Map › Italy › Arma di Taggia & Borgo Prino › Borgo Prino

Liguria · Imperia · Provincia di Imperia

Borgo Prino

also known as Prino, Windy Up Prino

beginner-friendly

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

On this page

Wind
- Month by month
Forecast
Water
Level
The scene
Launch
- Rescue
Hazards
Rules & access
Schools
Tips
Getting there
Photos
FAQ

Nearby Arma di Taggia 13 km · Andora 14 km · Albenga 26 km · straight-line distance

SeasonApr to Octthe months riders and schools name How windy8-14 knot LaunchThe corridor is the launch: about 30 m across where it meets the beach, widening as it runs out to sea. Rigging room on the mixed sand and shingle either side has not been quantified anywhere.access rules on record, below Watersea24.8°C in summer · 6 things riders flag LevelBeginner to advancedwith a caveat, in the Level section Schools1named at this spot From the airportno transfer time publishedNice Cote d'Azur Airport (NCE)

On the clock

10:00 · 17:00

A thermal day: near flat overnight and early morning, building from about 10:00, best between roughly midday and 17:00, gone again through the evening. Indicative, from modelled hourly wind with no local measurement.

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.

What Borgo Prino has is legal access. The Windy Up association pushed the Comune di Imperia into an authorized kite corridor in 2023, next to the Prarola tower where the cycle path starts, and Imperia became the second Ligurian comune after Riva Ligure to have one.

It runs 1 May to 30 September, about 30 m wide at the beach entrance and opening to roughly 80-200 m offshore. West wind is what riders use here; when it swings east, they go to Riva Ligure. The beach is mixed sand and pebble, and the association teaches kite alongside wingfoil and SUP.

Beyond that the record is thin: no published wind range, no kite sizes, no depth profile, nothing about the bottom. Treat it as a session close to home, not a trip.

The wind

locals call it Ponente, Maestrale

Direction

offshoreWwind blows away from land — rescue cover matters here

Kite sizes

67891011121314151617

metres · typical quiver highlighted

Typical strength

Light more often than not. Modelled hourly wind for the coastal box puts 12 knots or more in roughly one hour in ten from November to April, and under 2 per cent of hours in July and August; 15 knots or more is rare in any month. The working session is an 8-14 knot afternoon ponente. Indicative, from modelled data rather than a station at the corridor.

Favorable wind and constant breezes, reportedly. No direction table or strength range has been published.

The authorized corridor runs 1 May to 30 September, which is also the calmest stretch of the year here: modelled hours at 12 knots or more drop under 2 per cent in July and August against roughly 10-14 per cent in November, February and March. Spring and autumn hold the wind, the permit points at summer.

Foil kit shifts that arithmetic, since foilers get going from about 7 knots.

Thermal or synoptic

thermal

The quiver, in words

Indicative for 75-85 kg, with no local kit survey published: 12-15 m for the ordinary light afternoon ponente of 8-14 knots, 9-11 m on the uncommon 15-20 knot day, and a foil or a light-wind board for everything below that.

Direction to shore

The shore here runs roughly WSW to ENE and faces south. The ponente the corridor was built around therefore arrives side-shore, from the right as you look at the sea, while north and north-east gradient wind drains off the mountains straight offshore and accounts for a large share of the strongest hours on this coast.Derived from the coastline and modelled wind directions, not from a published local table.

Dominant direction

W; W-NW/Ponente-Maestrale also appears in the record but is unconfirmed.

Forecast

Month by month

Jan35
Feb36
Mar57
Apr, riders' month47
May, riders' month37
Jun, riders' month31
Jul, riders' month15
Aug, riders' month23
Sep, riders' month36
Oct, riders' month27
Nov33
Dec28

per cent of the month at force 4 or more

Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct.

10Jan15°
10Feb14°
11Mar14°
11Apr16°
10May19°
10Jun23°
9Jul26°
9Aug27°
11Sep24°
10Oct21°
10Nov19°
9Dec16°

avg knots per month · water °C below · season highlighted

Month	Force 4+	Knots	From	Air	Water
Jan	35%	9.8 kt	N	9.5°C	14.9°C
Feb	36%	10.1 kt	NNE	10.1°C	14.2°C
Mar	57%	11.3 kt	NNE	11.7°C	14.3°C
Apr	47%	11.1 kt	NNE	14.1°C	15.7°C
May	37%	9.7 kt	NNE	18.4°C	18.7°C
Jun	31%	9.6 kt	NE	22.6°C	22.6°C
Jul	15%	8.8 kt	NE	26.1°C	26.1°C
Aug	23%	8.7 kt	SW	26.4°C	27.1°C
Sep	36%	10.8 kt	NNE	22°C	23.8°C
Oct	27%	9.5 kt	NNE	18.9°C	21.1°C
Nov	33%	10 kt	N	13.4°C	18.5°C
Dec	28%	8.6 kt	N	10.1°C	16.2°C

modelled

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

Modelled from weather reanalysis on a 10–25 km grid (2022-2024), not a ground station: reliable for trade and synoptic winds, understates thermal sea breezes and valley winds. 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.

ERA5 reanalysis grid point (modelled) · Open-Meteo historical weather API — ECMWF ERA5/ERA5-Land reanalysis, not a ground station · 2022-2024

The water

Type

sea

Tides

Barely there. High and low water sit within about 0.1-0.2 m of each other, so the beach, the corridor and the entry look the same all day.

Temperature

24.8°C summer · 12.9°C winter

Wetsuit

Use summer warm-water gear in August and a full winter wetsuit around February based on Imperia water-temperature averages; spot-specific wetsuit advice was not found.

14–27°C water

The corridor is documented; the water is not. Past clear water off Imperia and a general report of favorable wind and waves, there is no description of the water state.

Your level

beginnerintermediateadvanced

The local association teaches, so a supervised beginner works. Nothing has been published on rider levels.

The scene

What riders come here for

freestylelessonsfreeridelocal sessionswingfoilSUP

An association spot: Windy Up is friendly and professional. How busy the water gets is unconfirmed.

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: The corridor is the launch: about 30 m across where it meets the beach, widening as it runs out to sea. Rigging room on the mixed sand and shingle either side has not been quantified anywhere.

access rules on record

Somewhere else

Arma di Taggia, 13 km

Arma di Taggia Andora Albenga

Every spot within 40 km is on the map at the top of this page, with its distance under it.

Rescue

No rescue boat or beach patrol is run for the corridor. Sea call-outs on this coast are answered by the coastguard and the fire brigade, reached on the 112 emergency number: in August 2026 both turned out off the Imperia levante for a kitesurfer whose smartwatch had fired a false distress alert. Ride with someone who can come and get you.

Launch

Dedicated regulated kite corridor at Borgo Prino, near the Prarola tower and the start of the cycle path, created through Windy Up.

Space

The corridor is the launch: about 30 m across where it meets the beach, widening as it runs out to sea. Rigging room on the mixed sand and shingle either side has not been quantified anywhere.

Rules & access

2023-2026: Borgo Prino has an authorized regulated kitesurf corridor near the Torre di Prarola, granted by the Comune di Imperia after a campaign by the Windy Up association and its 200-plus members. Imperia was the second Ligurian comune, after Riva Ligure, to establish a dedicated kite corridor. The corridor runs seasonally from 1 May to 30 September, reportedly about 30 m wide at the beach entrance and widening to roughly 80-200 m offshore. No separate 2026-dated renewal notice has surfaced, though the same 1 May-30 September pattern has applied since the corridor was created.

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

Rider tips

Call Windy Up before a first session to confirm the corridor setup and the local operating rules.
Use the marked corridor and nothing else between 1 May and 30 September; the access is authorized on that basis.
Bring shoes for the mixed sand and pebble beach.
Check local bathing-water notices after heavy rain, because Borgo Prino has had temporary closures.
Go to Riva Ligure when the wind is east; Borgo Prino is the west-wind option.

Getting there

Airport

Nice Cote d'Azur Airport (NCE), about 80 km from Borgo Prino.

Route

From Imperia railway station it is a taxi or a rental car. Inside the borgo you walk.

Staying

Hotels, B&Bs, holiday homes and apartments sit near Borgo Prino; book ahead for June, July and August.

No-wind days

The Imperia hinterland: hiking and trekking, cycling, medieval villages. SUP or paddleboarding when the sea is flat.

Photos

Contrast (47838798872) — Peter Addor from underway; mailnly Switzerland, Italy and Sri Lanka, world, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

FAQ

Are there rules or a permitted launch zone?

Since 2023 Borgo Prino has had an authorized kitesurf corridor 30 m wide at the beach entrance, extending 200 m offshore and widening to 80 m.

Is Borgo Prino suitable for beginners?

Lessons are available through the local Windy Up association, which supports supervised beginner use within the corridor.

Are there kite schools or rental?

Windy Up runs kite, wingfoil and SUP lessons on site at Borgo Prino.

What is the wind like?

West wind (Ponente/Maestrale) is the wind used at Borgo Prino, described as favorable with constant breezes, though no detailed strength table is published.

Last updated: August 2026