IKO Kiteboarding Lessons Nickel Beach

NICKEL BEACH, Ontario, on the northeast side of Lake Erie, although wavey, also offers shallow waters, great for beginner IKO kiteboarding lessons.

The beach is massive, and cars are allowed to pay to park on the beach.  At this time (post Covid, 2021) non-residents must purchase a parking pass for $50 in advance.  There are maximum 150 parking passes sold for non-residents everyday. The parking pass is $50 per car, not per person.  There is no free or paid parking outside the gate.  Nickel Beach is open 10-6, Mon-Thu and 9-8, Fri-Sun.

Get your Nickel Beach parking pass here.

Nickel Beach is very popular during peak summer months, so expect to find lots of sunbathers and swimmers along the shore and in the water.

For this reason, when the beach is crowded, an advanced level is required.  Excellent kite control and the ability to ride UPwind right away is mandatory for all riders not taking lessons.

Kiteboarders setup together at the most westerly side of the beach.  If you’re going for a ride, launch your kite far UPwind from the general public, and go right away out into the water for your ride.

If your kite comes down around the swimmer be kind, and apologetic, execute your self-rescue right away, get your lines wrapped and your kite out of the water, back up to the kiteboarders area as quickly as possible.

Waves can make water-starts challenging.   However, there is a canal wall that will break the waves on a SW wind.

The shallows here provide enough flat water to make this an excellent spot for your first lessons learning to water relaunch, body-drag upwind, powerstroke and steady-pull.

For this reason, Nickel Beach is a preferred location for your IKO level 1 and level 2 instruction when taking lessons with We Love Kiteboarding.

However, as said above, because of the crowds of sunbathers and swimmers, during peak summer months Nickel should be considered as an intermediate level beach.  During peak summer months, if not taking lessons with an instructor, riders must be able to launch and go UPwind right away.

Out in the lake there is lots of space for everyone.

The drive from Toronto to Nickel Beach takes about 1.5 hours.

Ideal wind directions: SW, S, SE