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Cayo Coco

Ciego de Avila · Moron (nearest mainland town); Cayo Coco resort zone on-island

also known as Coco Key

Part of Cayo Coco →

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

beginner-friendlymedium crowds

On this page

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

Riding essentials

Season

Dec–Apr

Months riders and schools name

How windy

11-15 kt

Character: mixed

Room to launch

access rules on record, below

Water

mixed

29 °C in summer

Hazards

Reported by riders

Level

Beginner to advanced

With a caveat: see Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Crowds

medium crowds · busy Nov Dec Jan Feb

Schools

named at this spot

From the airport

Cayo Coco Airport (CCC)

Transfer times under Getting there

On the clock

11:00 · 16:00

Trade winds can work through the day in season; from May onward, the wind picks up around 11:00 and drops around 16:00.

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.

Nearbystraight-line distance

Playa El Paso15 km

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

Cayo Guillermo / Playa El Paso
Cayo Guillermo / Playa Pilarno page yet
Cayo Coco / Playa Cocono page yet
Cayo Coco / Playa Largano page yet
Cayo Coco / Playa Las Coloradasno page yet
Cayo Coco / Causewayno page yet

The spot

Cayo Coco is a resort island on Cuba's north coast, in the Jardines del Rey chain, with its own CCC airport and a causeway to the mainland. There is no single kite beach: the riding is spread across hotel-zone launches, with Playa Las Coloradas at the Pullman and Playa Larga at the Tryp named as the school areas.

Water, season, and logistics

What you get is warm water, shallow sandy lagoons and resort logistics; what varies is the water, which runs from flat lagoon to chop and small waves depending on which launch you walk onto. The season that holds up is the dry-season NE and ENE trades, roughly December to April, with November, May and some summer thermal at the edges. Kiting in the hotel zones runs through the marked Polygono areas and a Marlin fee, so sort that out before you rig.

Who can ride and safety

Beginners can learn in the shallows with a school, and intermediates get freeride, foil and downwinders. Skip the causeway unless you are confident: rocks, a road, cars and no beach, so you launch from the water.

The wind

locals call it NE/ENE trade winds

Direction

cross-onNE to ENE

Direction to shore

The resort beaches on Cayo Coco face broadly north, so the NE-ENE trade that makes the season arrives cross-shore to cross-onshore and you can work back to the beach on either tack; N and NNW is straight onshore. Anything out of the south quadrant blows off the island and is the direction to sit out.This is read from the way the coast lies, not from a local survey, and it flips at the causeway launch, which faces the inner bay.

Dominant direction

NE to ENE; some spot databases also show E as the dominant annual direction

Character

mixed

When it fills in: see above ↑

Average strength

Typical strength

11-15 kt or more is the local figure. 15-25 kt is quoted for the November-April trades across Cuba, and 18-20 kt has been quoted for Cayo Coco itself, though that last number no longer has a live source behind it.

Best treated as moderate rather than guaranteed: the NE/ENE trades are consistent in winter, but four years of data show only 22% year-round wind days and a 9.2 kt average wind.

The prime window is the dry-season trades, November-April, and the island's beach spots are most often marked best from December or January through April. Summer is rated rideable in places, but the local school season runs November-May, May-October is the wet season, and September-October is peak hurricane season.

Forecast

Live forecast

Windguru Windfinder Windy

Month by month

riding season from the spot record · the wind series here holds no strength figure

No month-by-month share of windy days is held for this spot. The months riders and schools name are Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr.

Measured at Cayo Guillermo Playa Coco / Jardines del Rey Airport, ~10 km from the spot.

How this was measuredmeasured

The source named below holds no month-by-month figure for this place, so no season is drawn from it. The season is the one the spot record names.

Highlighted months are the riding season from the spot record.

Cayo Guillermo Playa Coco / Jardines del Rey Airport · Windfinder

The water

Type

mixed

Standing depth

Large shallow sandy-bottom areas around the island. Playa Coco runs ankle- to waist-deep, and the causeway spot has big shallow areas.

Tides

Mixed by launch: Playa Coco and Playa Las Coloradas are tide-independent, but Playa Larga uses low, coming, or falling tide.

Temperature

29 °C summer · 25 °C winter

Wetsuit

Boardshorts most of the year; a shorty can be useful in winter cold fronts or long sessions.

Conditions

Cayo Coco is not one water state: Playa Coco and the causeway are shallow flat lagoon, while Playa Larga and Las Coloradas give chop and small waves. The island sits on Cuba's north coast beside coral reef and lagoon systems, so expect shallow sandbars and seagrass. No current pattern has been published.

Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Beginners are fine on the shallow sandy bottoms with a school behind them, and Playa Coco and Las Coloradas take any level. Intermediates and advanced riders get freeride, foil, downwinders and choppy, small-wave water. The causeway is intermediate and expert only, and it has no dry beach to launch from.

The scene

What riders come here for

freerideflat waterfoilwarm-water resort trip

Who it suitsbeginner

All-inclusive resort island with public beaches but hotel-managed beach services; dry season is the busiest tourist season. Cayo Coco is quieter and less known than Cayo Guillermo, with many beachfront resorts and organized nautical centers.

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: ok

Read the access rules

Somewhere else

1 spot nearby

Playa El Paso15 km

The one spot within 40 km is under Nearby

Rescue

The 25 USD Polygono fee includes one rescue and is what the zones' marker buoys and safety craft are funded from; beyond that single rescue no standing boat or jetski cover is published for independent riders, and school and camp packages carry their own. Both Cayo Coco kite-school websites listed by the island guide were unreachable in September 2026, so the hotel nautical centre is the practical first stop.

Lifeguard coverage

Lifeguards are listed at Playa Coco and Playa Larga, but Playa Coco is described as having lifeguards on the beach and no rescue boats.

Launch

Use the designated kite zones in the hotel/resort beaches, especially Playa Las Coloradas near Pullman/Melia Costa Rey and Playa Larga near Tryp Cayo Coco/Cuba-Kite.Playa Coco is a medium-size launch where riders walk past the sailboat area; Las Coloradas and Playa Larga have small launch areas.The causeway spot has stones, road and car hazards and requires launching from the water.

Hazards riders report 16 reported

Wind

large offshore coral reef
Wind out of the south quadrant blows offshore on the north-facing resort beaches.
Large offshore coral reef along this stretch of Cuba's north coast.

Crowds and zones

Kiting in hotel zones is allowed only in designated Polygono kite zones.
Tourism boat traffic and seagrass are flagged as hazards.
Kiting in the hotel zones is allowed only inside the designated Polygono kite areas.
Tourism boat traffic and seagrass.
Only one rescue is included with the kite-zone fee; there is no standing rescue cover for independent riders.

Bottom

Causeway launch has rocks, road, cars and no beach; launch from the water only.

Waves and currents

Chop and small waves at Playa Larga and Playa Las Coloradas.

Protected areas and rules

Shallow sandbars and very shallow water at lagoon launches.
Shallow sandbars and very shallow water at the lagoon launches.

Other

Cold fronts can affect December-February weather on Cuba's north coast.
September-October is peak hurricane season on this part of Cuba's coast.
Cold fronts can disturb December-February weather on the north coast.
September-October is peak hurricane season here.

Rules & access

1 min read

Kite zones and fees

2026: kiteboarding inside the hotel zones is allowed only in the designated kite areas, locally called Polygono. Each kitesurfer pays 25 USD per stay to the state nautical operator Nautica Marlin and gets a Marlin sticker as proof; the fee covers every kite zone on Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo and includes one rescue.

What the fee covers

It exists to pay for the zone infrastructure: marker buoys and safety craft. Riders booked with an official kite school usually have the fee inside the package.

Prices and conditions are stated as subject to change, so confirm at the hotel nautical centre when you arrive. Which individual polygons are open in a given season is not published anywhere.

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

Check which Polygono zone is live for your hotel before you rig; as of 2026 hotel-zone kiting only happens inside the designated areas.
Bring big kites: constant wind is quoted at 11-15 kt or more and the good range at 16-24 kt, so most days sit under the trade-wind numbers you see advertised.
Take a school or an official kite zone for a first session rather than the causeway, which is water-launch-only with rocks, road and cars.
Pack a shorty for December to February; short cold fronts reach this coast.
Budget the extras: 25 USD per stay for the kite zone (2026), an added transfer fee for oversized sports baggage, and roughly 15-25 USD for an airport taxi to the Cayo Coco resorts (2026).
Do not count on booking a school online before you fly. Both Cayo Coco school sites were dead in September 2026, so arrange it through the hotel's nautical centre or a tour operator.

Getting there

Airport

Jardines del Rey International Airport / Cayo Coco Airport (CCC), on Cayo Coco

Route

Most package travellers land at CCC and take the tour operator's shuttle bus. Taxis wait at the airport; there is no VIAZUL or public bus terminal at CCC. Coming through Havana, the options are a domestic flight to Cayo Coco plus a taxi, or VIAZUL to Ciego de Avila and a taxi onward.

Transfer

10-30 minutes from CCC to Cayo Coco resorts; 40-45 minutes to Cayo Guillermo resorts; about 50-60 minutes from CCC to Moron by road.

Cost level

medium

Staying

Primarily all-inclusive beachfront resorts on Playa Las Coloradas, Playa Larga, Playa Flamenco and nearby Cayo Coco beaches. All Cayo Coco all-inclusive resorts have nautical centers; beaches are public, while loungers/palapas are for hotel guests.

No-wind days

Beaches, scuba diving, snorkelling, marinas and boat trips, the dolphinarium, horseback riding, Cueva del Jabali, Parque El Baga, Rocarena climbing, Plaza Los Flamencos, Moron, Laguna de la Leche, Laguna la Redonda and Loma de la Cunagua.

Photos

FAQ

When is the best time to kite in Cayo Coco?

The dry-season NE to ENE trade winds run from about December to April, with some sessions extending into November and May.

Is Cayo Coco good for beginners?

Yes, large shallow sandy-bottom lagoons at Playa Coco and Playa Las Coloradas support beginner lessons through official schools.

What is the wind like in Cayo Coco?

Winter trades are typically reported around 11-15 knots or more, though one four-year dataset shows only 22% of days with usable wind and a 9.2-knot average.

Are there rules or fees for kiting in Cayo Coco?

Kiting in the hotel zones is limited to designated Polygono kite areas, and each independent kiter pays a 25 USD per-stay fee for a Marlin sticker that reportedly includes one rescue.

The bigger pictureEverything about Cayo Coco

Last updated: August 2026