Loire-Atlantique - Saint-Brevin-les-Pins

Saint-Brevin - Les RocheletsSaint-Brevin - Le PointeauLa Baule - Plage Benoit

1. 

   Saint-Brevin - Les Rochelets

   ocean beach · beginner ok

   Les Rochelets is the beach Saint-Brevin gives to kites in summer: from 15 May to 15 September it is the town's dedicated kitesurf beach, with the schools running access for free riders, while the other Saint-Brevin beaches only open to kites from 16 September to 14 May.

   intermediateadvanced

   In seasonno month named for this spot

   1. JanJ50
   2. FebF46
   3. MarM68
   4. AprA52
   5. MayM58
   6. JunJ43
   7. JulJ60
   8. AugA48
   9. SepS38
   10. OctO50
   11. NovN45
   12. DecD58

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

   Saint-Brevin - Les Rochelets: the long version, the launch and the rules

   More on Saint-Brevin - Les Rochelets

   So it is one of the few places on this coast where you can ride in July. Wind works from SSE to NW with W the best of it, and a thermal breeze reportedly fills in along Saint-Brevin on warm days. All tides work, but high tide is the one to plan for, when the basin behind the Boivre sill fills and the water goes flat; otherwise expect small waves around 1 m. The hazards are people and paperwork rather than terrain: bathers, surfers on lines you will not see, buffer zones, nesting areas, fragile dunes you must not rig on, and a crowd whenever the temperature climbs. Small rock slabs show at low tide on big coefficients. There is a lifeguard post with parking, shower and WC in season, but no kite rescue on record, and the water is 19.1 C in August and 8.7 C in February.

   Getting on the water

   Launch from the Rochelets lifeguard-station/parking sector and stay inside the posted kite navigation zone when seasonal zoning is active.

   If it goes wrong

   The Rochelets lifeguard post is one of the town's four. In 2025 all four were staffed from 2 July to 31 August, every day, 13:00 to 18:45; outside those hours swimming and everything else is at your own risk. A tiralo beach wheelchair is kept at the post. Cover is for bathers - there is no kite-specific rescue - and in high season a beach marshal reportedly patrols the kite zone to keep the zoning honest.

   Room to rig

   wide sandy beach, but summer zoning and bathers reduce usable space

   Rules and access

   2024 municipal order ST 2024-0177 of 21 May 2024. Low season is 16 September to 14 June excluding weekends and public holidays between 1 May and 30 September, and kitesurfing is allowed along the whole beach. High season is 15 June to 15 September plus those weekends and holidays; the kite zone for free riders is then the stretch between allee des Bouillons and allee des Paquerettes, and the order states that zone is for free riders only, with authorised clubs and schools placed on the separate northern stretch between avenue Roger and chemin de la Marine where no more than 24 kites may be in the air at once out to the 300 m band and trainees must wear a coloured bib. The supervised bathing zone at Rochelets is the 200 m north of the avenue Alexandre Bernard alignment. Year-round: ride beyond the first 50 m from the water's edge, marked by buoys 25 m apart; rig and derig only inside the marked zones; pedestrians and bathers have priority; obey the municipal police and beach mediators. Clubs and schools must apply for access before 15 February each year. Marked bird-nesting areas and the dunes are off limits.

   Everything on Saint-Brevin - Les Rochelets

2. Saint-Brevin - Le Pointeau

   beginner ok

   Le Pointeau sits right at the mouth of the Loire on the Saint-Brevin side, and the tide decides what you get.

   intermediateadvanced

   In seasonno month named for this spot

   1. JanJ55
   2. FebF47
   3. MarM68
   4. AprA57
   5. MayM63
   6. JunJ47
   7. JulJ60
   8. AugA52
   9. SepS42
   10. OctO52
   11. NovN47
   12. DecD63

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

   Saint-Brevin - Le Pointeau: the long version, the launch and the rules

   More on Saint-Brevin - Le Pointeau

   At low tide a sandbank appears and the water behind it goes flat and shallow, which is why the freestyle and speed crowd come here; at high tide it turns choppy and uncomfortable, and on big coefficients high water is best skipped. Usable wind runs from S to NW with SW the best of it. The launch has hard edges, a dike and a parking wall close to where people rig, so walk clear before you put the kite up. The outgoing current on the ebb is real and nobody has measured it. It is a busy beach, shared with wingfoilers, landkiters and windsurfers on a speed run who come through fast. Then the calendar: closed from 15 June to 15 September, and closed on weekends and public holidays from 1 May to 30 September, with schools the only kites allowed in those windows. Water is 19.1 C in August and 8.7 C in February, so pack neoprene for any month.

   Getting on the water

   Rig on the Pointeau nautical-base esplanade, where the car park holds 110 spaces under a 2.1 m height limit and has a shower and WC, then walk well clear of the dike and the parking wall before you put the kite up. A marked boat channel 30 m wide runs off the west ramp of the esplanade and is closed to non-motorised craft. The offshore sandbank is not natural: it built up after the small harbour for the watersports centre was dug, and that harbour has since silted up completely.

   If it goes wrong

   No lifeguard post at Le Pointeau. The town's four posts are at Branly, l'Ocean, Les Rochelets and l'Ermitage, and in 2025 they were staffed only from 2 July to 31 August, every day, 13:00 to 18:45. Outside those hours and everywhere else on this shore you are on your own, and there is no kite-specific rescue.

   Room to rig

   large at low tide on sand; constrained near the dike, wall and high-water line

   Rules and access

   2024 municipal order ST 2024-0177 of 21 May 2024, which replaced the 2023 order. Low season is 16 September to 14 June excluding weekends and public holidays between 1 May and 30 September, and kitesurfing is then allowed along the whole beach. High season is 15 June to 15 September plus every weekend and public holiday between 1 May and 30 September; the sole free-rider kite zone is then the stretch between allee des Bouillons and allee des Paquerettes at Rochelets and l'Ermitage, which leaves Le Pointeau closed to kitesurf. Landkite and other wind-driven wheeled gear at Le Pointeau in high season is reserved for authorised clubs and schools. Year-round conditions: ride beyond the first 50 m from the water's edge, marked by buoys 25 m apart; rig and derig only inside the marked zones at the nautical-activity sites; give way to pedestrians and bathers, who have priority; obey any instruction from the municipal police or the beach mediators. Clubs and schools must apply for access before 15 February each year. The channel off the west ramp of the Pointeau esplanade is 30 m wide and closed to non-motorised craft; motorboats launch there.

   Everything on Saint-Brevin - Le Pointeau

3. 

   La Baule - Plage Benoit

   sheltered bay beach · beginner ok

   Plage Benoit is the western end of La Baule bay, up against Le Pouliguen, and in practice it is a winter spot: the beach is closed to kites from 15 June to 15 September and on May weekends, and the whole bay is off limits from the day the first yellow swim buoy goes in until the last one comes out, roughly mid-May to mid-September.

   intermediateadvanced

   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 16.6 kt in November, the strongest month it models for this spot.

   La Baule - Plage Benoit: the long version, the launch and the rules

   More on La Baule - Plage Benoit

   Outside that, SE to SW works and SW is best; Line Up runs its lessons here from September to June, at low tide, in anything from NE to S. Tide decides the session. Low water leaves flat, shallow basins over the sandbanks, which is where the lessons happen; a rising tide with SW wind puts waves on the offshore bank. At high tide the seafront buildings chew up the wind, so launch and land as close to the water as you can. In summer the only legal way onto the bay is the K13 channel at the Pornichet end, by the Les Vagues buildings: open 12:00-19:00 when the lifeguard-post chiefs decide it is, a minimum of 6 kt, transit only with no riding inside it, and then you stay beyond 300 m and at least 100 m off the beach. Shells cut feet on the sandbanks, so neoprene boots. Typical wind strength and kite sizes here are unconfirmed; the water is 18.7 C in August and 8.8 C in February, so a 3-2 mm in the warm months and a full winter suit the rest of the year.

   Getting on the water

   Launch from the Plage Benoit end of La Baule near Le Pouliguen when the beach and/or seasonal K13 kite channel rules allow it. In summer, the K13 channel near the Mazy jetty is for access only, not for riding.

   If it goes wrong

   The K13 channel runs 12:00-19:00 under the lifeguard post chiefs, and only on the days they decide to open it; outside those hours riding is tolerated and nobody is watching. Pupils on a lesson ride in a flotation vest and a helmet with a radio link to the instructor. There is no kite-specific rescue boat. At sea, 196 reaches a rescue coordination centre free, round the clock, and VHF 16 is the distress channel.

   Room to rig

   large sandy beach outside peak beach restrictions; constrained by summer zones, bathers and high-tide building turbulence

   Rules and access

   2026: Municipal order ARR2026-212-KITE-SURF (Pornichet) requires kitesurf to reach the 300 m offshore band via the K13 channel, located between La Baule and Pornichet at the level of the Les Vagues buildings, and makes K13 the only entry/exit point from 15 June to 15 September, with openings decided daily by the beach-post chiefs; the channel opens 12:00-19:00 under lifeguard-post supervision when conditions allow, is a transit corridor rather than a riding area reserved for initiated riders rather than beginners or schools, and wingfoil is forbidden inside it. Plage Benoit is closed to kitesurf from 15 June to 15 September, plus bans on May weekends including bridge holidays; more broadly, kitesurf is prohibited in La Baule bay from the placement of the first yellow swim-zone buoy until the last buoy is removed, generally mid-May to mid-September. Riding must stay beyond 300 m and at least 100 m from shore, kite/board marking is mandatory in July-August, and beach users have priority regardless of activity.

   Everything on La Baule - Plage Benoit

• Nantes Atlantique, roughly 57–62km away

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 France:easyJetRyanairAir FranceTransavia

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

1. The postcard beaches are shut to kites in the exact weeks most people come: La Baule and Pornichet are closed to riding in daylight through the summer, and the standard workaround is a session after 19:00 or a drive north to Pont-Mahe or Penestin.

   consensus×5 riders

2. Tide runs the whole day here. The range can pass six metres on big springs, at high water there is barely any beach left to rig on, and sessions get planned around low water rather than around the forecast.

   consensus×3 riders

3. When Le Pointeau closes for the summer everyone lands on Les Rochelets, which is open year-round and marshalled, with buffer strips where you are not supposed to jump or throw transitions.

   majority×3 riders

4. August is the month locals tell you to skip on this coast, less for the wind than for the sheer number of bodies on the sand.

   majority×3 riders

5. At Plage Benoit the buildings behind the beach chew up the wind once the tide is in, so people walk down and launch and land at the water's edge instead of at the top of the sand.

   majority×2 riders

6. At low tide the bay turns into a huge flat plate that flatters beginners and freestyle; as it fills it goes choppy with a regular short swell and the current stiffens near the headlands.

   majority×2 riders

7. Saint-Brevin is not a blank sandy bay: there are currents, rock patches that surface at low water and oyster beds, and the advice given to newcomers is to ask a local before going out rather than read a map.

   majority×2 riders

8. Riders spent years pushing for a wider summer channel and a paid beach marshal between La Baule and Pornichet; a channel now opens on suitable days but you find out through a messaging group, not from a sign on the beach.

   majority×2 riders

• Saint-Brevin's '-les-Pins' suffix comes from 1860s pine plantations that were used to stabilise the coastal dunes; a railway arrived in 1906 and cemented the town as a resort.
• La Baule was largely a planned 19th-century resort creation after its 1876 railway opened, built outward from west to east by developers; its beach is billed locally as 'the most beautiful beach in Europe.'
• Guérande's medieval walled town and marais salants have produced fleur de sel for centuries; the salt marshes cover about 17% of the commune and have been a protected site since 1996.

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

• Is 'Loire-Atlantique - Saint-Brevin-les-Pins' the name riders actually use for this area?
• What is the nightlife like in Saint-Brevin itself, and is it easy to travel there alone?
• What do a bed and a meal cost in Saint-Brevin in 2026?
• When are the La Baule Grand Prix and the equestrian championship held?