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Baie des Signes

Anosy · Ambinanibe, Tôlanaro (Fort-Dauphin)

also known as Baie des Singes, Ankoba Beach, Vinanibe Bay

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

wavesnot for beginnersmedium crowds

On this page

The spot
Wind
Forecast
Month by month
Water
Level
The scene
Launch
Schools
Tips
Getting there
FAQ

Riding essentials

Season

Aug–Oct

Months riders and schools name

How windy

25-30

Character: trade

Room to launch

medium

access rules on record, below

Water

waves

29–30 °C in summerSmall, medium and big waves with clean water

Hazards

Reported by riders

Level

Intermediate to advanced

With a caveat: see Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Crowds

medium crowds · busy Aug Sep Oct

Schools

named at this spot

From the airport

25 min

Fort-Dauphin Airport (FTU)

On the clock

13:00 · 17:00

The trade blows through the night as well as the day, so there is no waiting for it. Dawn is the lightest hour, it builds from mid-morning, and the strongest and steadiest stretch runs from about 13:00 to 17:00 before easing back through the evening. Modelled diurnal pattern rather than a beach log.

The marks are the clock times the record names, laid on a 24-hour day. The bar between the first and the last covers those hours; it is not a promise of wind.

Baie des Signes has no other spot on this map within 40 km of it. straight-line distance

Backup spotsWhere riders go when the wind doesn't work here.

Vinanibe Lagoonno page yet
Vinanibe Bayalso a name for this spot
Shipwreck Bayno page yet
Baie des Galionsno page yet
lavanono-madagascarno page yet

The spot

Baie des Signes is the bay a couple of kilometres west of Fort-Dauphin, on the Ambinanibe and Vinanibe sand strip in Anosy. Ocean side, clean water, waves from small to big, a sand launch, and the basics right there: rooms, camping, toilets, food, parking. The wind is southeast trade and the season is short: August to October, 25-30 knots through late October. May-June brings huge surf without the wind to match, which is a different trip altogether.

Water and hazards

Swimmers, reefs and wave breakers are all in the water here, so this is not where you learn. Behind the strip, Vinanibe Lagoon is flat, so the area does have an easier option; the ocean side is not it. A school is listed at the spot, but which operator is still running has not been confirmed.

The wind

locals call it alizés

Direction

cross-offNE/SEwind blows away from land — rescue cover matters here

Direction to shore

Northeast comes in cross to cross-offshore at Vinanibe Bay. The bay faces east/south-east and takes the southeast trades.

Kite sizes

5678910111213141516

metres · typical quiver highlighted

The quiver, in words

For a 75-85 kg rider the season sits on a 9 m and a 12 m, with a 7 m for the afternoons when the trade really turns on and a 14 m for dawn and the first hours of the morning. Indicative, worked from the wind range rather than from rider reports here.

Character

trade

When it fills in: see above ↑

Thermal or synoptic

synoptic (trade winds)

Typical strength

25-30

Strong trade wind in the main season: 25-30 knots from August to late October.

August to October is the window riders name, with 25-30 knots reported through late October. Modelled data puts the strongest and steadiest trade a little later, September through December, with February also blowing hard and May to July the softest part of the year.

May and June bring huge surf without the season's wind behind it. The bay faces east to south-east and takes the trade at a cross to cross-offshore angle.

Forecast

Live forecast

Windguru Windfinder Windy

Month by month

Jan81
Feb89
Mar74
Apr45
May61
Jun50
Jul44
Aug, riders' month63
Sep, riders' month65
Oct, riders' month63
Nov82
Dec73

windy days per month (3 h+ at 12 kn+)

Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: Aug, Sep, Oct.

81%Jan25°
89%Feb25°
74%Mar26°
45%Apr25°
61%May24°
50%Jun24°
44%Jul23°
63%Aug23°
65%Sep23°
63%Oct24°
82%Nov25°
73%Dec26°

windy days per month (3 h+ at 12 kn+) · water °C below · season highlighted

Modelled from the operational forecast archive at 1.5–7 km (2023-2024), daylight hours only, not a ground station: it resolves thermal, lake and valley winds far better than coarse reanalysis but still tends to understate a strong local thermal.

Every figure, month by monthWindy days · Force 4+ · 12 kn or more · Knots · Wind from · Peaks at · Air · Water · Readings

Month	Windy days	Force 4+	12 kn or more	Knots	Wind from	Peaks at	Air	Water	Readings
Jan	81%	92%	89%	15.3 kt	ENE	15:00	25.1 °C	25.3 °C	62
Feb	89%	95%	89%	16.3 kt	ENE	14:00	25.4 °C	24.7 °C	57
Mar	74%	87%	81%	14.9 kt	ENE	14:00	24.8 °C	26 °C	62
Apr	45%	73%	57%	12.7 kt	ENE	13:00	23.6 °C	24.8 °C	60
May	61%	77%	71%	13.4 kt	ENE	14:00	21.7 °C	23.6 °C	62
Jun	50%	70%	60%	12.5 kt	ENE	14:00	20 °C	23.7 °C	60
Jul	44%	55%	48%	11.4 kt	ENE	14:00	19.6 °C	23 °C	62
Aug	63%	79%	74%	14.4 kt	ENE	14:00	20.3 °C	22.7 °C	62
Sep	65%	80%	73%	15.7 kt	ENE	14:00	21.8 °C	23 °C	60
Oct	63%	74%	71%	15.1 kt	ENE	13:00	22.8 °C	24 °C	62
Nov	82%	87%	82%	17.2 kt	ENE	13:00	24.4 °C	25 °C	60
Dec	73%	87%	79%	16 kt	ENE	14:00	25.5 °C	25.6 °C	62

How this is modelledmodelled · 2023-2024

A weather model's cell over this place, not a station on it. Good for comparing places, weaker for one beach.

A windy day has at least three consecutive daylight hours at 12 knots or more. The typical daily max and the direction are columns of the table above, month by month. Highlighted months are the riding season from the spot record.

High-resolution weather model (modelled) · Open-Meteo historical forecast archive — best-match operational model (ICON-D2 / AROME / ICON-EU / GFS by region), not a ground station · 2023-2024

The water

Type

waves

Tides

Kiting here does not depend on the tide. Low water matters more to the surfers, for the sandbar.

Temperature

29–30 °C summer · 23–24 °C winter

Modelled monthly average: 23–26 °C

Wetsuit

Shorts generally; shorty can be useful in cooler months, and sun protection is specifically advised in summer.

Conditions

Small, medium and big waves with clean water; nearby Vinanibe Lagoon is flat water, and the ocean side of the sand strip is one of the area's best wave spots.

Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

not for beginners here

Intermediate to advanced, with the harder end of that read as expert.

The scene

What riders come here for

wave ridingfreeride in nearby lagoon conditions

More built up than the remote southwest spots: food, rooms, camping, toilets, parking and somewhere to go at night.

Launch and rules

three ways on to the water, and what each one asks of you

With a school or a boat

1 school names this spot

See who they are

On your own

Room to launch: medium

Read the access rules

Somewhere else

No neighbour on record

No other spot in the atlas sits within reach of this one.

Rescue

No lifeguard, patrol or rescue boat has been documented for this bay, and no kite operator has been confirmed as currently running here. The nearest help of any kind is in Fort-Dauphin, a couple of kilometres east. Treat it as self-rescue and buddy cover, and do not go out alone on a big day.

Launch

Sandy launch on the Ambinanibe/Vinanibe bay, car access and a medium walk to the water.

Rules & access

1 min read

Nothing listed as of 2026, and the spot is open all year. Ask locally before you ride anyway.

Access rules drift faster than anything else we hold — check locally, and propose an edit if this has changed.

Schools that ride here

Rider tips

Use all four names when you ask directions: Baie des Signes, Baie des Singes, Ankoba Beach and Vinanibe Bay all point at the same Fort-Dauphin bay.
Skip May-June unless you came to surf. The swell is huge and the wind season has not started.
Ask in Fort-Dauphin which school or operator is actually open before you count on lessons.
Move round to Vinanibe Lagoon when the ocean side is too big for what you ride.
You do not need to wait for a thermal. The trade runs all day, dawn is the light hour, and the meat of it is 13:00 to 17:00.
Nobody is coming to get you. Ride with someone, and rig for the sea state rather than for the forecast number.

Getting there

Airport

Tôlanaro/Fort-Dauphin Airport (FTU)

Route

The bay is on the Ambinanibe/Vinanibe coast, a couple of kilometres west of Fort-Dauphin. It is big, sandy and hard to miss.

Transfer

25 min

Cost level

medium

Staying

Rooms and camping at or near the beach. Fort-Dauphin has the hotels and the restaurants.

No-wind days

surfing · Vinanibe Lagoon · Fort-Dauphin restaurants/nightlife · Baie des Galions day trip

FAQ

When is the best time to kite at Baie des Signes?

August to October is the main season, with 25-30 knots through late October and much larger, unrideable swell reported in May-June.

Is Baie des Signes suitable for beginners?

No; it's rated intermediate to advanced because of wave breakers, reefs and swimmer areas in the bay.

What is the wind like at Baie des Signes?

The southeast trade wind (alizés) blows 25-30 knots in season, cross to cross-offshore at nearby Vinanibe Bay.

What hazards are there at Baie des Signes?

Reported hazards include swimmers, reefs, wave breakers, and very large waves outside the wind season in May-June.

Last updated: August 2026