Rias Altas

Ares-SeselleDoniñosSan Xurxo

1. 

   Ares-Seselle

   beginner ok

   Ares-Seselle is a sheltered crescent of sand inside the Ria de Ares, on the Galician Rias Altas.

   intermediateadvancedmedium bay beach rigging room

   In seasonall year

   The model here carries the month's average wind rather than a count of windy days: it reaches 13.2 kt in March, the strongest month it models for this spot.

   Ares-Seselle: the long version, the launch and the rules

   More on Ares-Seselle

   The water is flat to choppy depending on what the ria is doing, and the sickle shape of the bay is why riders of different abilities all get something here: S sits onshore in the middle of the curve, SW works the eastern end. The wind that makes the spot is frontal, low-pressure southwest, which points at the winter and shoulder months rather than the holiday window. Rocks lie on the sand and in the shallows, and power cables run along the road behind the beach, so pick your launch corridor before you pump. There is no lifeguard and no public-address system at Seselle: as of August 2025 none of the Ares municipality's registered beaches took part in Galicia's Sapagra program, and cover was concentrated at Chanteiro instead. Bring a full suit in any month, including August. The record here is thinner than for Laida or Gorliz, and rules, current school activity and monthly wind averages are all still open.

   Getting on the water

   Sandy bay launch on Praia de Seselle. The measurements disagree: 1050 m long by 40 m wide, or 950 m with coarse sand.

   If it goes wrong

   No lifeguard service and no public-address system at Seselle. As of August 2025 none of the Ares municipality's registered beaches, Seselle included, took part in Galicia's Sapagra lifeguard programme, and cover was prioritized at Chanteiro instead. The emergency number is 112, which is the coordinating line for a coastal emergency in Galicia. Treat rescue as unconfirmed beyond that.

   Rules and access

   No dated municipal or port-authority kitesurf rule was found for Praia de Seselle or the Ares bay, and the municipality's own beach pages carry no water-sport restrictions. The frame that applies is national: article 73 of the Reglamento General de Costas (Real Decreto 876/2014) prohibits recreational sailing and any craft moved by sail or motor inside a properly buoyed bathing zone, and requires launching and beaching through marked channels. Where a stretch of coast is not buoyed, the bathing zone counts as the 200 m of water nearest the shore on a beach and 50 m elsewhere, and nothing inside it may move faster than three knots. Seselle has no marked kite channel and no seasonal ban specific to it was found, so the practical constraint is bathers on a beach with no lifeguard rather than a written rule.

   Everything on Ares-Seselle

2. 

   Doniños

   Doniños is a wave spot, and it is cold.

   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 14.1 kt in March, the strongest month it models for this spot.

   Doniños: the long version, the launch and the rules

   More on Doniños

   It sits just outside Ferrol on the open Atlantic of the Rías Altas, a fine-sand Blue Flag beach of 2 km with three breaks and channels, though the official length is given as 1700 m. Punta Penencia on the left-hand side is the kite and windsurf end; the right belongs to the surfers, and there is localism at the peak. The session you want is cross-shore northerly on a flooding tide with a medium west swell. Cross-off northeast also works, but it goes gusty in the impact zone, and south to southwest is rideable right up to the point where it turns brutal. High tide closes the waves out. Water runs about 17.3 C in summer and 13.4 C in winter, so a full wetsuit is not optional, and the current channel by the rocks at Outeiro is real. Whether Ferrol applies any seasonal kite zoning beyond the informal Punta Penencia split is unconfirmed.

   Getting on the water

   The left-hand side at Punta Penencia is assigned to kite and windsurf use; the right-hand side of the bay is surfer territory. There are two ways down: Outeiro at the north end, with a wide car park, and Punta Penencia at the south end, which is the less crowded of the two. From Ferrol take the San Xurxo road and turn off at Valón, about 2 km out, where Doniños is signposted; there is parking at both ends of the beach, plus beach bars, showers and the rescue post.

   If it goes wrong

   A first-aid and rescue post sits on the beach, and the municipal lifeguard service runs from 15 June to 18 September 2026, daily 12:00 to 20:00, as part of a 60-lifeguard operation covering the Ferrol beaches. Outside those dates and hours there is nobody on the sand. The cover is set up for bathers and nothing kite-specific has been confirmed. Emergency number is 112.

   Room to rig

   Large sandy beach, but the space you can actually use depends on the tide, the surf size and who else is on it.

   Rules and access

   2014: with no kite zoning of its own published by Ferrol, the binding rule is national. Article 73 of the Reglamento General de Costas (Real Decreto 876/2014) bans sailing and recreational navigation, and any wind- or motor-driven floating craft, inside a buoyed bathing zone, and requires launching and beaching through a signposted channel. Where nothing is buoyed, the bathing zone is taken as the first 200 m of water off a beach, and inside it nothing may move faster than three knots. 2026: the municipal lifeguard service covers Doniños from 15 June to 18 September, 12:00 to 20:00, which is the window when the bathing area is laid out and the beach is at its busiest. The kitesurf cap that applies at A Frouxeira further up the coast under the 2015 conservation decree for the Kentish plover, five riders a day and only between two hours before and three hours after low water, is specific to that beach and does not apply here. The Doniños lagoon, dunes and beach sit inside the Costa Ártabra Natura 2000 site, so keep gear, dogs and vehicles off the dune system. The split with the surfers at Punta Penencia is custom, not regulation.

   Everything on Doniños

3. 

   San Xurxo

   San Xurxo is a wave spot in a wide cliff-framed bay in the Rías Altas north of Ferrol, one of the serious Galician venues, and its waves come in smaller than Doniños but better organized.

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

   San Xurxo: the long version, the launch and the rules

   More on San Xurxo

   Northeast wind is slightly offshore from the right and lines up clean frontside riding; the southwest that arrives with winter lows is cross-off from the left. Both of those directions go gusty close in, so do not read the wind off the sand. The wave is best around mid tide on the drop. It is 2100 m of open fine sand with a Blue Flag, dangerous for bathing, good for surfing, bodyboarding and windsurfing, and a poor place to learn to kite, with cliffs, Atlantic swell and an offshore component in every useful direction. On a big sea there is backwash and current by the rocks. July and August fill it with bathers, and no kite-specific Ferrol zoning is published.

   Getting on the water

   Sandy launch in a wide bay, reached from A Pedreira or Vila da Area, with Vila da Area the less crowded way in.

   If it goes wrong

   Beach services include a first-aid station and a lifeboat. The municipal lifeguard service runs from 15 June to 18 September 2026, daily 12:00 to 20:00, part of a 60-lifeguard operation across the Ferrol beaches, and San Xurxo is one of the six Blue Flag beaches in the town. Outside those dates and hours nobody is watching. No kite-specific rescue is on record; the emergency number is 112.

   Room to rig

   About 2100 m of beach, broad sand, heavily used in summer.

   Rules and access

   2014: Ferrol publishes no kite zoning, so the binding rule is national. Article 73 of the Reglamento General de Costas (Real Decreto 876/2014) bans sailing and recreational navigation, and any wind- or motor-driven floating craft, inside a buoyed bathing zone, and requires launching and beaching through a signposted channel. Where nothing is buoyed, the bathing zone counts as the first 200 m of water off the beach, and inside it nothing may move faster than three knots. 2026: the municipal lifeguard service covers San Xurxo from 15 June to 18 September, 12:00 to 20:00. The kitesurf cap in force at A Frouxeira up the coast, five riders a day and only from two hours before to three hours after low water under the 2015 Kentish plover conservation decree, applies to that beach alone and not here. San Xurxo lies within the Costa Ártabra Natura 2000 site, whose lagoon and dune systems are the protected part, so stay off the dunes. Nothing was found that reserves any part of the bay for kiting or bans it from any part of it.

   Everything on San Xurxo

• A Coruña Airport (LCG) — nearest, about 7 km from A Coruña city center, served by Iberia (Madrid), Vueling (Barcelona), Air Europa, easyJet, Binter Canarias
• Santiago de Compostela (SCQ) — more international connections, about 2 hours further south

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 Spain:easyJet

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

• Ferrol was the Spanish Navy's Maritime Department capital under the Bourbons and held Europe's largest arsenal in the 17th century; Francisco Franco was born there in 1892, and the city was officially named 'El Ferrol del Caudillo' from 1938 to 1982.
• Ares' Indiano-style houses with painted wooden galleries reflect the town's history of emigration to the Americas and returning wealthy émigrés ('indianos'); an annual August festival celebrates it.

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

• Is 'Rias Altas' the name riders actually use for this area?
• Is there any kite rental/instruction available in Ares or Ferrol itself, even informally?
• Actual lodging price examples for Ares/Ferrol specifically (used A Coruña as the nearest priced proxy).