Map › France › La Tranche-sur-Mer (Vendée) › Boyardville
Nouvelle-Aquitaine · Ile d'Oleron, Charente-Maritime · Charente-Maritime · Boyardville / Saint-Georges-d'Oleron
Boyardville
also known as Plage de Boyardville, Ile d'Oleron - Boyardville
Nearby Plage de la Gautrelle 4 km · Plage de Plaisance 6 km · Chatelaillon-Plage 15 km · Aytre Plage 18 km · Rivedoux Plage Nord 21 km · Bonne Anse 32 km · Banc du Bucheron 34 km · La Faute-sur-Mer - Pointe d'Arcay 34 km · La Tranche-sur-Mer 44 km · Le Veillon 61 km · Bretignolles-sur-Mer - Plage des Dunes 2 84 km · straight-line distance
On the clock
10:00 · 11:00
Early morning for the summer SE breeze; it usually drops between 10:00 and 11:00 as the land warms.
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.
The wind
Direction
Character
mixed
fills in: Early morning for the summer SE breeze; it usually drops between 10:00 and 11:00 as the land warms.
Typical strength
Summer morning SE thermal around 8-10 knots. A climate dataset shows a 21.6 kt average with no explanation of how it was calculated; do not plan a trip on it.
Thermal or synoptic
thermal and synoptic
Also on record
21.6 kt listed as a climate stat
Direction to shore
The beach faces east, so E to SE blows onshore to side-on. N, NE, E, SE get called side-on or side-shore in one description and onshore off the channel in another; the practical reading is E to SE, angled.
Dominant direction
ESE to SE is the main direction. N, NE, E, SE all get listed as workable; the east-to-south-east sector is the one everyone agrees on.
Forecast
Month by month
- Jan66
- Feb44
- Mar48
- Apr, riders' month58
- May, riders' month63
- Jun, riders' month52
- Jul, riders' month52
- Aug, riders' month53
- Sep, riders' month38
- Oct, riders' month45
- Nov55
- Dec50
windy days per month (3 h+ at 12 kn+)
Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct.
- 66%Jan10°
- 44%Feb9°
- 48%Mar11°
- 58%Apr14°
- 63%May17°
- 52%Jun20°
- 52%Jul21°
- 53%Aug22°
- 38%Sep21°
- 45%Oct19°
- 55%Nov15°
- 50%Dec11°
windy days per month (3 h+ at 12 kn+) · water °C below · season highlighted
| Month | Windy days | Force 4+ | 12 kn or more | Knots | From | Peaks at | Air | Water | Readings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 66% | 84% | 76% | 16.9 kt | WSW | 13:00 | 7.9°C | 9.7°C | 62 |
| Feb | 44% | 63% | 58% | 15 kt | NW | 14:00 | 9°C | 9.3°C | 57 |
| Mar | 48% | 73% | 65% | 16 kt | W | 13:00 | 10.7°C | 10.7°C | 62 |
| Apr | 58% | 78% | 75% | 15.5 kt | W | 14:00 | 12.3°C | 13.7°C | 60 |
| May | 63% | 84% | 81% | 15.2 kt | WNW | 16:00 | 16.1°C | 16.9°C | 62 |
| Jun | 52% | 78% | 70% | 14.2 kt | NW | 17:00 | 19.2°C | 20.4°C | 60 |
| Jul | 52% | 84% | 74% | 14.3 kt | NW | 17:00 | 20.5°C | 21.2°C | 62 |
| Aug | 53% | 81% | 71% | 14.7 kt | WNW | 16:00 | 21.2°C | 22.3°C | 62 |
| Sep | 38% | 70% | 55% | 13.5 kt | W | 14:00 | 19°C | 21.1°C | 60 |
| Oct | 45% | 71% | 63% | 15 kt | SSW | 12:00 | 17.2°C | 18.7°C | 62 |
| Nov | 55% | 75% | 70% | 17.2 kt | W | 11:00 | 13°C | 14.5°C | 60 |
| Dec | 50% | 66% | 61% | 15.9 kt | NW | 12:00 | 9.4°C | 10.7°C | 62 |
modelled
A weather model's cell over this place, not a station on it. Good for comparing places, weaker for one beach.
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. 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
sea
Standing depth
Standable/partly shallow; low tide leaves the inside of the bay short of depth for foil.
Tides
Tidal Atlantic bay; low tide is flatter but shallower, high tide is more comfortable for foil and still leaves launch space.
Temperature
20.6°C summer · 9.4°C winter
Wetsuit
Shorts or shorty may be enough in summer; thick winter wetsuit for November to February conditions.
Your level
The scene
What riders come here for
Launch and rules
three ways on to the water, and what each one asks of you
With a school or a boat
6 schools name this spot
On your own
Room to launch: More than 1000 m of beach and room to launch even at high tide; in summer the beach crowd spreads into parts of the kite area.
Somewhere else
Plage de la Gautrelle, 4 km
Every spot within 40 km is on the map at the top of this page, with its distance under it.
Rescue
Launch
Launch from the long sandy beach north of Boyardville village near the Cafe de la Plage access, staying outside the supervised bathing area and the anchored-boat zone.
Space
More than 1000 m of beach and room to launch even at high tide; in summer the beach crowd spreads into parts of the kite area.
Rules & access
Access rules drift faster than anything else we hold — check locally, and propose an edit if this has changed.
Rider tips
- Be rigged at sunrise for the summer SE thermal; it is 8-10 knots and usually gone between 10:00 and 11:00.
- Booties, always: the bay floor has mussels on it.
- Foil on a rising or high tide and drift east, offshore, as the inside of the bay shallows out; low water is too thin to foil on.
- Never enter the buoyed bathing zone or the anchored-boat area, even before the lifeguard post opens at 11:00 or after 19:00.
- In summer park in the larger car park about 150 m before the Cafe de la Plage when the barrier at the beach is down.
- Ask at one of the schools about this year's sandbank and where the bathing buoys sit; the bank moves and the layout changes.
- The kite channel in the 2024 prefecture order is at Plage de Plaisance next door, not here; at Boyardville you launch from the beach north of the village and stay outside the supervised bathing zone.
Getting there
Airport
La Rochelle Airport
Route
Cross onto Ile d'Oleron, take the D26 north and follow the signs to Boyardville. In summer the barrier by the beach is only open in the morning, so use the larger car park about 150 m before the Cafe de la Plage.
Cost level
medium
Staying
Campsites, holiday rentals and small hotels around Boyardville, Saint-Georges-d'Oleron and the wider Ile d'Oleron coast.
No-wind days
Fort Boyard boat trips · cycling on Ile d'Oleron · Saumonards forest walks · beach time and swimming · oyster villages and local markets
Photos
FAQ
Is Boyardville suitable for beginners?
Yes, it is often rated beginner or near-beginner in the right wind, though summer bathing zones and mussels in the bay call for local awareness.
What is the wind like at Boyardville?
ESE to SE is the key summer direction, typically 8-10 knots in the morning and commonly fading around 10:00 to 11:00.
Are there rules or restricted zones at Boyardville?
Kiting is authorized except inside the supervised bathing zone; in high season, ride before the lifeguard post opens at 11:00 or after 19:00.
What hazards are there at Boyardville?
Mussels in the bay make booties advisable, anchored boats and a forbidden boat zone must be avoided, and low tide can leave the inside of the bay too shallow for foiling.
Are there kite schools nearby?
Yes, Kite Inside, O'Take Kitesurf Oleron, Chatel Kite School and Accrokite all operate in the area.
Last updated: August 2026