With its long coastline, Samsun on the Black Sea has become the newest hub for kitesurfers. With the strong winds blowing in the Atakum and 19 Mayıs districts, surfers enjoy adrenaline pumping through their veins in the northern province's blue-flagged beaches.
Kitesurfer Ümit Şahin Özdemir said Samsun's beaches are perfect for surfers. "They have become the newest hub for surfers from around the world. Whenever the weather is nice, we pick up our equipment and try to catch the wind,” he said.
Fifty-five nature sports clubs supervise surfing activities in the city. The story was very different a couple of years ago. There were no surfing activities in the city until Özdemir and his friends promoted the sport.
“When we first started kitesurfing here, nobody was interested. We were all alone on the beaches. But then people started to get curious and saw that it was actually a nice place to kitesurf. Over the last four years, kitesurfing has become Samsun's hottest trend,” Özdemir said.
