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Kiting Spots

Kiting is a wonderful 4 season sport for Ottawa.  Depending on the season, suitable kiting spots can vary.

Kitesurfing at Britannia Bay (Summer 2000)
Photo by Bill Pratt

Summer Spots

All popular summer kiting spots in Ottawa are on the Ottawa River.  Summer season normally starts from May 1 to Nov 1 (6 months season).  Following is the map of the most popular kiting spots in Ottawa:

Lac des Chenes. Map generated by Ottawa's Interactive Mapping (City of Ottawa)

The width of the lake is around 2.5 km to 3km and the length is around 7.5 km

• Britannia Bay, next to Britannia Yacht Club (BYC, good for SW, W, NW, N wind, not too bad for S and NE wind).  This is the most popular spot for Ottawa riders as it has lots of shallow water, near downtown and can accommodate almost 75% of the wind we have in Ottawa.  The other reason is that for most good days in Ottawa, there is normally a W element in the wind direction and Britannia has the best W and NW wind for the whole region - many miles of clearance upwind.

Britannia Bay Launch Map generated by Ottawa's Interactive Mapping (City of Ottawa)
You can see all the shallow area (which is great for learning and safe for kiting in the winter)
The NE side of the bay is named by the kiters "Hung's bay" and the SW side "Brent's bay"

• Shirley Bay (at the end of Range Road, now Rifle Road, good for E, NE or N wind).  This is the second most popular spot for Ottawa riders.  Between Shirley Bay and Britannia Bay, you probably don't need to go kiting anywhere else (only SE wind is not suitable for both places but we don't normally have any good SE wind day) unless for trying out different tastes some other spots may offer.  The only problem with Shirley Bay is that there is no sandy beach and you need to bring some small sand bags to anchor the kite if you have to launch solo. Recently, most kiters prefer the eastern most point of Shirley bay for launching (the eastern most point of Shirley Blvd, Kite Riffle Point or KRP) as it offers the most clean wind for the whole area.

Shirley Bay Launch Map generated by Ottawa's Interactive Mapping (City of Ottawa)
The Eastern most point of Shirley Bay is referred to as "Kite Rifle Point" or KRP

• Jay St. (off Grandview, good for NW, N, NE and E wind).  This is an exotic windsurfing location offering different condition than Britannia and Shirley Bay.  Parking is limited and so is launching space.  This spot is currently not used much by kiters as it's a bit too small to launch especially in high water.  Click here for a map of the area.

• Aylmer Beach, next to Aylmer Marina, Aylmer Yacht Club or Club de Voile Grand Riviere (good for NW, W, SW, S and SE wind).  This is the most popular spot for Aylmer riders.  The main reason why an Ottawa rider may want to go to Aylmer beach is when the wind is coming from the SE or S (Aylmer has the best wind for those wind directions).

• Parc Jacques-Cartier (just NE of the MacDonald-Cartier Bridge, good for NE wind).  The advantage of this spot is that it's near downtown and thus more convenience for those who work downtown.  There is no beach there so you may need an assistance to launch or some sand bags to anchor your kite for solo launching.  Click here for a map of the area.

• Petrie Islands (the end of Trim Road).  This only eastern spot is currently not fully exploited.  The spot should be good for both SW and NE wind.  Click here for a map of the area.

• Constance Bay.  Except for Kite Point, this large region is currently not fully exploited by the Ottawa kiters but it has lots of potential.  From the various maps, the area should be good for NW, N, NE, E and SE wind.  Following is a map of the region and some descriptions of the spots (this map was posted by Peter Williamson - a Constance Bay local - on the OttawaKiting group), also click here for the detailed maps of the "kite Beach", "Kite Point" and "Kite Paradise" launch spots at Constance Bay:

Constance Bay Area (Click on the picture for a larger map)

Map posted by Peter on the OttawaKiting group

This areas is almost as large as Lac des Chenes, average 2 km wide and 6.7 km long

Spring/Fall Spots

While some rider can go out in extremely cold water in April,  November and early December, some may want to do kitelandboarding during these periods instead.  Kitelandboarding spots are normally not very big so it's wise to use shorter lines (20m or under)

• Britannia Beach (the large swimmer beach - mostly empty this time of the year, good for NW wind)

• Aylmer Beach (mostly empty this time of the year, good for SW wind)

• Soccer field/park at Terry Fox Drive (between Hazeldean Road and Palladium Drive, good for SW, W and NW wind)).  Click here for a map of the area.

• Parc Jacques-Cartier (just NE of the MacDonald-Cartier Bridge).  Click here for a map of the area.

Winter Spots

Most summer spots can be used for winter kiting activities as soon as the water freezes (normally from December 15 to March 31 - roughly 3.5 months season).  In early and late season (mid December and second half of March), please make sure that the ice is at least 10 cm thick before kiting (just dig a hole in the ice and measure it thickness before going out).

Winter Kiting at Britannia

Part of a photo posted by Peter on the OttawaKiting group

Furthermore, One can use any snow covered field for winter kiting activities just make sure you have appropriated permissions from the owner.  The most popular fields are the Experimental Farm fields near Base Line and Fisher (Steve Slaby have asked for the permission to use them from Agriculture Canada  "as long as there is enough snow on the ground").  Click here for a map of the area (good for W, SW and NE, E wind). (Since then, kiters no longer has the explicit permission to kite on Experimental Farm; however, many kiters still use it and have no problem so far).

Steve tried to jump higher than Jamie's kite at Britannia.

Photo posted by Claude on the OttawaKiting group

Kiting in the winter is safer than kiting in the summer as there are lots of spaces for launching, landing and there is virtually no bystander.

Spot Selector Table