C Kite Festival

When I first heard that Mauritius was good for kiting I immediately felt it was somewhere I had to visit. I have since found out that my 10x great grandmother was sent there, pretty much as a slave, over 300 years ago, enduring a harsh sea crossing from South Africa, so maybe the island is in my blood. For one reason or another I didn’t actually manage to visit for another 12 years, and when I did it was Le Morne that I headed to. While it is a beautiful spot and I loved shredding the waves of Manawa (I chickened out on One Eye), I did find it busy. I also managed to get into a fight with a metal pole at the hotel children’s play area on the first day, and spent the trip looking like a pirate with a broken tooth… Being invited to the C Kite Festival five years later, I was super excited to check out a different part of Mauritius, though I did wonder if I should pack a mouth guard this time…

Well the first thing that struck me – not a metal pole this time – was how un-busy it is. C Mauritius Palmar is located on the east coast of the island and is still relatively unknown for kiting, which means you practically get the place to yourself. There was so much room in the lagoon it was heaven. While you may not be able to tick the box of riding giant waves, let’s be honest, the vast majority of us aren’t going to be hitting One Eye anyway. What you will find is flat water to practice your new moves. The scenery was also stunning with all the tropical-island boxes being ticked – white sand, turquoise water, palm trees blowing in the breeze… The hotel itself feels luxurious with everything you’d expect from a top-quality resort – infinity pools to relax in and admire the view after your kite session, a spa with massage and beauty treatments for further relaxation, a gym, padel and tennis if you need more action after kiting, a delicious selection of food at the restaurant buffet to refuel, and endless options of cocktails to sip by the pool. There are also numerous games such as table football to entertain the kids (and the big kids).

This was the third edition of the C Kite Festival, organized in conjunction with Antoine Auriol, former World Champion. I hadn’t met him before and he was such an awesome ambassador for the event, creating a fun vibe both on the beach and at the evening parties. His good friend Sam Usher – who coincidentally lives in the same place as me and we often kite together – was there to help film a documentary on the event which will be broadcast globally. There were other non-kitesurfing journalists and influencers invited too and it was so cool seeing their reaction of wonder to the sport we all love so much – we might even have made a couple of new recruits. Then there were other pro riders invited: Arthur Guillebert, Edgar Ulrich, Hay Katz, Louka Pitot, Noah Nicolas, Titouan Galea, Tom Court, Tom Hebert and Victor Hays, who put on a dazzling show of tricks to watch. But the event isn’t just about them – any kiter can attend and there was a fun Big Air and best trick competition held on one of the days for amateurs, and a twintip race held the following day. We also did a downwinder to another spot, Lafayette, about an hour away and it was breathtaking looking back at the beautiful coastline from a different perspective.

The fun didn’t stop at sundown – there were yoga sessions from a guest instructor, Emily Mouskides, and then two big party nights organized with talented local bands and DJs invited to perform. I was especially impressed by Annega, one of the island’s top pop stars. I hit the dancefloor with the kite pros and other guests and, because the music stopped at midnight, still had energy to kite the next day – perfect! One evening there was food provided by South Africa’s Culinary Icon of the Year 2021, Chef Nti. Being three-quarters South African myself I was excited to taste the offerings that were a modern twist on traditional food.

So I was well fed, thoroughly entertained and got to kite a double session every day. And I’m sure you’ll be glad to hear that no teeth were broken on the trip… It really was a gorgeous hotel with super friendly staff and the event was one of the loveliest kite events I’ve been to, and while I would highly recommend visiting C Mauritius Palmar for a holiday at any time of the year, attending for the event itself would give you that extra dimension of fun and activity. So maybe see you there next year. Alex and I will be fighting over who gets the invite…