Hel Peninsula is a surf gem of its own kind and vibe. If you will come kitesurfing to Hel once most probably you will come back here again. This is my home spot – so be warned as the description may be a bit biased 🙂
ToB overall spot rating (1-10): 7
Chapter One: location.
- GENERAL LOCATION: Hel is a 35km long peninsula located in north of Poland around 50km above the Tricity metropolis (Gdansk, Sopot, Gdynia). During the main season one can get there with any type of transportation. There’s also a special group on Facebook where surfers offers kind of hitchhiking: Take me to Hel.
- PRECISE LOCATION: entering peninsula is like getting to a surf paradise. On one side you have beautiful shore of Baltic sea and on the other shallow waters of Puck gulf. There’s plenty of camp sites on the gulf side but one of them is my home – it’s Chalupy 6. Chalupy 6 is one of the biggest campings and the closest one to the train station in Chalupy village. On the other side of Chalupy 6 you will find a spacious parking lot.
Chapter Two: wind.
- WIND EXPOSURE RATING (1-10): 5.5 – between May and October wind probability is on a level of around 50% (days with wind above 10-12 knots) but every year is lately quite different. It is very rare that it drops below 50% but there are years with wind coverage on a level of about 70-75%.
- WIND SEASON: if you’re an hardcore than the season is all year round here – just get a thick wetsuit, boots, gloves and neoprene hoodie so you can ride when it’s freezing. Camping itself is open from May till half of September.
Dude!
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- WIND DIRECTION: predominant wind direction for the gulf (where people most often kitesurf) is west with its northern and southern variations. What’s great about this spot is that when wind changes to north or east you can go kiting on the sea. So this spot works with almost all wind directions.
- WIND QUALITY RATING (1-10): 7 – western wind might be gusty as it comes very often with clouds but this is quite friendly type of gusts so you should adjust to it quickly. The best winds comes from south-east. Smooth and even as silk (but rather light: up to 15 knots)! It happens only few times per season. This wind I rate with 9.
- KITE SIZES: take everything you have as the wind speed may vary from nothing up to 40 knots. The size that I use most often is 12m (75kg weight on a TT board).
- FORECAST RELIABILITY: unfortunately quite often forecasts do not stick with the reality. The best is when Windguru shows good winds for a period of few days (+3) – than its probability is high. If you’re not on the spot than look for live meteo stations to get confirmation.
Hel Peninsula is a surf gem of its own kind and vibe. If you will come kitesurfing to Hel once most probably you will come back here again. This is my home spot – so be warned as the description may be a bit biased 🙂
ToB overall spot rating (1-10): 7
Chapter One: location.
- GENERAL LOCATION: Hel is a 35km long peninsula located in north of Poland around 50km above the Tricity metropolis (Gdansk, Sopot, Gdynia). During the main season one can get there with any type of transportation. There’s also a special group on Facebook where surfers offers kind of hitchhiking: Take me to Hel.
- PRECISE LOCATION: entering peninsula is like getting to a surf paradise. On one side you have beautiful shore of Baltic sea and on the other shallow waters of Puck gulf. There’s plenty of camp sites on the gulf side but one of them is my home – it’s Chalupy 6. Chalupy 6 is one of the biggest campings and the closest one to the train station in Chalupy village. On the other side of Chalupy 6 you will find a spacious parking lot.
Chapter Two: wind.
- WIND EXPOSURE RATING (1-10): 5.5 – between May and October wind probability is on a level of around 50% (days with wind above 10-12 knots) but every year is lately quite different. It is very rare that it drops below 50% but there are years with wind coverage on a level of about 70-75%.
- WIND SEASON: if you’re an hardcore than the season is all year round here – just get a thick wetsuit, boots, gloves and neoprene hoodie so you can ride when it’s freezing. Camping itself is open from May till half of September.
Dude!
if you like the ToB and its free of advertisement content – please help us and consider some small donation 🙂
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Chapter Three: water.
- FREESTYLE RATING (1-10): 7 The water in the gulf is usually quite flat thus giving you great playground for practicing your wakestyle tricks. If the wind’s blowing constantly for a longer period water might became quite choppy.
- WAVES RATING (1-10): no waves on the gulf. For wave riding we have spots on the Baltic sea but for this I’ll write separate post.
- HYDROFOIL RATING: 4.5. The gulf of Puck is quite shallow what makes hydrofoiling a bit awkward. But it’s possible to find a bit deeper place close to the shore for water start and than ride farther from the shore where the depth is much bigger. Suggested mast length: max 60cm.
- DEPTH OF WATER: water in the big part of gulf is shallow. Sometimes even 200 meters from the beach you have waist deep water. Also there’s many of shallows in different places in the middle of the gulf.
- TIDES: no tides! Big tides are super annoying and can ruin your session. In Chalupy level of the water is rather stable. Changes if occurs are very small.
Chapter Four: others.
- WETSUIT: in the main season 4/3 will give you thermal comfort. There are days with hot weather so if you’re lucky you might get some ‘naked chest’ rides 🙂
- DANGERS & ANNOYANCES: hmmm actually the biggest annoyance is the temperature. Prepare your winter cloths as in the evenings when the northern wind comes you will need your snow jacket and warm beanie.
- KITE COURSES SUITABILITY RATING (1-10): 8 – Chalupy is by far one of the safest and best places to learn kitesurfing. Shallow water, safe sea floor and not to strong side-on wind with plenty of surf infrastructure.
- KITE SCHOOLS: there are 3 kite centers operating on the camping. All are offering whatever you might need: storage, rental, courses, basic shopping. If you are looking for a VIP quality services I’m at your disposition.
- WIFI ACCESSIBILITY: since 2016 during the high season HBO is offering free access to its WiFi. But as the place is a bit off the civilization prepare for some short cuts in signal deliveries 🙂
- PICTURESQUE: beaches on the polish sea side are one of the most beautiful in the world. The sand is light and soft and often creates lovely dunes covered with long gras and many different types of greenery. Where the dunes ends pine forest starts. Everyday brings different sunset. Some of them are absolutely spectacular. All this on a small piece of land having less than 100m in its narrower part.
- SURF VIBE RATING (1-10): 9. Beside the surf conditions this what creates the magic of Hel peninsula is the amazing and unique flavor. Great people sharing same passions and having positive attitude make this place peaceful and super friendly. Expect smiles from early morning, surf style at its best and hard parties.
- ACCOMODATION: If you stay on the camping you are actually directly on the kite spot – not farther than 50m from the water of Puck gulf. Chalupy 6 is the camp site you have never seen before! It is becoming more and more posh every year therefore finding a place to stay there becomes hard. The whole site is covered with caravans and camper vans. Some of them are for rent – book them early! Increasing popularity has also its disadvantages – don’t expect it to be cheap.
- COSTS OF LIVING: For this topic I’ll write a separate post – please subscribe the blog to get all the latest articles.
- NO WIND ACTIVITIES: as pointed at the very beginning – Chalupy is not the windiest place on the planet. Even though there’s plenty of things you can do in Chalupy 6. Stand up paddle boarding, surfing (sometimes we get very nice swell on Baltic sea), crossfit, skateboarding, yoga, beach trekking, visiting other sites on peninsula (nature here is mind blowing), sunbathing… or just relaxing at the beautiful garden zone with good food and all sorts of drinks spiced up with chill out music Few times per season Chalupy 6 is organizing live music concerts as well as many other smaller and bigger events.
Chapter Five: movie.
For the one that arrived to the very end of this post – a small present – watch the video made by super talented wGwK crew and flow with the unique vibe of Chalupy 6! The best kitesurfing spot in Poland.
Thanks for reading dude! In case I missed some important information or you have any kind of questions – please write a comment and subscribe to ToB blog (fill the subscription field at the very bottom)
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No bias, So true!!! 😉
thanks Rufio! I’m planning to add rating options for the users so beside ToB rating there will be another one made by the users.
See you soon in Ch6 🙂