Granelli & Marina di Modica

GranelliMarina di Modica

1. Granelli

   sea · beginner ok

   Granelli sits on the Pachino side of south-east Sicily, and it is a winter spot before it is anything else.

   intermediateadvancedlarge rigging room

   In seasonOct to Apr

   1. Jan, riders' monthJ29
   2. Feb, riders' monthF37
   3. Mar, riders' monthM52
   4. Apr, riders' monthA57
   5. MayM40
   6. JunJ27
   7. JulJ21
   8. AugA31
   9. SepS35
   10. Oct, riders' monthO13
   11. Nov, riders' monthN30
   12. Dec, riders' monthD26

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

   Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Oct, Nov, Dec.

   Granelli: the long version, the launch and the rules

   More on Granelli

   The wind that works is W, SW or SE, front-driven rather than thermal, so you come with a forecast and not with a plan. The beach runs seven kilometres with no rocks and no obstacles, and the useful part is how close the shallow flat water sits to the wave zones: metres apart, not kilometres. There is a kitehouse: hot showers, gear washing, somewhere to store and service kit, and a big car park. Libeccio and Ponente feed the same sand, and the local school scene lives off them. A supervised beginner can work here on a light day, though the wave sections and the winter fronts are what the beach is really for. Nobody has published current summer kite rules, a rescue arrangement or measured wind statistics, so winter is the version of Granelli that is actually documented.

   Getting on the water

   Wide sandy beach. The kitehouse has hot showers, gear washing and a storage/service setup, and the parking is large.

   If it goes wrong

   Nothing organised. No lifeguard, rescue boat or paid recovery is documented at Granelli, and out of season — which is when most people ride it — the beach carries no services at all. The coast guard answers on 1530, and 112 reaches the same system; no call-out cost is published. The kitehouse and whichever school is running that season are the practical backup, so find out who is on the beach before you go out alone.

   Everything on Granelli

2. 

   Marina di Modica

   sea

   The kite spot at Marina di Modica is the small molo on the Ragusa coast, where the sand banks on the right and the left work with NW and W sea.

   intermediateadvancedmedium rigging room

   In seasonno month named for this spot

   The model here carries the month's average wind rather than a count of windy days: it reaches 14 kt in April, the strongest month it models for this spot.

   Marina di Modica: the long version, the launch and the rules

   More on Marina di Modica

   It is chop and small to medium waves on open sea, which makes it an intermediate spot with room for experts and a poor place to learn. Strong active N and NW wind is what switches the banks on. Rip currents close inshore are reported and the pier is hard structure, so the level requirement is real. Tide is not a planning factor. The winds you will hear named here are Ponente, Libeccio and Maestrale, and SW or W are the directions riders recommend for kiting. No best-month list, average wind speed or normal kite size has ever been published for this exact launch, so bring a spread of sizes and read the forecast yourself.

   Getting on the water

   Sandy beach about 700 m long, with a medium launch and landing area. Riders use both sides of the small molo when the wave setup is working.

   If it goes wrong

   No kite-specific rescue has been found: no club boat, no posted number, and the beach club on the sand advertises loungers, showers and a pizzeria but no water sports and no assistance. Sea emergencies in Italy go to the Coast Guard on 1530.

   Rules and access

   2026: no bathing ordinance covering the Modica shoreline has been obtained. The 300 m text that circulates for this coast belongs to the Gela maritime district, which by its own wording covers only the comuni of Gela and Butera, so it does not govern Marina di Modica. What that neighbouring ordinance requires is still the shape to expect in Sicily: a strip up to 300 m off the shoreline reserved for bathers, with kite and windsurf transit banned inside it from 08:00 to sunset; launch and landing in that strip only inside an authorised buoyed corridor, 30 m wide at the sand widening to 80 m by 100 m out and marked with orange buoys; body drag only through the first 100 m, one rider at a time, priority to whoever is coming in; free launching only on beaches empty of bathers; white buoys marking the 1.60 m safe-water limit for non-swimmers; minimum age 14; a buoyancy aid and a working quick release worn throughout. Ask on the beach or at the local maritime office which of this is actually enforced here before you rig.

   Everything on Marina di Modica

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 Italy:RyanaireasyJet

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

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

• Is 'Granelli & Marina di Modica' the name riders actually use for this area?