It might be hard to catch Sean Colgan, considering his penchant for windswept, airborne acrobatics over open water. But when he finally, begrudgingly, trudges back to the sand, he’ll tell you that he considers Delaware’s coast to be second only to North Carolina’s Outer Banks (OBX) when it comes to wind-sports destinations.
It’s a bold claim, but he means it.
“OBX has bigger winds and bigger waves, but we’re next, if you ask me,” says Colgan, a longtime kiteboarder who, a decade ago, founded Got Wind? (a kiteboarding school in Rehoboth Beach). There’s no brick-and-mortar—he operates out of a big, vibe-tastic van year-round—but who needs bricks anyway, when a “wonderland” for learning how to kiteboard exists in Rehoboth Bay?
“The bay is the ideal learning ground for kiteboarding,” Colgan asserts. “You’ve got a giant shallow area, [where] you can go way, way out, and you won’t find anyone around you. You can make all the mistakes in the world and do so safely.”
As boarders advance, they typically hit Cape Henlopen State Park, Lewes, Towers Beach, and the Indian River Inlet. “You have so many different areas all available in one small location, which is pretty rare,” Colgan says. “Most kiting destinations, you might have one of those things, like a nice flat-water area to learn, or you might [think], ‘Oh, there’s some waves that break over there.’ There are very few areas where you’re like, ‘Yeah, we have all of that—and it’s within 10 minutes of each other, right here.”
![Kyle Iskra helps her husband, Matt Snyder, gear up for a session. While Snyder has been kiting since he spent summers in Lewes as a kid, he recently taught the pastime to his wife, who convinced him women might be better suited for the sport. “[Women] don’t try to muscle it their own way. …It’s a balancing act and more of a dance than just exerting sheer power and forcing something to bend to your will,” he says.](https://kodixml.kwglobal.com/kodixml/Today_Media/DELAWA-Jun25/img/delawa_jun_2025_a022_002.jpg)
Add to that the favorable winds, particularly onshore winds, which guide “kiters” back toward the shore—and, of course, that sweet south and southwest blow—and Delaware is a kiter’s delight. (And after a long day on the water, our beach towns’ nightlife is more fun than OBX, too, he adds.)
Kiting Takes Off
Colgan, who grew up in north Wilmington before migrating south about 20 years ago, began working on the water at the Rehoboth Beach Sailing Association. To his lament, when it got too windy, everything stopped: Lessons were postponed, and staff would cut out to make their own fun on the water, including jumping on a windsurfer. Then, one day in the early 2010s, Colgan saw something that made his jaw drop.
“[There were] a couple of guys kiteboarding, and they were just jumping and flying through the air. I was mesmerized,” he says. “Literally that day, I went online, bought my first kite, and started teaching myself [because] there weren’t a lot of people teaching it yet.”
To this day, he says the feeling he gets when he offers his body to the wind—meditative, reflective—hasn’t gotten old. “It’s the flow,” he calls it. “It means you are no longer worried about the past or the future. You’re just in the moment. …The crazier it is out there, the more meditative it is. Every problem disappears.”
Colgan says kiteboarding began to carve its niche along our coastline in the early 2010s, and the evolution of the sport is fueling its popularity—what began as a daredevil thrill is now a sport that tan, carefree retirees have perfected. Those early adopters—the “brave, reckless” riders, he says—would be startled at the improvements in safety standards, such as advancements in equipment and education.
The terms “kiteboarding” and “kitesurfing” are often used interchangeably, but there are some differences. Notably, kiteboarding happens on a twintip board, which looks like a wakeboard, whereas kitesurfers use what looks more like a traditional surfboard. Kiteboarding surfaced in the Netherlands in the late ‘70s, inspired by a flying Dutchman who went airborne after patenting and engineering the first kiteboard in Amsterdam. Two French brothers built on the OG Dutch concept in the ‘80s.
The sport turned legit in 1998, when Maui hosted the Kiteboarding World Competition, the first contest of its kind. The early 2000s saw gear manufacturers like Naish and Pride begin to ramp up production, and clinics and lessons popped up anywhere there was water. In 2008, the International Kiteboarding Association was founded, and in 2018, kiting went to the kids—the sport was included in the Youth Olympic Games. (Grown-ups got their shot at kiteboarding gold at the Paris 2024 Summer Games.)
An Evolving Sport
Winds of change continue to impact the sport—enter foiling or hydrofoiling, an offshoot of kiteboarding that utilizes a board with a hydrofoil attached. Imagine standing on a board that looks like it has a large kickstand underneath it, which acts like an underwater wing that lifts the board above the water’s surface.
Kiteboarding’s devotees evolve with the sport. Consider Dalton Waddell, who grew up surfing in OBX and for whom the ocean has been a lifelong constant. When he moved to the Delaware beaches in 2016, he reveled in the culture and energy emanating from the Indian River Inlet, particularly when he got an eyeful of kiteboarders dancing in the air. A new passion soon took hold.
On a surfboard, you ride a wave for anywhere from three to seven seconds, he points out. “I was seeing these guys kiteboard, and they’re riding forever. They’ll go out there for three hours straight, whereas I am out there trying to catch a wave…that’s going to last less than 10 seconds.”
After one lesson at East of Maui in 2017, Waddell says he was hooked. “The one thing anyone should know about kiteboarding if you’re new is to absolutely take a lesson at a surf shop or school with a professional,” says Waddell, conceding to a few “accidents” because he was intent to learn on his own. “I should have taken a few more lessons.” He likens it to learning how to fly a helicopter: “[It’s] 99% learning how to fly the kite, and 10% board skill.”
Most people first learn on a twintip. “You can go all the way to the pro level with that,” Waddell says. “But a whole different discipline is called kite foiling. Basically, to kiteboard, I need at least 15 knots of wind, but with a foil…I can go out when it’s barely windy. The foil also lets you cut through the chop. It’s like riding a magic carpet.”
He points to Towers Beach, just south of Dewey, as an ideal spot for newcomers. “There’s a very robust kiteboarding community out there, and people work together to make it safe for everybody,” he says. “If somebody gets in trouble, we help each other out. Or if somebody needs a refresher, someone will teach them. Everybody’s very willing to help because it just makes the sport more fun and safer for everybody on the water.”
While kiting might appear to be a fair-weather pastime, Waddell and his Delaware crew embrace the elements. ‘We are all-weather,” he says. If it’s windy and cold in the winter, they just put on wet suits.
Call It What You Want
When Matt Snyder, a Chadds Ford native whose family had a home in Lewes, first saw a kiteboarder, he had the same jaw-dropping moment Colgan described. “That looks awesome,” he remembers thinking. He started boarding about seven years ago, so he was only a spectator as the sport developed in the late ‘90s. As a kid, he convinced his two brothers to pitch in and buy an early kitesurfing-style traction kite. “It was specifically made to generate a lot of power based on shape,” he says. The Snyder boys messed around with that kite on the Lewes dunes, flying it on the sand and letting it drag them through the water. Years later, when Snyder first kited up, he got a better idea of the awe-inspiring power of the wind.
“It’s like strapping yourself to a fighter jet that you get to pilot, and then you get to ride a surfboard behind it and also jump in the air as high as you want to, ride waves, or ride upwind and go anywhere,” Snyder says. “Who would say no to the opportunity to pretty much have the ability to fly?”
He and his kiting crew have traveled to kiteboarding hot spots in New England, Mexico, Hawaii, and the Caribbean. “The thing about kiteboarding is you can pack the gear easily and do it anywhere,” he says. “And you can make it as mellow and chill as you want, or you can push it to the extreme. It’s just mind-blowing what some people are doing now and have been doing for the past decade.”
“[Y]ou are no longer worried about the past or the future. You’re just in the moment. The crazier it is out there, the more meditative it is. Every problem disappears.”
—Sean Colgan
When it comes to gear, Snyder says those just starting out can get in for less than $2,500—a board, kite, bar, and harness—by buying items used. Your first kite is a big deal, he notes, so he suggests getting a size consult from either a local surf shop or an instructor. (You might want a helmet, too, to start with.)
“From an exercise standpoint, kiting is one of the few things that’ll make your entire body sore, from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet,” Snyder says. “But it is very hard at first. Don’t give up. The learning curve can be really frustrating. Give it at least five decent sessions, and you’ll be shocked at how far you come.”
Feminine Energy
Kiteboarding is for all ages and fitness levels, enthusiasts contend. After Snyder helped his wife, Kyle, learn how to board, he determined that women might take to the sport more easily. “Might be something about being more willing to follow instructions,” he says, laughing. “[Women] don’t try to muscle it their own way, which just causes more problems. There’s a certain amount of going with the flow. It’s a balancing act and more of a dance than just exerting sheer power and forcing something to bend to your will.”
Kiters learn quickly how to choose their battles. If it’s a stormy day and the wind is blowing 45 knots, that’s not a fight you want to pick with Mother Nature, Snyder says. “Once you start understanding the wind, it connects you to nature in a profound way. …I pay attention to things like barometric pressure [and] storm systems. I’m tracking swell conditions and wind conditions 24/7.”
Any kiteboarder will tell you that summer winds aren’t the best for kiting. Plus, the shores are packed. Colgan, Waddell, and Snyder say they start up in autumn, when winds are more intense and the fight for real estate on the coast eases up.
Right now, the sport seems to be dominated by men in their 50s, Colgan says, but he’s seeing more young people and women looking to the skies. Above all, it’s a sport for anyone who has done their research and is ready to learn.
“The biggest mistake people make is just showing up unprepared,” says Colgan. “A lot of people try to get into the sport with some eBay stuff that they bought really cheap. The theory seems to be, ‘I’ll buy the cheapest kite, and we’ll go rig it up and we’ll go try to figure it out.’ The mistake is thinking kiteboarding is a board sport, when in reality, it’s more like a flight sport and should be treated as such.”
Colgan says newcomers should go fly a kite first. “I’ve had kids [who’ve] spent a lot of time flying toy kites, and they pop up and are riding within a couple of hours,” he says. “If you show up having that experience, it really accelerates the curve.”
If you’re traveling down Route 1 and find yourself distracted by colorful canopies polka-dotting the blue skies at Towers Beach, pull over. Watch. Marvel. Learn to fly.
Community Spirit
“We want more of us,” Colgan says. “There’s plenty of room and wind for everybody. Everyone’s hanging out afterward—we have a giant group chat of 40 of us, where everyone’s always letting everybody know where they’re going to be and what they’re doing. I mean, if you had a kite, you’d spend your days watching the sunset with your buddies on the beach. That’s how a lot of our days end.”
One thing about the kiting community that Snyder wishes Delaware officials knew is that as a whole, it’s a very environmentally conscious group. “A lot of people leave wakeboarding for kiteboarding because there’s no boat involved, all that’s required is wind. That component is important to a lot of us,” he says. “So I have found laws that exist that are misaligned with what I think our values are as a kiteboarding community. Laws to protect nesting birds and other wildlife, for example—we already care about nature and aren’t disturbing any of that. It would be nice to see areas that are somewhat arbitrarily closed for access be open for kiteboarders, because it’s about as low-impact as anything could be. For us, kiteboarding is a spiritual thing.”
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