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Kitesurfing in Fisherman's Huts
Also called Hadicurari, this shallow, sandy-bottomed bay just north of Aruba's Palm Beach hotels is the island's main wind-sports beach. Steady easterly trade winds blow side-shore across flat, waist-deep water behind a reef, making it one of the Caribbean's most reliable kitesurfing and windsurfing grounds.
Why here
Fisherman's Huts is one of the surest bets in Caribbean kitesurfing. Aruba sits right in the belt of the easterly trade winds, and here they funnel along the north-west coast and blow side-shore across a wide, shallow bay with a sandy bottom and a protective reef offshore. That combination, reliable 15 to 25 knot wind for most of the year, flat waist-to-chest-deep water and a soft launch, makes Hadicurari an ideal place to learn, where a beginner can practise water starts and stand up again rather than being swept out. The wind peaks in the Aruba high season around May to July, when the annual Hi-Winds regatta brings kiters and windsurfers from across the region, but it blows well most months. The same bay serves freeriders and freestylers who carve the flats, while more advanced riders head to Boca Grandi on the wilder south-east coast for waves and gusty flat water. Two long-running local schools work the beach, one family-run for over twenty years and the other the island's IKO-affiliated centre, so lessons, gear and downwinders are easy to arrange. Warm water, dependable wind and forgiving flats put Aruba among the best places anywhere to take up the sport.
Best months
The trade winds blow much of the year, strongest and most consistent from about May to August at 15 to 25 knots side-shore, with warm water around 27 to 29 degrees. Fisherman's Huts (Hadicurari) is a shallow, flat, sandy bay protected by an offshore reef, ideal for learning and freeriding; Boca Grandi on the south-east coast is the advanced wave and flat-water spot the same schools use for stronger riders. Gear and lessons are on the beach.
Getting there & around
Fisherman's Huts sits just north of the Palm Beach high-rise hotels, about 15 minutes from Queen Beatrix International Airport, and is walkable from many Palm Beach resorts. The kite schools are on the beach between the huts and the Marriott, provide full gear, and shuttle stronger riders to Boca Grandi on the south-east coast when the day suits it. No car is needed if you are staying at Palm Beach.
Skill levels: beginner, intermediate, advanced
Schools & guides (2)
Aruba Kitesurfing School
SchoolAruba Kitesurfing School is a family-run school on Hadicurari, the Fisherman's Huts beach in Noord that is the island's main kite spot, and has been teaching for more than twenty years. Its named local instructors, Carlos Sojo and Lysander and Zoe Loefstok, hold IKO and ISA certifications and coach group and private kitesurfing along with wing foiling, hydrofoil kiteboarding and paddleboard rental, providing full gear for the steady side-shore trade winds that blow across the shallow bay.
Venture Holidays Aruba
SchoolVenture Holidays Aruba is the island's IKO-affiliated kiteboarding centre, running mobile lessons at both of Aruba's spots: Fisherman's Huts and the Sarah Quita reef on the calm north-west side, and Boca Grandi on the wave-and-flat south-east coast. It teaches IKO-certified kitesurfing and IWO-certified wing foiling with boat and jet-ski support and rents gear to independent riders, matching the spot to the student's level and the day's wind.