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Dhanushkodi

Tamil Nadu · Rameshwaram · Rameswaram

also known as Land's End, Arichal Munai

Part of Rameshwaram →

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

flat waternot for beginnerslow 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

Jan, Feb, Mar, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Dec

Months riders and schools name

How windy

18-25 kt

Character: mixed

Room to launch

wide

access rules on record, below

Water

flat

29.5 °C in summer

Hazards

Reported by riders

Level

Intermediate to advanced

With a caveat: see Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Crowds

low crowds · busy Nov Dec Jan Feb

Schools

named at this spot

From the airport

210 min

Madurai Airport (IXM)

When it fills in

In the April/June-September southwest season the wind blows through the day rather than switching on at an hour. The December-March wind is an afternoon pattern, filling in after midday and easing toward dark. Neither is measured at the spit, and vehicles are cleared off it before dusk, so a sunset session is not on offer.

Nearbystraight-line distance

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

Swami's Bay / Kathadi
Dhanushkodi Spitno page yet
Pamban Bridgeno page yet
Talaimannar, Sri Lankano page yet

The spot

Dhanushkodi is the abandoned sandspit at the far southeastern end of Pamban Island, where the Gulf of Mannar meets the Bay of Bengal/Indian Ocean. Flat water, strong wind, and nothing else: no permanent rescue and no kite infrastructure, so this is an objective rather than a serviced kite centre.

Wind seasons

Two wind seasons hold up for the wider Rameswaram area, April/June to September on the SW monsoon and December to March on the NE winter wind.

Advanced riders only

The spit is narrow and open on both sides, which is why advanced riders like it and why the wind direction decides whether you ride at all.

Logistics and restrictions

Rameswaram kiting reportedly needs local permits, so the sensible version of a day here is a guided downwinder or kite safari out of the Rameswaram school network after a same-day direction check. High tides are reported, tourist numbers are large and bathing is banned, so this is nobody's unrestricted launch.

Skip it if you want a beach you can drive to alone and rig without asking anyone.

The wind

locals call it South-west monsoon / north to north-east winter monsoon

Direction

Direction to shore

Usable kite directions run roughly ENE through SSW, about 060-210 degrees. The spit is narrow and unsheltered on both sides, so anything outside that arc is unfavorable or dangerous.

Dominant direction

SW in the June-September season, N to NE in the December-March season. Both come from Rameswaram regional data rather than from the spit.

Kite sizes

7891011121314

metres · typical quiver highlighted

The quiver, in words

9-12 m under typical Dhanushkodi conditions; exact size depends on rider weight and current wind.

Character

mixed

When it fills in: see above ↑

Average strength

15-25 kt is the figure quoted for the spit. The nearest weather station, Rameswaram/Pamban, shows a 5 kt annual observed average, which is a whole-year number and not a kite-season average for Dhanushkodi.

Typical strength

18-25 kt in the April/June-September SW season and 10-20 kt in the December-March winter season. The winter figure is unconfirmed and moves depending on who is describing it.

Strong and consistent inside the two monsoon windows when the direction is right. The spit is exposed, so the direction check comes before the kite comes out of the bag.

Two windows work in the Rameswaram area: the SW monsoon from roughly April/June to September, and north to NE winter wind from December to March. October to mid-December is the wet stretch. For Dhanushkodi itself the season is given as SW monsoon June-September and NE trades December-March.

Forecast

Live forecast

Windguru Windfinder Windy

Month by month

Jan, riders' month98
Feb, riders' month100
Mar, riders' month90
Apr73
May92
Jun, riders' month100
Jul, riders' month98
Aug, riders' month99
Sep, riders' month100
Oct87
Nov86
Dec, riders' month96

per cent of the month at force 4 or more

Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: Jan, Feb, Mar, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Dec.

16 ktJan27°
16 ktFeb28°
15 ktMar30°
13 ktApr32°
19 ktMay31°
22 ktJun30°
21 ktJul30°
19 ktAug30°
21 ktSep29°
15 ktOct30°
15 ktNov29°
17 ktDec28°

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

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.

Every figure, month by monthForce 4+ · Knots · Wind from · Air · Water

Month	Force 4+	Knots	Wind from	Air	Water
Jan	98%	16.3 kt	NE	26.6 °C	27.2 °C
Feb	100%	16.4 kt	NE	26.9 °C	27.9 °C
Mar	90%	14.6 kt	NE	27.9 °C	29.6 °C
Apr	73%	13.3 kt	SSW	29.2 °C	31.5 °C
May	92%	19.3 kt	SSW	29.3 °C	31.2 °C
Jun	100%	21.5 kt	SSW	28.7 °C	30.1 °C
Jul	98%	20.7 kt	SW	28.4 °C	29.5 °C
Aug	99%	19.3 kt	SSW	27.9 °C	29.5 °C
Sep	100%	21.2 kt	SSW	27.9 °C	29.4 °C
Oct	87%	15.3 kt	SSW	27.7 °C	29.6 °C
Nov	86%	15.1 kt	NE	27 °C	29.1 °C
Dec	96%	17.1 kt	NE	26.9 °C	28 °C

How this is modelledmodelled · 2022-2024

A weather model's cell over this place, not a station on it. Good for comparing places, weaker for one beach.

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

flat

Standing depth

No standing-depth zone has been surveyed on the spit.On the bathing stretch the sand shelves gradually and you wade a few metres out before it deepens; the sea over the Adam's Bridge shoals running southeast toward Mannar is generally 1-3 m and dry in places, which is part of why the water reads flat here.That is geography rather than a mapped waist-deep riding area, so check the depth on foot before you commit to a downwind line.

Tides

High tides are common at Dhanushkodi Beach. No kite-specific tide window or depth chart for the spit is published.

Temperature

29.5 °C summer · 27.2 °C winter

Modelled monthly average: 27–32 °C

Wetsuit

No thermal wetsuit normally needed; boardshorts/bikini conditions, with rash vest useful for UV.

Conditions

A narrow exposed sandspit with the Gulf of Mannar on one side and the Bay of Bengal/Indian Ocean meeting near Arichal Munai. The water is flat, but no measured depth, current or sandbank detail for kiting at the point is published.

Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

not for beginners here

Advanced riders are the ones who use the exposed open spit. With no on-site kite school, no rescue and no marked launch, treat it as a guided intermediate to advanced downwinder or safari objective, not a beginner teaching beach.

The scene

What riders come here for

advancedflat waterdownwindersremote riding

Remote for kiting, far from empty as a beach: Dhanushkodi pulls large numbers of tourists while the Rameswaram kite scene is a handful of riders.

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: wide

Read the access rules

Somewhere else

2 spots nearby

All 2 spots within 40 km are under Nearby

Rescue

No permanent kite rescue at Dhanushkodi. If you ride, ride with local school or guide support.

Launch

Sandy spit at the far end of Pamban Island, used as a kite-safari stop out of Rameswaram rather than as a serviced beach-club launch. A paved road runs from Rameswaram/Mukundarayar Chathiram through Dhanushkodi to Arichal Munai, completed in 2016-2017, so the approach is tarmac rather than a beach-only 4WD track.The final stretch to any specific kite launch point is undocumented.

Hazards riders report 13 reported

Wind

verify wind isn't blowing offshore before launching
exposed spit with possible offshore or cross-offshore wind depending on side and direction

Waves and currents

high tides are reported at Dhanushkodi Beach
depth, current and sandbank layout are unsurveyed on both sides of the spit

Protected areas and rules

the protected Gulf of Mannar marine reserve is close by; do not ride into it
bathing is reportedly prohibited at Dhanushkodi/Third Chathiram

Other

no on-site facilities or rescue
remote location - requires a local 4WD guide
shifting sandbanks
no on-site kite school or rescue
shifting sandbanks are likely on a spit like this, but nothing has been mapped
remote area with limited services at the launch
daylight-only access: vehicles are cleared off the spit before dark and there is no lighting, water or shelter if you are still there

Rules & access

1 min read

2026: kiting in the area requires permits arranged through the local kite school, and no primary kitesurf-specific permit order for Dhanushkodi is confirmed; riders heading for Rameswaram, Tuticorin or the wider east coast are asked to register with the local academy first.

Access hours

Access to the spit is daylight-only. Police at Arichal Munai move vehicles out before dark, entry is generally cut around 17:00 and the area is emptied by dusk, so the session has to fit inside those hours. In 2025 the state coastal zone management authority directed that an e-pass system be set up to control vehicles entering Arichal Munai; it has not been confirmed as running.

Bathing is reportedly prohibited at Dhanushkodi/Third Chathiram, which is not a kiteboarding rule but does shape what happens on the beach.

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

Ride it as the 8km downwinder from Rameswaram/Kathadi rather than as a standalone launch, and go with a guide.
Confirm the 2026 permit process with a Rameswaram kite school before you ride.
Check which side of the spit is safe for the day's direction; do not launch into an offshore setup with no rescue.
Carry water, shade, repair basics and your own transport, because there is nothing on site.
Check the tide and the current beach-access situation at Arichal Munai before you plan the session.
Stay for the 1964-cyclone ghost-town ruins on the way back.
Be packed and moving before the late-afternoon cut-off; entry is generally stopped around 17:00 and everyone is pushed out before dark.

Getting there

Airport

Madurai Airport (IXM)

Route

Rameswaram bus stand is about 13 km away, Madurai International Airport about 191 km and Rameswaram station about 24 km. Autos and tuk-tuks work around Rameswaram; cars or safari vehicles are what reach the outlying beaches. Local school or guide support is the usual way to handle both the remote launches and the permits.

Transfer

210 min

Cost level

low-to-mid

Staying

Nothing at Dhanushkodi itself. Stay in Rameswaram town, or at Kathadi/Quest accommodation on the wider Rameswaram kite coast.

No-wind days

Dhanushkodi ghost-town ruins, the Arichal Munai/Ram Setu viewpoint, Ramanathaswamy Temple and Rameswaram sightseeing. SUP, kayaking, sailing, scuba and snorkelling run through Rameswaram operators where available.

Photos

FAQ

Is Dhanushkodi suitable for beginners?

No, treat it as a guided intermediate/advanced downwinder rather than a beginner launch, since no rescue or kite school was verified on site.

When is the best time to kite?

June through September in the SW monsoon, and December through March in the NE winter season.

Do you need a permit?

Kitesurfing around Rameswaram reportedly requires a permit arranged through the local kite school.

How is Dhanushkodi usually ridden?

Most commonly as an 8km downwinder starting from Rameswaram, rather than as a dedicated standalone launch.

The bigger pictureEverything about Rameshwaram

Last updated: August 2026