Chinook Surfshop

Chinook Surfshop is a watersports shop founded in 1999 in Leucate Village and run by the company SARL Île du Vent. It started out as a windsurfing shop and later added kitesurfing, stand-up paddleboarding and then wingfoiling. It now has two shops about twenty metres apart, on the roundabout at the entrance to the village, next to the Carrefour Contact supermarket: the original shop covers windsurfing, windfoiling, harnesses, bags, wetsuits and clothing, while the second one, opened in September 2017 in the former Naish Pro Center premises, is dedicated to kiting, wingfoiling, foiling, paddleboarding and surfing.

Gear is sold new or second-hand, both in store and through the chinook-leucate.com web shop, launched in 2009, backed by a warehouse opened in 2017, with delivery across France and Europe. The shop also sells gear on consignment and takes used equipment in part exchange. Brands on the shelves include Duotone (the shop is listed as a competence centre by the distributor), Starboard, Severne, Gunsails, Goya, Slingshot, North, Reedin, Flysurfer, Armstrong, Sabfoil, Ketos, Mystic, ION, Forward Wip and O'Neill. Pumping boards and assisted-foil systems are also stocked.

Chinook also runs a kitesurfing school, the Chinook Kite School, presented as FFVL-approved (École française de kite). Equipment is provided (kite, board, harness, helmet, buoyancy vest and wetsuit) and lessons are given by qualified instructors. Students need an AFKite licence, issued on site.

The shop is open all year round.

Tuesday to Saturday, 9.30 am to 1 pm and 3.30 pm to 7 pm; Sunday, 9.30 am to 1 pm; closed on Mondays.

Kitesurfing school: March to November; outside that period, some instructors remain available on request through the shop.

Shop phone: +33 4 68 40 17 17. School number given to the tourist office: +33 6 30 82 09 52.