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El Cabezo

Canary Islands · El Médano - Tenerife · Santa Cruz de Tenerife · El Medano, Granadilla de Abona

also known as Playa de El Cabezo, Cabezo, Cabezo Bay

Part of El Médano, Tenerife →

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

wavesnot for beginnershigh crowds

On this page

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

Riding essentials

Season

May–Sep

Months riders and schools name

How windy

15-35 kt

Character: trade

Room to launch

access rules on record, below

Water

waves

18–24 °C in summerChop with small to medium waves most days, and bigger swell at exposed El Cabezo than in South Bay

Hazards

Reported by riders

Level

Intermediate to advanced

With a caveat: see Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Crowds

high crowds · busy Jun Jul Aug June

Schools

named at this spot

From the airport

Tenerife South Airport (TFS)

Transfer times under Getting there

When it fills in

A trade-wind spot, not a clock spot. A clean ENE runs through the day instead of switching on at an hour, while E days come in harder and less evenly. No fixed daily onset is published.

Nearbystraight-line distance

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

El Médano
South Bay / Playa Sur, El Medano
Harbour Wall / El Muelleno page yet
Granadilla Harbourno page yet
Playa Chica, El Medano

The spot

El Cabezo is the exposed wave corner of El Medano, right beside the town and a different animal from the easier South Bay next door.

Wind and bottom

The engine is the NE Alisios trade, usually cross-on, and it accelerates around Tenerife enough that the real wind beats the general forecast. Water is chop and waves over sand, pebbles and rock, so where you walk in and where you come out matter more here than on most beaches.

Skill level

Nobody learns from zero here. Beginners belong in South Bay, at Playa Chica on low tide, or in Granadilla Harbour. An intermediate with solid upwind can ride it in moderate wind, but the reason to come is waves, jumping and high-wind practice, and the PWA World Cup wave heats have run on this water.

Shared water and weather

The rest of the El Medano bay is shared with windsurfers, wingfoilers, surfers, bathers and schools, so the marked zones are part of the spot rather than a suggestion. Water is warm by European standards: shorty or nothing in summer, a light full suit in winter.

The wind

locals call it Alisios / northeast trade winds

Direction

cross-onNE

Direction to shore

cross-on

Dominant direction

NE, with ENE the cleanest and most constant angle; NE works but can be gusty or shadowed in places, E comes in stronger and more irregular, and angles outside that arc do not reach the beach properly.

Kite sizes

4567891011121314151617

metres · typical quiver highlighted

The quiver, in words

Rental kites here run 5 to 13 m, and the standing advice to visitors is a three-kite quiver of roughly 7-9-11/12 m or 8-10-12 m picked by body weight.With 15-35 knots the normal range and 20-40 knots through the summer trades, you will spend most sessions on the small end of that quiver.No per-weight size table for a 75-85 kg rider at Cabezo itself is published.

Character

trade

When it fills in: see above ↑

Typical strength

15-35 kt typical range reported for El Medano; summer trade-wind periods can reach 20-40 kt.

Strong NE cross-on trade, accelerated locally around Tenerife: add about 5-10 kt to NE forecast data before you choose a kite. Close to the buildings and the downwind rocks it goes unreliable.

The main NE trade season is April to October. May to September is the best kite window and June to August the strongest and waviest part of it. El Medano is rideable year-round; winter is lighter but still delivers on plenty of days.

Forecast

Live forecast

Windguru Windfinder Windy

Month by month

11 ktJan19°
11 ktFeb19°
11 ktMar19°
11 ktApr19°
11 ktMay20°
11 ktJun21°
13 ktJul22°
13 ktAug23°
10 ktSep24°
9 ktOct23°
10 ktNov22°
11 ktDec21°

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

Modelled monthly averages. Highlighted: the months riders and schools name (May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep).

Modelled from weather reanalysis on a 10–25 km grid, not a ground station: reliable for trade and synoptic winds, understates thermal sea breezes and valley winds.

Every figure, month by monthKnots · Wind from · Air · Water

Month	Knots	Wind from	Air	Water
Jan	10.9 kt	NE	15 °C	19.4 °C
Feb	11.4 kt	N	15 °C	18.9 °C
Mar	11.3 kt	N	15.6 °C	18.9 °C
Apr	11 kt	N	16.1 °C	19.4 °C
May	10.7 kt	N	17.2 °C	20 °C
Jun	11.4 kt	N	18.9 °C	21.1 °C
Jul	13.3 kt	N	20.6 °C	22.2 °C
Aug	12.5 kt	N	21.1 °C	22.8 °C
Sep	10 kt	N	21.1 °C	23.9 °C
Oct	9.2 kt	N	20 °C	23.3 °C
Nov	10.1 kt	NE	17.8 °C	22.2 °C
Dec	10.8 kt	NE	16.1 °C	20.6 °C

How this is modelledmodelled

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.

Granadilla de Abona · Weatherspark (MERRA-2 reanalysis model)

The water

Type

waves

Standing depth

Not a stand-up spot.The beach is 240 m of sand and pebbles over a mixed sand, pebble and reef bottom, and rock and reef come close to the surface at low water instead of giving you a wadeable strip.Depth and wave size both move with the tide: low tide is the easier state, high tide is when the waves and the jumps come on.No measured standing depth is published.

Tides

Often called tide-independent, but depth and wave size do move with the tide: low tide is the flatter, easier state, high tide brings the better waves and jumps, and low water can expose rocks at Cabezo.

Temperature

Summer (°C) 18-24 year-round water range reported locally; summer usually shorty or no wetsuit

Winter (°C) 18-24 year-round water range reported locally; winter usually 2/2 or 3/2 mm

Modelled monthly average: 19–24 °C

Wetsuit

Shorty or no wetsuit in summer; 2/2 or 3/2 mm in winter; some riders use a shorty year-round.

Conditions

Chop with small to medium waves most days, and bigger swell at exposed El Cabezo than in South Bay. The urban beach is 240 m of sand and pebbles with a rocky, sharp reef at the wave spot.

Below about 18 kt the water is simply choppy; once it is windier the waves run up to about 3 m. Cabezo is the World Cup/PWA wave area, not the sheltered learner bay.

Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

not for beginners here

Treat El Cabezo as an intermediate-to-expert wave spot. It is ridden by intermediates and enjoyed by experts, and it is also the expert PWA wave option, while beginners are pointed at South Bay, Playa Chica or Granadilla Harbour instead. A first-time visitor should ask locals about entries and exits before launching.

The scene

What riders come here for

waveswave ridingjumpingbig airwindsurf/kite wave sessions

A settled crowd of local and visiting wave riders and windsurfers, with PWA World Cup windsurf heritage behind it and shops, schools and bars close to the sand. Mixed disciplines share the water, and Cabezo has less patience for poor control than the learner areas.

Launch and rules

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

With a school or a boat

8 schools name this spot

See who they are

On your own

Room to launch: ok

Read the access rules

Somewhere else

2 spots nearby

All 2 spots within 40 km are under Nearby

Rescue

Municipal lifeguards sit about 100 m from the main pro centre, and a hospital is a five-minute drive from El Medano. The centre's instructors are first-aid qualified and it keeps a defibrillator on site. There is no dedicated kite rescue boat for El Cabezo, so plan on self-rescue and the general beach service.

Launch

Small urban beach at Brasil 2, El Medano: sand and pebbles with plenty of rock, and entries and exits that depend on knowing them. Cabezo sits about 15 minutes sailing upwind of the South Bay centre, with a medium-size launch and landing area.

Hazards riders report 9 reported

Wind

unreliable wind close to the buildings and the downwind rocks

Crowds and zones

shared water with windsurfers, wingfoilers, surfers, schools and bathers in the wider El Medano bay

Bottom

mixed rocky/sandy bottom
rocky/sharp reef at Cabezo
sand-and-pebble beach with many rocks

Waves and currents

technical, tight conditions at high tide
rocks can be exposed or hazardous around tide changes
onshore to cross-on wave conditions with limited margin for mistakes

Other

A marked precaution/safety limit sits at the end of the beach; return can become difficult beyond it.

Rules & access

1 min read

2026: El Medano uses marked navigation areas that separate teaching zones, freeride and intermediate areas, advanced wave and jump areas, and bathing and other-sport zones; the marked precaution and safety limit is to be respected. 2018 municipal and Cabildo reporting describes a buoying project from El Medano/Leocadio Machado to Los Balos to separate bathers and water sports, with 2018 municipal beach-ordinance fines of up to EUR300 for a minor infraction, EUR300-1000 (2018) for a serious one and EUR1000-3000 (2018) for a very serious one.

No 2026 El Cabezo-specific permit requirement is published.

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

Ask a school or an experienced local where to walk in and where to come out before your first Cabezo session; the rocks are not obvious from the sand.
On a NE forecast, add about 5-10 kt to the model number before you pick a kite.
Ride South Bay, Playa Chica or Granadilla Harbour while you are still progressing, and keep Cabezo for waves and jumps.
Read the marked navigation zones before you launch, especially in summer when the schools are working.
Expect reef even where the beach looks like sand and pebbles; fins and board rails pay for it.

Getting there

Airport

Tenerife South Airport (TFS)

Route

El Cabezo sits in El Medano, Granadilla de Abona. There is road access by car, 50-100 parking spaces and an urban bus stop at Playa de El Cabezo. From TFS the bus normally means changing at San Isidro; a taxi or private transfer is the direct option.

Transfer

About 10-15 minutes by car/taxi from Tenerife South Airport to El Medano; bus connections via San Isidro are commonly about 20-30 minutes depending on route and connection.

Cost level

medium

Staying

Hotels and apartments are very close to the DPC/TWS center; El Cabezo is an urban beach in El Medano with shops, bars and water-sports services nearby.

No-wind days

SUP and surf or bodyboard in the bay when it suits, road biking and mountain or enduro biking, Siam Park, the Teide volcano and stargazing.

FAQ

When is the best time to kite at El Cabezo?

May to September is the best kite period, with June to August the strongest and waviest peak.

Is El Cabezo suitable for beginners?

No, it is a wave spot for intermediate to expert riders; beginners are directed to South Bay, Playa Chica or Granadilla Harbour instead.

What is the wind like at El Cabezo?

Cross-on NE Alisios trade wind is often stronger than forecast, so it helps to add roughly 5-10 knots to NE forecast values before choosing equipment.

Are there marked zones at El Cabezo?

Yes, marked navigation areas separate teaching, freeride, advanced wave/jump and bathing zones, with a marked safety limit at the end of the beach.

Are there kite schools near El Cabezo?

Yes, several schools operate in El Médano, including Duotone Pro Center Tenerife and Kite Hub Tenerife.

The bigger pictureEverything about El Médano - Tenerife

Last updated: August 2026