Nearby Viareggio Principe di Piemonte 27 km · Viareggio Darsena 31 km · Marina di Vecchiano 37 km · straight-line distance
On the clock
12:30 · 16:00
The thermal fills in early afternoon. The strong window is roughly 12:30 to 16:00, and on a good day it holds on lighter until sunset.
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.
The wind
locals call it Libeccio, Maestrale, Scirocco, Tramontana
Direction
Kite sizes
metres · typical quiver highlighted
Character
mixed
fills in: The thermal fills in early afternoon. The strong window is roughly 12:30 to 16:00, and on a good day it holds on lighter until sunset.
Typical strength
12-22 knots in the afternoon SW thermal; 20-30 knots in stronger synoptic Libeccio systems.
Thermal or synoptic
thermal and synoptic
The quiver, in words
No local size record exists, so this is indicative for a 75-85 kg rider, read off the wind band rather than off riders on the beach: 11-12 m at the bottom of the thermal around 12-14 knots, 9-10 m once it settles at 16-20 knots, 7-8 m on a 25-30 knot Libeccio day.The only measured sizes published for this beach are windsurf sails, not kites.
Direction to shore
The Maestrale thermal comes in cross-shore. Tramontana is off the land and gusty; southerly winds bring waves.
Dominant direction
SW thermal/Libeccio, Maestrale thermal, Tramontana, occasional Scirocco
Forecast
Month by month
- Jan21
- Feb11
- Mar18
- Apr, riders' month12
- May, riders' month10
- Jun, riders' month3
- Jul, riders' month5
- Aug, riders' month8
- Sep, riders' month17
- Oct, riders' month31
- Nov27
- Dec18
windy days per month (3 h+ at 12 kn+)
Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct.
- 21%Jan14°
- 11%Feb13°
- 18%Mar14°
- 12%Apr16°
- 10%May20°
- 3%Jun24°
- 5%Jul27°
- 8%Aug28°
- 17%Sep24°
- 31%Oct22°
- 27%Nov18°
- 18%Dec15°
windy days per month (3 h+ at 12 kn+) · water °C below · season highlighted
| Month | Windy days | Force 4+ | 12 kn or more | Knots | From | Peaks at | Air | Water | Readings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 21% | 40% | 35% | 10.6 kt | N | 10:00 | 8.5°C | 14.1°C | 62 |
| Feb | 11% | 19% | 18% | 8.3 kt | N | 11:00 | 9.4°C | 13.3°C | 57 |
| Mar | 18% | 32% | 29% | 10.7 kt | SE | 14:00 | 11°C | 14°C | 62 |
| Apr | 12% | 40% | 28% | 9.9 kt | WSW | 14:00 | 13.3°C | 16.2°C | 60 |
| May | 10% | 23% | 21% | 9.4 kt | WSW | 14:00 | 18°C | 19.6°C | 62 |
| Jun | 3% | 17% | 10% | 9.1 kt | WSW | 14:00 | 22.3°C | 23.6°C | 60 |
| Jul | 5% | 19% | 11% | 9.4 kt | WSW | 15:00 | 25.9°C | 26.9°C | 62 |
| Aug | 8% | 16% | 13% | 10 kt | WSW | 16:00 | 25.6°C | 27.8°C | 62 |
| Sep | 17% | 38% | 33% | 10.9 kt | WSW | 14:00 | 20.8°C | 24.4°C | 60 |
| Oct | 31% | 39% | 37% | 11 kt | SE | 11:00 | 18.4°C | 21.6°C | 62 |
| Nov | 27% | 50% | 43% | 12.2 kt | N | 11:00 | 12.7°C | 18.1°C | 60 |
| Dec | 18% | 27% | 21% | 9.4 kt | N | 10:00 | 9.6°C | 15.4°C | 62 |
modelled
A weather model's cell over this place, not a station on it. Good for comparing places, weaker for one beach.
Modelled from the operational forecast archive at 1.5–7 km (2023-2024), daylight hours only, not a ground station: it resolves thermal, lake and valley winds far better than coarse reanalysis but still tends to understate a strong local thermal. A windy day has at least three consecutive daylight hours at 12 knots or more. 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.
High-resolution weather model (modelled) · Open-Meteo historical forecast archive — best-match operational model (ICON-D2 / AROME / ICON-EU / GFS by region), not a ground station · 2023-2024
The water
Type
sea and brackish river mouth
Tides
Microtidal, so the tide is not part of the session plan. Heights at La Spezia run between about 0.05 m and 0.30 m, a swing of 20-30 cm between low and high. What actually changes the water here is the Magra outflow after rain, not the tide.
Temperature
25°C summer
Wetsuit
Warm-water riding in high summer. Spring and winter thickness is unconfirmed for this beach.
Currents
The Magra mouth runs a current, strongest after rain.
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
1 school names this spot
On your own
Room to launch: large sandy beach, but summer beach-use constraints must be checked locally
Somewhere else
Viareggio Principe di Piemonte, 27 km
Every spot within 40 km is on the map at the top of this page, with its distance under it.
Rescue
Launch
Launch from the sandy Fiumaretta beach near the Magra river mouth. The beach is an ordinary open launch, not reserved to school clients. Kau Kau School runs theory, land practice and water practice from Bagno Arcobaleno.
Space
large sandy beach, but summer beach-use constraints must be checked locally
Rules & access
Access rules drift faster than anything else we hold — check locally, and propose an edit if this has changed.
Rider tips
- Ask Kau Kau or the riders on the beach before rigging in summer; no 2026 kite-corridor map exists for Fiumaretta.
- Aim at sunny spring and summer afternoons, when the thermal fills in around 13:00-14:00.
- Keep off the river channel after rain, when the Magra-mouth current is strongest.
- Treat Tramontana as an advanced day: it pushes off the land and is gusty near shore.
- On Libeccio or Scirocco bring the board you like in shore break, because the flat-water setup is gone.
- The launch corridor and kite zone belong to the Bagno Arcobaleno concession, and parking there has come with a customer-and-club-member condition; sort that out before you arrive rather than on the sand.
- Ignore the tide. The 20-30 cm swing changes nothing; the river after rain changes everything.
- Plan the strong part of the day for 12:30-16:00 and treat the sunset hour as a bonus, not the session.
Getting there
Airport
Pisa Galileo Galilei Airport (PSA) is the practical closest airport; Genoa is another regional option.
Route
Drive from Pisa or La Spezia toward Ameglia and Fiumaretta. La Spezia or Sarzana plus local onward transport works, though reaching the launch itself by public transport is unconfirmed.
Transfer
60 min
Cost level
medium
Staying
Fiumaretta, Ameglia, Bocca di Magra, Lerici and nearby Tuscany/Lunigiana resorts offer beach hotels, apartments and holiday rentals.
No-wind days
Cinque Terre · Portovenere · Lerici · Bocca di Magra · SUP or surf lessons · Apuan coast day trips
Photos
FAQ
Is Fiumaretta suitable for beginners?
Yes with school support: the flat water and sandy beach suit learning in the thermal setup, while stronger Tramontana or Libeccio days are for more advanced riders.
What is the wind like at Fiumaretta?
An afternoon SW or Maestrale thermal of about 12-22 knots is typical from April to October, while synoptic Libeccio systems can bring 20-30 knots and waves.
Are there kite schools nearby?
Kau Kau School operates from Bagno Arcobaleno on the Fiumaretta beach.
What are the hazards at Fiumaretta?
Currents at the Magra river mouth, especially after rain, plus boat traffic in the port channel and shore break in southwest swell, are the main hazards.
Last updated: August 2026