Map › France › La Tranche-sur-Mer (Vendée) › Bretignolles-sur-Mer - Plage des Dunes 2

Pays de la Loire · Vendée - Bretignolles-sur-Mer · Bretignolles-sur-Mer

Bretignolles-sur-Mer - Plage des Dunes 2

also known as Plage des Dunes, Dunes 2, Les Dunes 2

beginner-friendlymedium crowds

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 Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie - Grande Plage 11 km · Le Veillon 23 km · Saint-Jean-de-Monts - Plage de la Daviere 30 km · Fromentine - Plage de la Grande Cote 40 km · La Tranche-sur-Mer 42 km · Banc du Bucheron 50 km · La Faute-sur-Mer - Pointe d'Arcay 57 km · Rivedoux Plage Nord 67 km · Aytre Plage 77 km · Plage de Plaisance 79 km · Plage de la Gautrelle 80 km · Chatelaillon-Plage 83 km · Boyardville 84 km · straight-line distance

SeasonJan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Sep, Oct, Nov, Decthe months riders and schools name How windyno knot figure publishedsynoptic Launchwide sandy beachaccess rules on record, below Waterocean beach19.5°C in summer · 11 things riders flag LevelBeginner to intermediatewith a caveat, in the Level section Schools1named at this spot From the airport74 minNantes Atlantique Airport (NTE)

When it fills in

Nothing fills in at a set hour. The wind here is frontal, so it can be blowing at dawn, arrive with a squall line at midday or build overnight; what you time a session around is the tide, not the clock, because high water leaves little beach to rig or land on.

Plage des Dunes 2 is the kite beach south of Bretignolles-sur-Mer on the open Vendée coast: long sand, small to medium waves and chop, a shorebreak that gets serious from mid-high tide up, and a wide flat beach with sandbars at low water.

It has its own kite channel, the one to the left of the lifeguard station toward La Gachere; Dunes 1 next door is the surf channel and you stay out of it.

The 2010 maritime order that created the Dunes 2 evolution zone is still the paperwork behind that, and a school has taught from a reserved area on Dunes 2 since 2005, which tells you the level: beginners with a school, and freeriders or wave riders on their own. Wind is synoptic.

W to NW is the setup that delivers, cross-onshore on a west-facing beach, and it comes with the autumn and winter depressions from September to April; SW is more onshore, and anything from N to NE is side-off to offshore here, so treat it with respect.

Summer is smaller waves, warmer water, lifeguards in July and August and a family beach to share; the water still only reaches about 19.5 C in August, so bring the 3/2 at least. Whether the reserved kite zone has fixed season dates is unconfirmed.

The wind

Direction

wind blows away from land — rescue cover matters here

Character

synoptic

fills in: Nothing fills in at a set hour. The wind here is frontal, so it can be blowing at dawn, arrive with a squall line at midday or build overnight; what you time a session around is the tide, not the clock, because high water leaves little beach to rig or land on.

Frontal Atlantic wind. The good days come with autumn and winter depressions blowing west to northwest.

Any month, if you are autonomous and the zoning allows it. Autumn and winter bring the stronger west-sector depression wind and the bigger waves; summer is smaller waves and a fuller beach.

Strength

No knot figure is published for this spot.

Direction to shore

W to NW is onshore to cross-onshore; SW is more onshore; N to NE is side-off/offshore on this west-facing beach.

Dominant direction

SW, WSW, W, WNW, NW all show up; W to NW is the west-sector setup that performs, and N to NE is side-off.

Forecast

Month by month

Jan, riders' month62
Feb, riders' month60
Mar, riders' month74
Apr, riders' month63
May73
Jun60
Jul61
Aug53
Sep, riders' month62
Oct, riders' month67
Nov, riders' month74
Dec, riders' month74

per cent of the month at force 4 or more

Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec.

14Jan11°
14Feb10°
15Mar11°
13Apr13°
13May15°
12Jun19°
12Jul19°
12Aug20°
13Sep20°
14Oct18°
17Nov15°
15Dec12°

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

Month	Force 4+	Knots	From	Air	Water
Jan	62%	14.2 kt	NE	7.2°C	10.6°C
Feb	60%	13.9 kt	WNW	8.7°C	10.2°C
Mar	74%	15.1 kt	SW	10.3°C	10.8°C
Apr	63%	13.4 kt	NE	11.8°C	12.9°C
May	73%	12.5 kt	NE	15.7°C	15.4°C
Jun	60%	11.8 kt	WSW	19.1°C	18.6°C
Jul	61%	12.2 kt	WNW	20°C	18.6°C
Aug	53%	11.7 kt	NW	20.7°C	20.1°C
Sep	62%	13 kt	WSW	18.2°C	19.5°C
Oct	67%	14.2 kt	SW	16.3°C	18.4°C
Nov	74%	16.7 kt	SW	12.3°C	14.7°C
Dec	74%	15 kt	WSW	8.8°C	11.5°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

ocean beach

Tides

Tide affected Atlantic beach, rideable at any state of tide but not equally comfortable. Shorebreak can be marked from mid-high to high tide, and high water also takes away the dry sand you need for rigging and landing. Low tide exposes a wide beach and sandbar features.

Temperature

19.5°C summer · 10.1°C winter

Wetsuit

Cold to cool Bay of Biscay water: August average water temperature is about 19.5 C, and the coldest winter water is around 10 C. Use a full suit most of the year; in summer a 3/2 or shorty may be enough depending on wind chill.

Currents

A north-south current runs along the beach, its strength depending on the day's conditions.

10–20°C water

Long sandy Atlantic beach open to the swell. Dunes 2 gives small to medium waves and chop; there is no flat water here.

Your level

beginnerintermediatenot for advanceds here

Vendée Sports Océan teaches from a reserved area at Dunes 2, and the spot gets listed for any level. A beginner without a school should not be out alone when there is swell, a shorebreak or the summer zoning to deal with.

The scene

What riders come here for

learningfreeridewavesfoil

Family beach and local Vendée rider spot; quieter outside the summer holiday period, with more serious wave/wind days in autumn and winter.

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: wide sandy beach

access rules on record

Somewhere else

Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie - Grande Plage, 11 km

Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie - Grande Plage Le Veillon Saint-Jean-de-Monts - Plage de la Daviere

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

Rescue

No kite-specific rescue. Two lifeguard posts cover this beach, Dunes 1 and Dunes 2, and only in season; they are there for swimmers. The kite school on Dunes 2 runs a rescue boat, but for its own lessons.

Out of season nobody is watching the water, so plan for a self-rescue and a long swim.

Launch

The kite channel at Dunes 2 is the one to the left of the lifeguard station, toward La Gachere. Parking sits behind the dune, a couple of minutes away on a sand path, and there is room to rig on the beach at most tides.At high water there is not: the dry sand narrows and rigging, launching and landing all get awkward.

Space

wide sandy beach

Hazards riders report 11

Atlantic surf
shared beach zones
Atlantic surf and shorebreak, especially around higher tide or bigger W/NW swell
Respect the marked kite channel and avoid surf and bathing zones
N to NE wind can be side-off/offshore locally.
Busy family beach use in summer
Open Atlantic conditions with no dedicated kite rescue
Rocks on the right-hand side of the beach
North-south current along the beach on some days
Powerful winter swell
The buoyed kite zone is La Gachere, not the Dunes 2 evolution zone next to it; read the beach panels before rigging

Rules & access

2010, and still the reference text: prefectural maritime order 2010/64 of 14 June 2010 sets the buoyage plan for the Bretignolles-sur-Mer coast. Inside the 300 m band every registered craft and every windsurf board is banned outside the marked channels, and kite-towed boards are confined to the evolution zones.

The zone called Dunes 2, 60 m south of the lifeguard post, oriented 260, 140 m wide by 150 m long, is reserved for board sports with kitesurf explicitly excluded.

Kitesurf gets zone 3, La Gachere: a 300 m square oriented due west, between the two beach accesses at les Conches Arrochaudes, 50 m from the Dunes 2 zone, and the only place on this coast where riders may exceed 5 knots.

Article 7 matters as much as the geometry: the plan applies only while the buoyage is physically in place, so out of season the marked zones are not there and the general 300 m rules are what remain. The town's own beach page points kiters to the channel left of the Dunes 2 lifeguard post, toward La Gachere.

Calendar dates for the buoyage, and the current municipal beach order, are unconfirmed.

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

Rider tips

Use the Dunes 2 channel, the one left of the lifeguard station toward La Gachere; Dunes 1 is the surf channel.
Check tide and swell before calling it beginner-friendly: from mid-high tide the shorebreak changes the level of the beach in a hurry.
Arriving in July or August, ask Vendée Sports Océan or the Kite Club Bretignollais where this season's buoys are before you rig.
Wear a full suit most of the year and at least a 3/2 in summer; 19.5 C in August is the warmest the water gets, about 10 C in winter.
In a N to NE wind the beach goes side-off to offshore; not the day to try something new.
From Nantes airport it is about 77 km and 1 h 14 min by car; train plus bus takes about 3 h 26 min, so hire a car.
The zone reserved for kites in the buoyage plan is La Gachere, a 300 m square just south of the Dunes 2 evolution zone, and it is the one area where the 5-knot limit does not apply to you.
Come at low or mid tide if you can. High water leaves barely enough dry sand to lay a kite out.
Rocks sit at the right-hand end of the beach; keep your downwind escape on the other side.

Getting there

Airport

Nantes Atlantique Airport (NTE)

Route

About 77 km and 1 h 14 min by car from Nantes Airport; train plus bus is around 3 h 26 min. From town follow the signs to Plage des Dunes 2 and park at the beach access.

Transfer

74 min

Cost level

medium

Staying

Holiday rentals and campsites in Bretignolles-sur-Mer and around the Dunes; Camping Les Dunes has direct access to the beach next door and lifeguards in summer.

No-wind days

Surf at the Dunes or La Sauzaie, paddle, walk the dunes, cycle the Vendée lanes, or make a day of Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie or Les Sables-d'Olonne.

Photos

Bretignolles-sur-Mer, France (Unsplash) — Anthony Cantin arizonanthony, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

FAQ

When is the best time to kite Plage des Dunes 2?

Autumn and winter bring stronger west-sector depression winds, while the spot is usable year-round for autonomous riders.

Is Plage des Dunes 2 suitable for beginners?

Yes, a local school has used a reserved teaching area on Dunes 2 since 2005, though independent beginners still need supervision when swell or summer crowding is present.

What is the wind like at Plage des Dunes 2?

W to NW is the best-performing sector, while N to NE runs offshore; SW, WSW and W are also reported as working directions.

Are there rules or restricted zones at Plage des Dunes 2?

A 2010 maritime order created the Dunes 2 evolution zone, with one kite channel to the left of the lifeguard station toward La Gachere, separate from the Dunes 1 surf channel.

Is there a kite school at Plage des Dunes 2?

Yes, Vendee Sports Ocean has operated a reserved teaching area on Dunes 2 since 2005.

Last updated: August 2026