Bavaria — Altmuehlsee / Schlungenhof Surfufer

Altmuehlsee / Schlungenhof SurfuferBrombachsee / Allmannsdorf

1. 

   Altmuehlsee / Schlungenhof Surfufer

   lake

   Altmühlsee is a reservoir about 50 km south of Nuremberg, and the kite access is the Surfufer at Schlungenhof, on the east to northeast shore beside Surfcenter Altmuehlsee near Gunzenhausen.

   intermediateadvancedmedium rigging room

   In seasonno month named for this spot

   1. JanJ21
   2. FebF18
   3. MarM16
   4. AprA13
   5. MayM2
   6. JunJ5
   7. JulJ8
   8. AugA10
   9. SepS5
   10. OctO8
   11. NovN17
   12. DecD10

   modelled: days with three hours in a row at 12 kt or more, between 06:00 and 19:00 local

   Altmuehlsee / Schlungenhof Surfufer: the long version, the launch and the rules

   More on Altmuehlsee / Schlungenhof Surfufer

   You rig on a long grass meadow behind the ring dike and cross a path to the water; the dike is the catch, because it puts a band of turbulence and wind shadow exactly where you launch and land. NW and W are the directions that work: NW comes in side to side-on, W straight onshore, and east is offshore, so leave it. The wind is inland frontal wind, gusty, with big lull-to-gust swings on the strong days, though a northwesterly or westerly (or a straight northerly) arrives cleaner here than most inland lakes manage. The bottom is sand at the entry and drops away fast; the standing area is tiny, which is why this is an intermediate freeride and foil lake rather than somewhere to learn on your own, unless you take a course at the Surfcenter, which teaches with a motorboat and by arrangement. Water is around 24-25 C in high summer and 3-3.5 C in winter. On a strong NW holiday weekend the parking and the water both fill up, windsurfers as much as kiters; an ordinary windy day leaves plenty of room. The lake authority names this shore as the official access for kites (2026), with VDWS-standard courses on site.

   Getting on the water

   A long grass kite meadow at the Surfufer beside Surfcenter Altmuehlsee, with a narrow path and the ring dike between it and the water; concrete steps give an easy entry and the parking is at the spot. Kiters go in upwind of the windsurfers, who enter directly in front of the station.

   If it goes wrong

   No public lifeguard on this shore. The Surfcenter teaches kiting from a motorboat and its instructors hold VDWS certification plus at least the bronze lifesaving badge, so a boat is on the water through the course slots (09:45-11:45 and 13:00-15:00 daily, plus 15:30-17:30 on Fridays and days before public holidays). Whether it would go out for an independent rider is unconfirmed. Emergency calls go to 112; the station line is +49 9831 1240.

   Rules and access

   2026: the lake authority (Zweckverband Altmuehlsee) names the Surfufer at Surfcenter Altmuehlsee as the official access for kitesurfing, windsurfing, wingfoiling, SUP, with VDWS-standard courses on site. No lake-wide kite closure or permit requirement is in force for 2026 as far as the published texts go.

   Everything on Altmuehlsee / Schlungenhof Surfufer

2. Brombachsee / Allmannsdorf

   lake

   Allmannsdorf is the kite launch on the north shore at the east end of Groesser Brombachsee, next to the dam near Pleinfeld.

   intermediateadvancedmedium rigging room

   In seasonno month named for this spot

   1. JanJ6
   2. FebF7
   3. MarM8
   4. AprA5
   5. MayM0
   6. JunJ0
   7. JulJ0
   8. AugA5
   9. SepS0
   10. OctO2
   11. NovN5
   12. DecD8

   modelled: days with three hours in a row at 12 kt or more, between 06:00 and 19:00 local

   The modelled series comes to 8% of days at its best month, and no month is named as this spot's own season to set against it.

   Brombachsee / Allmannsdorf: the long version, the launch and the rules

   More on Brombachsee / Allmannsdorf

   Park in the paid lot by the dam and carry the gear 200-300 m to a broad sand shore. The lake runs east to west, long enough for either end of the compass to build usable freeride water, flat to choppy, with more wind wave once a west wind has the full length of it. West arrives sideshore from the right and clean, and it also puts the dam about 100 m downwind in the lee: if you cannot hold ground, stay on the beach. Northwest sits in the wind shadow and is gusty enough to spoil the day. East wind is ridden here too, and the guidance on directions contradicts itself, so ask on the day rather than trusting one line. The shore drops away steeply and the standing-depth area is tiny, which rules out learning on your own; progressing riders, freeriders and foilers are who this suits. On sunny east-wind days the beach fills with bathers, and the passenger steamer works the lake all season.

   Getting on the water

   Park in the paid lot at the Allmannsdorf dam and walk roughly 200-300 m to the broad sand shore near the north end of the dam. The launch is beside the dam, sideshore from the right in west wind.

   If it goes wrong

   No rescue service for independent kiters. Surf- und Kiteschule Brombachsee teaches next door, but rescue-boat cover for Allmannsdorf is unconfirmed.

   Rules and access

   2024-2026: the Zweckverband Brombachsee beach-use ordinance, in force since 16 Aug 2024, covers the Allmannsdorf recreation area and contains no kitesurfing-specific rule. General conduct duties apply: sport and play only where they do not endanger or disturb others, no camping, no unlicensed commercial activity, fines up to EUR 2,500 under that 2024 ordinance. Parts of the beach can be closed temporarily for swim lessons, competitions or overcrowding, with no fixed seasonal calendar. Pleinfeld names Allmannsdorf on the north shore as a kite-surf start area and warns that west wind can push riders toward the dam. No permit, licence or fixed seasonal kite closure is published.

   Everything on Brombachsee / Allmannsdorf

• Nuremberg Airport (NUE), about 56 km / 58 minutes drive to Gunzenhausen

Kite bag rules for your airline

Type the carrier you are flying: what it charges for a kite bag, and the year of the policy that says so.

Known for Germany:RyanairTUIfly

Every carrier, with limits and what riders report at the counter →

1. Both lakes are treated as no-go for people who cannot already ride upwind. The advice is repeated bluntly, sometimes rudely, and newcomers who ask get told to learn somewhere easier first.

   consensus×6 riders

2. The honest complaint about these two lakes is how rarely they work. Riders who live there put the odds of a kiteable day at a small fraction of what the Baltic coast delivers, and one local reckoned Bavaria gives roughly one decent west-wind day a month.

   consensus×5 riders

3. When it does blow it is gusty and unstable, enough that riders refuse to name a kite size for the lake — one said a single afternoon can run from a 7 to a 14 inside two hours.

   consensus×4 riders

4. The bathing season closes the best water. Kiting at the swimming beaches is off between mid-May and mid-September, or any time families are on the sand, and the rule is renegotiated with the lake authorities every spring.

   consensus×4 riders

5. Riders here plan by webcam and forecast rather than by hope: below about ten knots forecast most locals will not make the drive, and the surf centre camera is used as the go/no-go signal.

   majority×3 riders

6. A rescue call-out for a rider who had actually swum himself ashore triggered a newspaper story and a local argument about whether that kind of coverage brings a ban closer; riders concluded the fix was talking to the rescue services rather than waiting.

   majority×3 riders

7. At Allmannsdorf the dam sits about a hundred metres downwind in a westerly, and riders who cannot hold height are told plainly to stay off; ferry and boat traffic is the other thing to keep clear of.

   majority×3 riders

8. Where to start is a real question rather than a formality: at Altmuehlsee the usable launches are on the north-east and the shore drops away steeply into concrete steps, and riders keep asking each other which bank works for the day's direction.

   majority×3 riders

9. Even on a day that looks worth driving to, the wind comes in bursts — one rider logged four hours at the lake and three or four usable twenty-minute windows out of it.

   majority×2 riders

10. School quality here is argued about rather than agreed on. One rider called a course at the lakes money thrown away, a school operator answered publicly that plenty of customers come back, and others simply pointed newcomers at coastal or Alpine schools instead.

    contested×4 riders

What we could not settle. Ride here? These are the gaps worth filling.

• Is 'Bavaria' the name riders actually use for this area?
• No specific rider hangouts confirmed beyond general Gunzenhausen dining.
• Can you day-trip to Rothenburg ob der Tauber or Weissenburg from the Altmuehlsee?
• No local history/trivia or events were found for this specific area.