MapSpainEl Médano, TenerifeEl Médano (South Bay / Playa Los Balos)El Médano, Tenerife

El Médano (South Bay / Playa Los Balos)

Canary Islands · El Médano - Tenerife · Santa Cruz de Tenerife

also known as Playa Sur de El Médano, Playa Los Balos, South Bay, Playa de Leocadio Machado, Playa El Médano

Part of El Médano, Tenerife →

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

beginner-friendlyhigh 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

May–Sep

Months riders and schools name

How windy

15-35 knots

Character: trade

Room to launch

access rules on record, below

Water

mixed

22–24 °C in summerSouth Bay has sandy access and calmer, flatter sections inside, best at low tide

Hazards

Reported by riders

Level

Beginner to advanced

With a caveat: see Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Crowds

high crowds · busy Jun Jul Aug Sep

Schools

named at this spot

From the airport

South-Reina Sofia Airport (TFS)

Transfer times under Getting there

When it fills in

Often picks up around noon and can last into late afternoon/sunset; all-day trade-wind conditions occur when the Alisios are established.

Nearbystraight-line distance

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

Harbour Wall / El Muelleno page yet
Playa La Tejitano page yet
Granadilla Harbourno page yet
Playa de El Vídriono page yet
Playa de En Mediono page yet
Playa La Jaquitano page yet

The spot

El Médano's South Bay is Tenerife's main kite and windsurf beach: the sand between Playa Los Balos and Playa Leocadio Machado, with the NE/E-NE Alisio coming in cross-on from the left. Rideable days happen all year, but the trade is strongest and most dependable from late spring through summer.

Conditions

Inside the bay is the forgiving part, sandy underfoot and flattest at low tide; push out and the same wind gives you chop, shorebreak and rolling swell. The bay is cut into zones for schools, freeride, advanced riding, other sports and bathing, and the town-side swimming area and the marked caution and downwind rock zones are off limits.

How to ride here

Learn here with a school and it works. Turn up alone with few hours on the water expecting a shallow flat-water lagoon and you get a crowded, windy ocean beach instead. Wave riders have Harbour Wall and Cabezo further along the coast when the swell lines up. Tenerife South Airport is close enough to make this one of the easiest Atlantic trade-wind trips in Europe, with beds, rentals and repairs behind the beach.

The wind

locals call it Alisios / northeast trade winds

Direction

cross-onNE to E/NE

Direction to shore

cross-on

Dominant direction

NE to E/NE; nearby Tenerife South-Reina Sofia Airport statistics list E as the annual average direction

Kite sizes

567891011121314

metres · typical quiver highlighted

The quiver, in words

7 m and 9 m cover most established summer trade-wind days, when the beach commonly runs 20-30 kt and can gust past 35. An 11-12 m is for the lighter edges of the season and for winter, when the range is nearer 10-25 kt.A 75-85 kg rider spends most of a July or August trip on 7-9 m and rarely needs anything above 12 m.

Character

trade

When it fills in: see above ↑

Average strength

12 knots annual average at the nearby Tenerife South-Reina Sofia Airport station, with 31-knot average gusts in the station summary

Typical strength

15-35 knots; summer peaks around 20-40 knots and winter runs around 10-25 knots

Reliable trade wind, accelerated by Tenerife and Montaña Roja, gusty close to shore and often stronger than the forecast in NE flow. A southerly turns up now and then and flattens the bay, which is when the freestyle riders come out.

Kiting is possible year-round here, on about 300 windy days per year, with E/NE the prevailing direction.

Winter, October-April, sits around 10-25 knots; summer, May-September, around 15-30 knots. The NE Alisios run all year and are strongest and steadiest through spring and summer.

Local acceleration is the part that catches visitors out: a NE forecast can land 5-10 knots under what the beach delivers.

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

mixed

Tides

Tides are not extreme, but they change water depth and wave size through the day, and there is no tide dependency for launching: the sandy South Bay works at any state of tide.Water inside the bay is flatter at low tide and picks up chop and a small shorebreak at high tide in stronger wind.Low tide exposes rock at El Cabezo, so time any trip to that end of the system rather than arriving on spec.

Temperature

22–24 °C summer · 19–21 °C winter

Modelled monthly average: 19–24 °C

Wetsuit

Summer: shorty, thin summer suit or boardshorts depending on wind chill; winter: usually 2/2, 2/3 or 3/2 mm.

Currents

No official current data found for the kite zone; occasional outbound current is reported on windier days, so self-rescue ability is still important.

Conditions

South Bay has sandy access and calmer, flatter sections inside, best at low tide. When the trade builds, the launch picks up chop and a small shorebreak; further out, and toward Harbour Wall and Cabezo, the water gets swellier and better for jumping or waves.

Stay off the rocky shoreline downwind at Pigs Bay.

In the 2022-2025 municipal nautical-services document, Playa Leocadio Machado is a semi-open natural fine-sand beach with marine seagrass, sandy and rocky seabed habitats and protected natural areas nearby.

Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

El Médano is sold as a beach for every level, and the sand at South Bay and Leocadio Machado is where lessons and freeriding happen.

Treat it as an exposed ocean beach anyway: stronger trade-wind days, shorebreak, chop, crowds and rocks nearby make it far less forgiving than a shallow lagoon, so a true beginner wants a school or a supervised lesson area.

Advanced riders use the Harbour Wall and Cabezo sectors for reef and wave conditions.

The scene

What riders come here for

freestylewavesfreeridebump and jumpwind sports travel

Who it suitsbeginnerlessons

Established international wind town with schools, rentals, bars and cafes directly behind the beach. It is lively and sports-focused by day; nightlife is much quieter than Playa de las Américas, about 20 km away. Peak summer can feel congested on the beach and in the water.

Launch and rules

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

With a school or a boat

10 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

2026: under the 2022-2025 municipal nautical-services plan, Playa de Leocadio Machado has no salvamento or socorrismo service of its own and is watched from Playa del Medano next door, which does have a staffed lifeguard service for bathers.

Lifeguard attention in high season, with rescue help and kite repair on hand, is reported for the spot but does not appear in that plan.

Your responsibility

Nothing kite-specific is published, and there is no standby rescue boat for riders. Check the current beach-service schedule and hours locally before you count on cover, and treat a downwind swim as your own problem.

Launch

The launch is the sand of South Bay, Playa Los Balos and Leocadio Machado, downwind of the windsurf launch and clear of the town-side swimming area.About 100 m of entry and exit water sits in front of the windsurf centres, with the kite launch downwind to the right in the NE trade wind.Zones for schools, freeride, advanced riding, other sports and bathing are marked out on the beach.

Hazards riders report 11 reported

Wind

strong summer gusts (35kt+)
Strong NE trade winds and gusts, especially in summer and during accelerated/funnelled conditions
Gusty/lighter wind close to the town-side beach and buildings

Crowds and zones

crowded bay in peak season
rocky sections at the harbour end
Crowded launch and mixed traffic with windsurfers, wingfoilers, surfers, schools and bathers

Bottom

Rocky downwind Pigs Bay / rocky shoreline to the right of South Bay

Waves and currents

Shorebreak and 0.5-1 m chop near the launch when wind exceeds about 20 knots; larger shorebreak possible after several strong NE days
Bigger swell and reef/rock hazards toward Harbour Wall and El Cabezo
Outbound current on windy days, reported but not corroborated by official sources

Protected areas and rules

Town-side swimming area where windsurfing and kitesurfing are prohibited

Rules & access

1 min read

2026: A private rider needs no special permit; general non-commercial nautical use of the beaches requires no authorisation.

Zone divisions

The bay is divided into marked zones for teaching, freeride, advanced riding, other sports and bathing, with a signed caution/navigation limit at the beach end, and buoys and signage separating the bathing area from the windsurf and kitesurf sectors; activity outside the indicated sectors is prohibited.

Professional sectors and requirements

The 2022-2025 municipal nautical-services plan for Granadilla de Abona makes Playa de Leocadio Machado the beach that carries the professional sectors: up to 10 kitesurf schools at 4 students each, with 50 m2 of beach per school and 500 m2 in total, alongside 6 windsurf schools at 4 students and 4 surf schools at 8. The town beach, Playa de El Medano, is deliberately excluded from the professional scheme because bathers are given priority there, so no school sectors are granted on it. Coaches running technical training on the designated beaches must hold a federation licence and notify the sports department. That plan's term ran to 2025 and no successor is published for 2026.

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

Stick to La Bahía if you are learning, El Muelle if you want waves, El Rincón for freestyle training.
Check the live webcams and the local station before you walk down; NE forecasts can undercall the beach wind by 5-10 knots.
Launch inside the kite area only and stay out of the town-side bathing zone; the wind is worse close to the buildings anyway.
Book supervised riding or lessons if you are still losing ground, rather than self-launching into the crowded main bay.
Do not drift downwind into Pigs Bay: the shoreline there turns rocky and slippery.
Pack small for summer trade-wind days. 7 and 9 m do most of the work, with 11-12 m for the lighter edges of the season.
Take a shorty or a thin suit if you feel the cold. The water is warm by Atlantic standards but the wind chill is real.
Ask a local school or centre before you ride Harbour Wall or Cabezo; both sections involve reef and rock and there is no soft landing.

Getting there

Airport

Tenerife South-Reina Sofia Airport (TFS)

Route

El Médano is 9-15 km from Tenerife South Airport by road, depending on the route. Buses run through San Isidro on TITSA lines such as 408 plus the airport corridor services. A hire car is worth having if you want to chase conditions around the island.

Transfer

10-15 minutes by car/taxi/private transfer; about 20-30 minutes by bus via San Isidro

Cost level

medium; 2026 examples found include Kitesurf 313 group lessons at €90 for 3 hours and private transfers from Tenerife South Airport to El Médano around €35, while apartments/hotels range widely by season

Staying

Apartments and hotels sit within about 5-10 minutes' walk of South Bay, with Hotel Playa Sur Tenerife and Hotel El Médano on or beside the beach and promenade. The bigger resort accommodation and the nightlife are in Playa de las Américas and Los Cristianos, roughly 20 km away.

No-wind days

SUP, surf/bodyboard, eFoil, hiking Montaña Roja, Teide National Park, road or mountain biking, diving/snorkelling/kayaking, Siam Waterpark, cafes and bars on the seafront promenade.

Photos

FAQ

When is the best time to kite at El Médano South Bay?

Kitesurfing works year-round, with May to September the strongest and most consistent trade-wind season at typically 15-35 knots.

Is South Bay suitable for beginners?

Yes, the sandy South Bay area is the usual lesson and freeride zone, though independent beginners should still treat it as an exposed ocean beach and use a school in stronger conditions.

What is the wind like at El Médano South Bay?

Cross-on NE to E/NE Alisios trade wind prevails; local centers say it can run 5-10 knots stronger than NE forecasts suggest.

Are there rules or permits needed at El Médano?

El Médano is divided into marked teaching, freeride, advanced and bathing zones, and no special permit is needed to kitesurf in Tenerife as of 2026.

Are there kite schools at South Bay?

Yes, multiple schools operate there, including Duotone Pro Center Tenerife and Kitesurf 313.

The bigger pictureEverything about El Médano - Tenerife

Last updated: August 2026