Map › Spain › Playa de Los Monteros & El Chaparral › El Chaparral

Andalucía mediterránea · Mijas, Costa del Sol · Costa del Sol Occidental · La Cala de Mijas

El Chaparral

also known as Playa El Chaparral, Playa de El Chaparral

advanced onlymedium crowds

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

On this page

Wind
- Month by month
Forecast
Water
Level
The scene
Launch
- Rescue
Hazards
Rules & access
Schools
Tips
Getting there
FAQ

Nearby Playa de Los Monteros 16 km · Guadalmar / Los Álamos kite zone 25 km · straight-line distance

SeasonJan to Octthe months riders and schools name How windy12-15 ktmixed Launchsmallaccess rules on record, below Watersea23°C in summer · 10 things riders flag LevelAdvanced onlywith a caveat, in the Level section Schools2named at this spot From the airport25 minMalaga Airport (AGP)

On the clock

14:00 · 18:00

Mornings are usually too light. The wind builds after midday, is at its best between about 14:00 and 18:00, and fades through the evening. The same afternoon shape holds in winter, only starting from a stronger base, so a frontal Poniente can be worth rigging earlier. Indicative, from modelled coastal data.

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.

El Chaparral is a small rocky beach in Mijas just east of La Cala de Mijas, hard against the main coastal road, and it is for riders who already know what they are doing. Rocks frame both sides, the entry is over stone, and the water beside them is shallow and full of sharp rock.

It works on Poniente, the westerly: cross-shore and consistent, which is why the Malaga locals ride it; winter low-pressure Poniente throws up ramps of about 1 m for surfkite and jumping. Expect chop and small waves rather than clean lines, and wind that is thermal as often as frontal. The beach is small.

In summer it belongs to the sunloungers, the beach bars and the people lying on the sand, and the parking is gone after 11:00. Watch the sharp plants above the beach as well, they will finish a kite. No official kite zone or seasonal rule was found, so access here is informal and runs on local knowledge.

The wind

locals call it Poniente

Direction

cross-shoreSW

Kite sizes

7891011121314151617

metres · typical quiver highlighted

Character

mixed

fills in: Mornings are usually too light. The wind builds after midday, is at its best between about 14:00 and 18:00, and fades through the evening. The same afternoon shape holds in winter, only starting from a stronger base, so a frontal Poniente can be worth rigging earlier. Indicative, from modelled coastal data.

Typical strength

Kite-strength wind is the exception rather than the rule. Modelled coastal hours reach 12 kt or more in roughly 8-10% of the time from December to March and under 4% from July to September, and most of those hours sit in the 12-15 kt band, with 18 kt and over in well under 1%. Just over half of the 12 kt-plus hours come from the southwest quadrant, the Poniente, and about a quarter from the east. Indicative: this is modelled coastal data, not a station on the beach.

Poniente is very consistent at this local spot, and a winter low-pressure Poniente builds jump ramps up to about 1 m.

January through October is the good window, but in summer the sand is given over to sunloungers and beach bars.

The quiver, in words

For a 75-85 kg rider, 11-12 m covers the ordinary 12-15 kt day and 9-10 m the stronger winter Poniente that gets past 18 kt. Derived from the wind range rather than from local reports.

Direction to shore

The shore here faces about SSE. Poniente out of the west arrives cross-shore along the beach, which is why it is the direction locals wait for; an east wind is cross-shore the other way. SW comes in at an onshore angle, and a straight S or SE pushes you into the rocks.

Forecast

Month by month

Jan, riders' month35
Feb, riders' month41
Mar, riders' month45
Apr, riders' month31
May, riders' month28
Jun, riders' month38
Jul, riders' month16
Aug, riders' month16
Sep, riders' month31
Oct, riders' month22
Nov23
Dec27

per cent of the month at force 4 or more

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

10Jan16°
10Feb15°
12Mar16°
10Apr18°
10May19°
10Jun21°
8Jul24°
8Aug25°
10Sep25°
9Oct20°
9Nov18°
9Dec17°

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

Month	Force 4+	Knots	From	Air	Water
Jan	35%	10 kt	E	13.2°C	16.2°C
Feb	41%	10.3 kt	E	13.9°C	15.4°C
Mar	45%	11.6 kt	WSW	15.1°C	15.7°C
Apr	31%	10.1 kt	WSW	17.3°C	17.5°C
May	28%	9.5 kt	WSW	20°C	18.9°C
Jun	38%	10.2 kt	WSW	23.3°C	21°C
Jul	16%	8.2 kt	WSW	26.6°C	24°C
Aug	16%	8.2 kt	ENE	27°C	25.1°C
Sep	31%	9.8 kt	WSW	23.4°C	24.6°C
Oct	22%	9 kt	NE	20.7°C	20.3°C
Nov	23%	8.5 kt	W	17.2°C	18.3°C
Dec	27%	9.1 kt	NE	14.2°C	17.2°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

Shallow over rock at both ends, where the stone entry carries on under the water and catches boards and fins. No measured standing depth has been published for the launch.

Tides

Kitesurfing conditions do not depend on tide; no local tide-depth detail was found.

Temperature

23°C summer · 18°C winter

Wetsuit

Shorty or shorts in summer; long wetsuit in winter; shorty in shoulder seasons.

15–25°C water

Mediterranean semi-urban beach with dark sand, rocks and moderate surf; chop and small waves are typical.

Your level

not for beginners herenot for intermediates hereadvanced

Experts only. The beach is small and the rocks sit close on both sides, which leaves no room for a messy launch or a long walk of shame.

The scene

What riders come here for

wavesurfkitewavesjumpingwingfoil

A Malaga expert spot when the wind is up. In summer it goes back to being a beach-bar strip with sunbathers on it.

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: small

access rules on record

Somewhere else

Playa de Los Monteros, 16 km

Playa de Los Monteros Guadalmar / Los Álamos kite zone

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

Rescue

A lifeguard watchtower is authorised on this beach from 1 March to 31 October under the municipal beach plan, and Mijas staffs its coast with 62 lifeguards in season, the largest service in Andalusia. The rescue service's own launch channel is declared one beach east at El Charcon, not here. No kite-specific rescue boat or club safety cover is documented.

The town's beach office answers on 952 49 44 41.

Launch

Small beach of sand and rock east of La Cala de Mijas, close to the main road, framed by rocks on both sides. Parking exists but gets hard after 11:00 in summer.

Space

small

Rules & access

2026: El Chaparral is on the municipal beach plan as a kitesurf site. The Mijas 2023-2026 season-services plan, authorised by the Junta de Andalucia and amended by the complementary resolution of 31 March 2025, lists a nautical channel at this beach, reference MIJAS-09, with kite surf as its associated installation and a declared period of 1 June to 30 September; the channel only exists on the water once the Costa del Sol Occidental buoyage plan for that season is approved, so the marker buoys are not guaranteed every year. Inside a buoyed bathing zone, sport and recreational navigation is prohibited and launching or landing has to go through the signed channel. Where nothing is buoyed, the bathing zone is by default the first 200 m of water off the beach, with a three-knot limit inside it. A watchtower is authorised on this beach from 1 March to 31 October. Mechanical beach cleaning is excluded from the Chaparral-Charcon-Calaburras stretch because of nesting shorebirds, so the strip above the sand is left alone on purpose.

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

Rider tips

Talk to the locals before you go on the water; the entry is stone and the shallows near the rocks are worse than they look.
Do not learn here. Los Monteros or Guadalmar are the regulated school beaches.
In summer get there before 11:00 if you want to park nearby, and do not launch among the sunbeds.
Find the stretch by Restaurante El Cherif, east of La Cala on the coastal road.
Between 1 June and 30 September look for the buoyed nautical channel before you launch: it is the declared kite corridor here, and it only appears once that season's buoyage plan is approved.
Afternoons are the window. Modelled winter afternoons carry two to three times the kite-strength hours of a summer morning.

Getting there

Airport

Malaga Airport (AGP)

Route

From Malaga Airport head for La Cala de Mijas on the Mijas Costa, then drive east of La Cala along the main coastal road; the launch is by Restaurante El Cherif.

Transfer

25 min

Cost level

medium

Staying

La Cala de Mijas, Mijas Costa and nearby Fuengirola/Marbella have regular Costa del Sol accommodation; no kite-specific lodging at the launch.

No-wind days

Beach bars, Costa del Sol beaches, golf around Mijas and coastal towns such as La Cala de Mijas and Fuengirola.

FAQ

When is the best time to kite at El Chaparral?

January through October is listed as the best period, though summer beach use is dominated by sunbathers and beach bars.

Is El Chaparral suitable for beginners?

No, both spot guides rate it for expert riders only because of rocks on both sides and a shallow, stony entry.

What is the wind like at El Chaparral?

Westerly Poniente is very consistent and cross-shore here, with winter low-pressure days producing jump ramps up to about a meter.

Are there rules at El Chaparral?

No official Mijas kitesurf rule was found; local guidance is to talk to locals before going on the water.

Are there kite schools near El Chaparral?

Marbella Kite School is listed as a nearby option, though it is not based directly at the beach.

Last updated: August 2026