Kiteboarding on Lake Lanier

From WindsportAtlanta.com: Wiki

Kiting in 2014 with the lake at full pond.

This is a brief description of kiteboarding and kitesurfing on Lake Lanier. For more information, including maps, see our Lake Lanier page and Windsurfing on Lake Lanier page.

General Information

Lake Lanier can be a challenging place to kite, especially if the lake is at full pool (1071 ft in the summer). Because of the thin launching spots, tall pines near the water and deep water, the kiters you see will be more experienced and proficient with dealing with variable conditions.

The two main spots are west winds Old Federal Park east winds: Vann's Tavern Park because they offer relatively good spots to launch from.


Alex expands on this here:

We generally kite locally in the lake and escape every so often to Tybee on a good forecast. Kiting at the lake in the summer is a light wind affair. In the fall, winter and spring you can get decent 14 and 12m days and few 10m days. Given the spots at the lake I recommend you are:

(1) A good swimmer. On the light days wind can disappear and you might have to swim everything in or live on the hope it will kick back in.

(2) Good going upwind. At full pool the beach is underwater so going upwind is a must. Otherwise revert to point 1.

(3) Good at launching and landing your kite in constrained spaces. There are about 3-5 of us that kite regularly so having someone to help you land and launch is not guaranteed/common. Its good if you can drift launch, anchor launch/land, self land, hot launch. There are some treacherous trees thus the constrained comment.

(4) Either good at light wind or have a big kite or foil, or the 3 of them together (that will maximize your chances in the water).

While its a challenging spot it can be quite fun.

Tybee on the other hand on a good forecast is an ideal flat water spot with big tidal lagoons. One of my favorite places to kite in the US.

Where to Kiteboard

There are a lot of possible places to kiteboard on Lake Lanier but if conditions tend to be best at these parks: Old Federal Park NW, W, SW, NE, and Vann's Tavern Park NE, E, SE. Locals will post on our forums when and where we are going so make sure to check in if you like company or are unsure where you should go. Other parks are good under special conditions, when the lake is crowded or if they are especially close to where you are.


Windsurfing Sites on Lake Lanier