Colico

Lombardy · Lake Como · Lecco

also known as Pratone, Spiaggia La Breva, Seven, Ex Segheria del Sasso

Part of Lake Como →

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

flat waterbeginner-friendlycross-shoremedium 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

Apr–Oct

Months riders and schools name

How windy

20-25 kt

Character: thermal · cross-shore

Room to launch

huge

access rules on record, below

Water

flat lake water

23–24 °C in summerFreshwater at the top end of Lake Como

Hazards

Reported by riders

Level

Beginner to advanced

With a caveat: see Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Crowds

medium crowds · busy Jul Aug

Schools

named at this spot

From the airport

Milan Malpensa (MXP)

Transfer times under Getting there

Breva

11:00

On the clock

10:30 · 11:00

The Breva starts around 11:00 in spring and later in summer, then runs to sunset; the afternoon is the session. The northerly Tivano works the opposite shift, blowing from a few hours after sunset until about 10:30-11:00, which is why the lake can look alive at breakfast and be finished by the time you have rigged.

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

The spot

Colico sits at the north end of Lake Como, and the kite area is the pratone behind Spiaggia La Breva.

Launch and Breva wind

It is a broad grassy launch with a pebble waterline and a shallow entry, so getting in and out is easy even with a big kite. The wind that makes the spot is the Breva, a southerly thermal that fills in around noon and runs through the afternoon from April to October. When the Breva is in, the water is flat enough for lessons and forgiving enough for a first board start. North wind is another matter: it turns up in spring and after bad weather, it is gusty, and lessons get called off.

Hazards and season

Nobody warns you about the pebbles at the waterline, and bare feet are a bad idea. Stay off the ferry lines and away from the docks; the provincial police went after dangerous windsurf and kitesurf manoeuvres near boat routes and docks in 2023. July and August afternoons fill the grass up.

The wind

locals call it Breva

Direction

cross-shoreS

Kite sizes

789101112131415

metres · typical quiver highlighted

The quiver, in words

9-13m

Character

thermal

When it fills in: see above ↑

Average strength

12-20

Typical strength

The Breva usually settles around 15 kt and reaches 20-25 kt on the best days; the northerly is gustier and the forecast number means less on those days. No measured series exists for this beach: the weather station once listed for Colico averaged about 1 kt over 2012-2017 and stopped transmitting, so any published average for the spot is junk.

Steady thermal while the Breva is running; the north wind is gusty and much less dependable.

The Breva is the April-to-October wind, southerly, strongest from midday to sunset. The northerly comes in two shapes: the Tivano, a night-to-late-morning wind that dies around 11:00, and the gusty northerly that follows bad weather, which can sit on the lake for days and is when lessons get cancelled.

The same Breva blows harder where the lake narrows at Dervio and Cremia, so a thin day at Colico can still be a session further down the lake.

Forecast

Live forecast

Windguru Windfinder Windy

Month by month

riding season from the spot record · no wind series here is trusted enough to name a season

Jan3
Feb5
Mar3
Apr, riders' month13
May, riders' month3
Jun, riders' month2
Jul, riders' month2
Aug, riders' month5
Sep, riders' month12
Oct, riders' month2
Nov2
Dec5

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.

Our wind model misses this spot's wind

The model puts wind on only 13% of days, even in its best month, which does not match the season and the wind strength riders and schools report here. That is why the bars are hatched instead of coloured: go by the ringed months, the ones riders name.

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.

Every figure, month by monthWindy days · Force 4+ · 12 kn or more · Knots · Wind from · Peaks at · Air · Readings

Month	Windy days	Force 4+	12 kn or more	Knots	Wind from	Peaks at	Air	Readings
Jan	3%	6%	6%	5.1 kt	E	12:00	7.1 °C	62
Feb	5%	9%	7%	5.6 kt	WSW	16:00	8.7 °C	57
Mar	3%	11%	5%	7.8 kt	WSW	16:00	9.9 °C	62
Apr	13%	33%	23%	9.7 kt	WSW	16:00	12.7 °C	60
May	3%	29%	16%	9.3 kt	WSW	16:00	17.3 °C	62
Jun	2%	32%	13%	9.8 kt	WSW	16:00	21.6 °C	60
Jul	2%	21%	10%	9.4 kt	WSW	16:00	24.5 °C	62
Aug	5%	26%	16%	10.1 kt	WSW	16:00	24.6 °C	62
Sep	12%	18%	13%	8.3 kt	WSW	16:00	19.4 °C	60
Oct	2%	5%	3%	4.9 kt	WSW	15:00	17.1 °C	62
Nov	2%	12%	8%	5.2 kt	ENE	13:00	10.4 °C	60
Dec	5%	8%	6%	4.9 kt	E	11:00	7.2 °C	62

About these figuresriders' months · 2023-2024

Riders and schools name these months. The model reads lower here, and both are shown rather than averaged.

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

flat lake water

Standing depth

shallow water at the main Colico/pratone kite spot

Tides

none

Temperature

23–24 °C summer · 7 °C winter

Wetsuit

summer shorty or light wetsuit; full wetsuit or drysuit outside warm months

Conditions

Freshwater at the top end of Lake Como. The grass slopes gently down to pebbles at the waterline, the entry is shallow, and there is room to walk out.

Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

In Breva a beginner can ride here: the water is shallow and you can walk back up the shore instead of body-dragging upwind. Intermediates get flat water and space. In north wind it is not a teaching spot.

The scene

What riders come here for

intermediatefreerideflat waterfreshwater kiting

Who it suitslessons

A lake-town scene rather than a beach-resort one, though the pratone gets full in July and August.

Launch and rules

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

With a school or a boat

4 schools name this spot

See who they are

On your own

Room to launch: huge

Read the access rules

Somewhere else

6 spots nearby

All 6 spots within 40 km are under Nearby

Rescue

No public rescue service on this stretch. The schools run their own dinghy for lessons and that boat is there for their students; riding alone there is nobody, and lake emergencies go through 112.

Launch

The kite area is the pratone by Spiaggia La Breva, next to Seven and the ex Segheria: open grass to rig on, pebbles at the edge, water straight in front.

Hazards riders report 6 reported

Wind

gusty north wind can be unsuitable for lessons or riding

Crowds and zones

avoid ferry routes and the immediate area around docks/moli; provincial police specifically targeted dangerous windsurf and kitesurf manoeuvres near boat routes and docks in 2023

Bottom

grass/pebble beach sections rather than sand
pebble shoreline at the water edge

Other

sudden thunderstorms possible in the mountains
mountain weather and thunderstorms can change conditions quickly

Rules & access

1 min read

Navigation on Lake Como falls under the Lombardy regional ordinance n. 58600 of 3 July 1997 on navigation in Lombard inland waters; no kitesurf-specific ordinance or official launch-zone text for Colico was found.What gets enforced is the rule against obstructing the scheduled boats: on 9 August 2023 the provincial police put two patrol boats and shore teams on the Dervio stretch against windsurfers and kitesurfers cutting across ferry routes and manoeuvring near the landing stages.

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

Plan the session for the afternoon Breva, not the morning.
Bring shoes you can walk into the water in; the waterline is pebbles.
Read the mountain thunderstorm forecast, not only the wind numbers.
Learn at the pratone school area, and on north-wind days ask a local before you rig.
Morning wind on the lake is usually the Tivano and it dies around 11:00: if you rig for it you will be packing up as the Breva arrives.
When Colico is light, check Dervio and Cremia: the Breva funnels harder where the lake narrows.

Getting there

Airport

Milan Malpensa (MXP), Milan Bergamo (BGY) or Milan Linate (LIN)

Route

Train from Milano Centrale to Colico on the Milan-Tirano line, or drive to the north end of Lake Como.

Transfer (minutes)

90-180 depending on airport, route and transfers

Cost level

mid

Staying

Hotels and apartments in Colico itself, plus camping along the lakefront, where there is paid parking and beach access next to the water-sport operators.

No-wind days

Forte Montecchio Nord, Forte di Fuentes, Piona Abbey, Pian di Spagna nature reserve, cycling paths and lakefront walks.

Photos

FAQ

Is Colico suitable for beginners?

Yes. In Breva wind, the main pratone spot is considered suitable for all levels thanks to its space and shallow, easy-entry lake bottom.

When is the best time to kitesurf at Colico?

April to October, with the Breva thermal blowing from around noon to sunset; the north wind is more typical in spring and can be gusty.

What is the wind like at Colico?

The southerly Breva thermal runs about 12-20 knots; occasional northerly wind is less reliable and not always suitable for lessons.

Are there kite schools nearby?

Boarderline Surf School, Globe Kiter and Jordan'Surf operate at the Colico pratone.

The bigger pictureEverything about Lake Como

Last updated: August 2026