Strong August winds swept across Greece's eastern coastline near Athens on Thursday, drawing dozens of kitesurfers, who performed impressive aerials against a cloudless sky.

With gusts reaching up to 60 kilometers per hour (37 miles per hour), the beach at Agios Nikolaos — a rugged strip east of the Greek capital, near the port of Rafina — transformed into an open-air playground for wind sports enthusiasts chasing the seasonal “meltemi” winds.

“The bigger the jump and the longer you’re in the air, the more intense the feeling of joy this gives you,” said Alexios Limperopoulos, 38, a business owner and longtime kiteboarder who took a break from running his two restaurants to ride the waves.

The meltemi — a dry northern wind that sweeps through the Aegean in summer — is dreaded by ferry passengers and commercial sailors but revered by the tight-knit community of kiteboarders who plan their days, and sometimes their lives, around the weather report.

The community is active year-round. Kiteboarders adapt to the changing seasons with wetsuits of varying thickness, braving the cold and winter gales that often shut down ferry routes.

"I enjoy it in winter too, because we get strong north winds, and there are often sailing bans," Limperopoulos said, "so while the seas are off-limits to others, we’re out there.”

AP Video shot by Srdjan Nedeljkovic; Production by Derek Gatopoulos