. A big contrast between these two.

Dear, your answer is actually the answer that confirms what I mean. Again, you are talking about money. I am talking about vision, organization of a kitecenter and the sport in itself. I never said I didn't want to pay. I paid you for 2 people as you are charging/asked. You do charge triple of other clubs, but ok it's your choice, even if it is late afternoon. Then you close the doors. Boat out of the water and no facilities, so no service. I really wonder why you charge customers for? To be there? I suggest you check with your neighbors. This will...