Map › France › Normandie — Ouistreham - Baie de la Pointe du Siege to Houlgate › Cap Cabourg

Normandie · Calvados, Cote Fleurie · Calvados · Cabourg

Cap Cabourg

also known as Pointe de Cabourg, Le Menhir, Plage de Cabourg

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 Houlgate under 1 km · Ouistreham - Baie de la Pointe du Siege 10 km · Merville-Franceville-Plage 11 km · straight-line distance

SeasonJan, Feb, Mar, Nov, Decthe months riders and schools name How windy15-25 ktmixed Launchlargeaccess rules on record, below Watersea19.3°C in summer · 6 things riders flag LevelBeginner to advancedwith a caveat, in the Level section Schools2named at this spot From the airport35 min

When it fills in

No onset time is published for this spot.

Cap Cabourg is the sandbank beach at the mouth of the Dives on the Normandy coast, and it is the home spot of the Le Menhir Normandie Kite school.

Low tide is the reason to come: the big banks kill the waves and leave flat, standable water, and the beach launch is wide and clear about 50 m from the shop.

At high tide the water turns to chop and the space opens up; at low tide the space shrinks hard, and on big coefficients there is current in the channels between the banks. Working directions are WSW, W, NW, N, NE. S-sector wind is offshore here and is a school-boat condition, not a beach-launch one.

The water is cold, 19.3 C in August and 8.5 C in winter, so a 4/3 is normal in summer and a hooded 5/4 with boots and gloves is the winter kit.

Stronger wind runs November to March, while the school is open 14 March to 15 November 2026. Whether the nautical zone is reserved year-round or only marked in summer is not settled; two posted notices say different things and the municipal arrêté was not found.

The wind

Direction

wind blows away from land — rescue cover matters here

Kite sizes

567891011121314

metres · typical quiver highlighted

Character

mixed

Typical strength

Working days sit roughly in the 15-25 kt band, with the November-March fronts at the top of it and the odd storm day above. The 22 kt average attached to the spot is a kiteable-day figure, not a met-station reading, and no station statistics exist for Cabourg itself; indicative.

Safe enough for learning in the usable sectors; south/offshore wind needs the school boat.

The school runs 14 March to 15 November 2026; the stronger wind is November to March, when you ride without it.

Also on record

22.4

The quiver, in words

Indicative for a 75-85 kg rider, read off the wind band rather than a local rider survey: a 9 m covers most of the year, a 7 m for the winter fronts that push past 25 kt, a 12 m for the lighter spring and summer days. No published size survey for the spot.

Direction to shore

On this north-facing/estuary beach, N to NE are onshore to side-onshore, W to NW are cross/side-on, SW is more side-off to offshore and S is offshore.

Dominant direction

WSW, W, NW, N and NE are reported as working directions.

Forecast

Month by month

Jan, riders' month51
Feb, riders' month58
Mar, riders' month62
Apr60
May45
Jun37
Jul38
Aug33
Sep40
Oct53
Nov, riders' month61
Dec, riders' month58

per cent of the month at force 4 or more

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

12Jan8°
13Feb8°
13Mar9°
12Apr11°
11May15°
10Jun18°
11Jul20°
10Aug21°
11Sep19°
11Oct17°
13Nov13°
13Dec10°

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

Month	Force 4+	Knots	From	Air	Water
Jan	51%	12.3 kt	SW	6.2°C	8.3°C
Feb	58%	13.1 kt	SW	8°C	8.4°C
Mar	62%	12.6 kt	SSW	9.3°C	9.2°C
Apr	60%	12.1 kt	NNE	10.4°C	11.3°C
May	45%	10.7 kt	NNE	13.7°C	14.7°C
Jun	37%	10.2 kt	NW	16.6°C	17.8°C
Jul	38%	10.5 kt	SW	18.7°C	19.9°C
Aug	33%	10.4 kt	NNE	19.2°C	20.8°C
Sep	40%	10.5 kt	SSE	16.9°C	19.4°C
Oct	53%	11.3 kt	SSW	14.4°C	16.6°C
Nov	61%	13.3 kt	SW	10.2°C	12.6°C
Dec	58%	12.9 kt	SSW	7.3°C	9.5°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

sea

Standing depth

Standable at low tide; partial standing depth at high tide.

Tides

Macrotidal beach; sandbanks protect the spot from waves at low tide, while space opens at high tide. Space is reported to reduce strongly at low tide and currents can occur near channels on big tides.

Temperature

19.3°C summer · 8.5°C winter

Wetsuit

3/2 to 4/3 in summer depending on wind; hooded 5/4 or 6/5 with boots, gloves and hood in winter.

Currents

Currents reported near channels during large tides.

8–21°C water

Shallow sandy water protected by large sandbanks at low tide; flat at low tide and choppy at high tide.

Your level

beginnerintermediateadvanced

A learning spot: flat and standable at low tide, choppy at high tide, with a school on the beach.

The scene

What riders come here for

learningfreeridechopsmall wavesflat watermountain board

School home spot with learners and locals; in July and August you share the sand with bathers and keep to the marked area.

Launch and rules

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

With a school or a boat

2 schools name this spot

See who they are

On your own

Room to launch: large

access rules on record

Somewhere else

Houlgate, under 1 km

Houlgate Ouistreham - Baie de la Pointe du Siege Merville-Franceville-Plage

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

Rescue

VHF 16

The school's semi-rigid goes out behind its own trainees when the wind is in the southerly, offshore sector; there is no club boat, lifeguard post or organised cover for independent riders at the cape.

From shore, 196 is the free French sea-emergency number and reaches the rescue coordination centres, with CROSS Jobourg covering the Calvados coast and VHF 16 the distress channel. The town does staff numbered lifeguard posts in summer, but they sit along the main bathing beach, not at Cap Cabourg.

Launch

Direct sandy beach launch at Cap Cabourg, about 50 m from Le Menhir shop/school, with a wide and clear take-off area.

Space

large

Rules & access

2026: two posted descriptions of the same water disagree. One has the Cap Cabourg zone reserved for nautical activities all year, summer included, with no bathing buoys and no restriction; the other has a marked kite area that exists only in summer and must be respected. No municipal or prefectural arrete fixing the zone appears on the town's administrative-acts index, so the marked area on the sand is the working boundary and the shop on the beach is the place to check it before rigging.

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

Rider tips

Check the tide height and the coefficient before you rig: the usable beach shrinks hard at low tide and the channels run on big tides.
In summer rig inside the marked kite area and stay clear of the bathers.
Treat any S-sector wind as offshore; go out only with the school boat behind you.
Come at low tide for flat water and standing depth; high tide is chop.
Bring a 3/2 or 4/3 in summer and a hooded 5/4 with boots and gloves in winter; the water is 19.3 C in August.
Put 196 in your phone before you launch. Nobody is watching the cape, and that number is the free line to the sea-rescue centre.

Getting there

Airport

Caen-Carpiquet Airport or Deauville-Normandie Airport

Route

Train from Paris Saint-Lazare to Caen, Trouville-Deauville or Dives-Cabourg; by car the A13, exit 29 Dozule; coach from Paris or Caen; ferry into Ouistreham; or fly to Caen-Carpiquet.

Transfer

35 min

Staying

Hotels, rentals or bed-and-breakfasts in Cabourg and the villages around it.

No-wind days

Cabourg beach and promenade, Belle Epoque architecture, casino, racecourse, Houlgate/Vaches Noires cliffs, Dives estuary, cycling, golf, tennis, paddle, wakeboard and other nautical activities.

Photos

Waves breaking on Cabourg beach at dusk, shot from the sand with gulls in the foreground — Florian Pépellin / CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

FAQ

When is the best time to kite at Cap Cabourg?

The strongest wind season runs from November to March, while the local school operates from mid-March to mid-November 2026.

Is Cap Cabourg suitable for beginners?

Yes, sandbanks keep the water shallow and flat at low tide, and the spot is used for learning and progression by the local school.

What wind directions work at Cap Cabourg?

WSW, W, NW, N and NE are the usable beach-launch directions; south and offshore wind require boat-supported lessons rather than independent riding.

Is there a kite school at Cap Cabourg?

Yes, Le Menhir Normandie Kite is based about 50 meters from the launch.

Last updated: August 2026