Riding essentials
Season
Nov–Apr
Months riders and schools name
How windy
10-11 kt
Character: mixed
Room to launch
huge
access rules on record, below
Water
mixed
18–22 °C in summer
Hazards
9
Reported by riders
Level
Beginner to advanced
With a caveat: see Your level
Crowds
low crowds · busy December January February
Schools
4
named at this spot
From the airport
20 min
When it fills in
No daily clock has been published. The wind is system-driven rather than thermal and it shifts direction often through a day, so check which way it is blowing against the launch you plan to use instead of turning up for an afternoon fill-in.
El Cóndor has no other spot on this map within 40 km of it. straight-line distance
Backup spotsWhere riders go when the wind doesn't work here.
- La Balizano page yet
- Bajada Ericano page yet
- Bajada de Cailotono page yet
- Playa Central El Condorno page yet
- El Pescaderono page yet
- El Faro / Faro Rio Negrono page yet
The spot
Season and weather
Tide and water
Lifeguards and crowds
Water temperature
The wind
locals call it sudestada for strong SE storm events; no everyday named local wind
Direction
Direction to shore
cross-on
Dominant direction
Nearby Viedma is most often north from Jan 6-Apr 9, west from Apr 9-Sep 9, north again in much of spring, and south from Nov 27-Jan 6. Many main directions are listed, and the wind changes direction often.Navigable directions for El Condor - La Baliza are listed as E, ESE, SE, SSE, S, SSO, SO, OSO, O and ONO.
Kite sizes
metres · typical quiver highlighted
The quiver, in words
Nothing local on record. On an ordinary summer day around 10-12 kt a 75-85 kg rider is on 12 m or bigger; a sudestada with gusts near 38 kt is 7 m or less, if it is rideable at all. Indicative, derived from wind figures rather than from riders here.
Character
Average strength
Viedma's climate baseline is about 12.0-13.2 mph mean hourly wind by month, roughly 10-11 kt. That is a climate average, not a kiteable-wind average.
Typical strength
No measured kiteable range exists for the beach itself. The wide-area climate mean sits around 10-11 kt month to month, and the windier stretch runs from late November to mid-March. The big days come with a sudestada: gusts over 70 km/h, roughly 38 kt, were recorded in the 2026 storm. Treat the mean as indicative rather than a session figure.
Forecast
Live forecast
Month by month
- Jan, riders' month96
- Feb, riders' month87
- Mar, riders' month90
- Apr, riders' month80
- May71
- Jun82
- Jul81
- Aug77
- Sep87
- Oct80
- Nov, riders' month94
- 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, Apr, Nov, Dec.
- 16 ktJan21°
- 15 ktFeb22°
- 15 ktMar20°
- 15 ktApr17°
- 13 ktMay13°
- 15 ktJun11°
- 15 ktJul9°
- 14 ktAug9°
- 15 ktSep11°
- 14 ktOct13°
- 16 ktNov16°
- 16 ktDec18°
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 | 96% | 15.9 kt | N | 23 °C | 20.9 °C |
| Feb | 87% | 15.4 kt | N | 21.1 °C | 21.5 °C |
| Mar | 90% | 15.4 kt | NNW | 18.9 °C | 20.2 °C |
| Apr | 80% | 15 kt | NNW | 15.1 °C | 17 °C |
| May | 71% | 13.3 kt | NW | 10.8 °C | 13.4 °C |
| Jun | 82% | 14.7 kt | NNW | 9.1 °C | 10.7 °C |
| Jul | 81% | 14.5 kt | NW | 8 °C | 9.2 °C |
| Aug | 77% | 14.1 kt | NNW | 9.4 °C | 9.3 °C |
| Sep | 87% | 14.5 kt | NNW | 11.8 °C | 10.8 °C |
| Oct | 80% | 14.3 kt | NNW | 14.3 °C | 13.3 °C |
| Nov | 94% | 15.9 kt | N | 18.3 °C | 16.1 °C |
| Dec | 96% | 15.7 kt | S | 19.1 °C | 18.4 °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
mixed
Standing depth
Shallow at La Boca/Balneario El Condor, with flat, chop, small-wave and medium-wave states all possible; how far out you can stand is unconfirmed.
Tides
Macrotidal Atlantic/rio-mouth beach. Recorded tide extremes at El Condor are 4.6 m high and -0.2 m low, and the tide can cover more than 300 ft of beach.
Temperature
Summer (°C) 18–22 °C reported; nearby Viedma wide-area February average surface-water temperature is 67 F, about 19 °C.
Winter (°C) 6–10 °C reported; nearby Viedma coldest average surface-water temperature is 50 F, about 10 °C, in August.
Modelled monthly average: 9–22 °C
Wetsuit
Shorty or normal full suit in summer; thick winter suit, with drysuit or 5/4 plus gloves and hood/mask mentioned for winter.
Currents
High tidal coefficients mean a bigger range and stronger movement on the sea bed. At El Pescadero the Rio Negro outflow is the main hazard, and the local instruction is to check the wind direction against the current before you go out. Nobody has measured the river-mouth current at different tide stages.
Conditions
Your level
The scene
What riders come here for
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
On your own
Room to launch: huge
Somewhere else
No neighbour on record
No other spot in the atlas sits within reach of this one.
Rescue
Launch
Sandy Atlantic beach and river-mouth launch around El Condor/La Baliza; the kite school works from Bajada Erica. Very large sandy beach, no rocks or concrete, plenty of room to lay lines out. The two named launches take opposite winds: La Baliza is rideable from E round through S to ONO, while El Pescadero at the river mouth works on NO, NNO, N, NNE, NE, ENE, E and ESE and is out in the southerly half. Check the municipal sectors and the guarded swimming areas when you arrive.
Rules & access
1 min read
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
- Rig at Bajada Erica, where the school is, and ask which launch is in use for the day's direction; with any N/NE component the answer may be none.
- Read the tide table before the forecast: the range runs from -0.2 m to 4.6 m, moves the waterline more than 300 ft and turns flat water into shorebreak mid-session.
- Follow the posted beach sectors; vehicles and quads have their own zones and they are not the kite zone.
- Lifeguards only work the marked sectors in summer, 14:00-20:00 in the 2018 schedule; outside that, self-rescue is the plan.
- Bring a 5/4 with hood and gloves outside midsummer; winter water is 6-10 C locally and around 10 C in the wide-area climate data.
- On a sudestada or thunderstorm day, size down hard or sit it out; gusts over 70 km/h have been recorded here.
- Wear a flotation vest and stay inside the closed bay at La Baliza; that is what the riders' association asks of everyone riding there.
- If the wind has gone northerly, La Baliza is out and El Pescadero is the launch that takes it - with the river outflow to read before you go.
Getting there
Airport
VDM - Aeropuerto de Viedma / Gobernador Edgardo Castello
Route
From Viedma take Ruta Provincial 1 (RP 1) to the coast: 30 km, about 20 minutes by car. There is also a bus.
Transfer
20 min
Cost level
medium
Staying
El Condor has local hotels, house/apartment rentals, camping, restaurants and a casino; Viedma adds more accommodation about 30 km away.
No-wind days
Faro Rio Negro, the cliff and burrowing-parrot colony, Camino de la Costa viewpoints, El Espigon and Playa Bonita, La Loberia/Punta Bermeja sea-lion area, fishing, beach walks, cycling and Viedma/Carmen de Patagones town time.
Photos
FAQ
When is the best time to kitesurf at El Cóndor?
January through April plus November and December are the listed best months, though wind sports are also practiced year-round at the spot.
Is El Cóndor suitable for beginners?
The beach is rated for beginner, intermediate and expert riders, but given the large tides, changing wind direction and documented rescue incidents, independent beginners should ride with a school or local guidance.
What is the wind like?
Accounts disagree on the north sector: one assessment calls east and northeast the best directions, while another lists north, north-northeast, northeast and east-northeast as non-navigable for this launch, so check locally.
Are there kite schools nearby?
El Condor Kite School operates at Bajada Erica, and several AAK-homologated instructors including Marcelo Ruiz and Joaquín Alonso are listed for the area.
What hazards should I know about?
Tides here are large, with recorded extremes of 4.6 m high and -0.2 m low that can cover more than 300 ft of beach, and storm sudestada events have brought gusts over 70 km/h.
Last updated: August 2026