Map › Italy › Abruzzo — Francavilla Foro to Tortuga Montesilvano › Francavilla Foro

Abruzzo · Foro river area between Francavilla al Mare and Ortona · Chieti · Francavilla al Mare

Francavilla Foro

also known as Foro, Francavilla, Francavilla CNF

beginner-friendlymedium crowds

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

On this page

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

Nearby Stazione di Tollo 6 km · Pescara Portanuova 6 km · Madonnina di Pescara 7 km · Tortuga Montesilvano 12 km · Spiaggia dei Saraceni 14 km · Fossacesia Marina 27 km · Casalbordino 40 km · straight-line distance

SeasonMay to Septhe months riders and schools name How windy4.8-6.6 ktsynoptic Launchmediumaccess rules on record, below Watersea26°C in summer · 5 things riders flag LevelBeginner to intermediatewith a caveat, in the Level section Schools2named at this spot From the airport20 minAbruzzo Airport (PSR)

When it fills in

No onset time is published for this spot.

Francavilla Foro is the Adriatic beach on the Foro stretch between Francavilla al Mare and Ortona, shared by kiters and windsurfers. It is a south-wind spot. No proper wave forms here, and rocky breakwaters about 120 m out hold flat, lagoon-like water behind them, so on the right day it rides like a slalom course.

Look at the gaps between those breakwaters before you go out through them. Summer is the real limit: the beach clubs and umbrellas take the sand and leave very little room to lay a kite down safely. It is one of the Abruzzo lesson beaches too, used from April to October alongside Porta Nuova and Madonnina depending on the wind.

No average wind figures have ever been published for this beach, so the forecast is all you have to go on.

The wind

Direction

wind blows away from land — rescue cover matters here

Character

synoptic

Typical strength

No measurement exists for this beach and the two nearest official stations are poor stand-ins: the airport inland averages 4.8-6.6 kt by month and the seafront station inside Pescara 1.7-3.8 kt, figures that describe their shelter more than the shore. The forecast is what you have.

Works on south wind. How steady it is, nobody has recorded.

South wind is the only documented pattern. Courses run April to October across Francavilla Foro, Porta Nuova and Madonnina, and which beach gets used depends on the season and the direction.

Direction to shore

The shoreline between Francavilla al Mare and Ortona runs NW-SE with the sea to the north-east. A due-south wind therefore reaches the beach off the land, and the south-easterly is cross-shore at best rather than side-onshore; north and north-east are the onshore directions and south-west is fully offshore.That angle is also why the water stays flat on the wind this spot is used on. Derived from the coastline orientation, with no local posting to confirm it.

Forecast

Month by month

Jan35
Feb28
Mar31
Apr37
May, riders' month16
Jun, riders' month13
Jul, riders' month14
Aug, riders' month14
Sep, riders' month31
Oct15
Nov29
Dec20

per cent of the month at force 4 or more

Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep.

9Jan12°
9Feb12°
10Mar14°
10Apr16°
9May19°
9Jun24°
9Jul28°
9Aug29°
10Sep26°
8Oct22°
10Nov18°
9Dec14°

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

Month	Force 4+	Knots	From	Air	Water
Jan	35%	9.4 kt	NW	7.9°C	12°C
Feb	28%	9.3 kt	WNW	8.7°C	11.7°C
Mar	31%	9.6 kt	NW	10.6°C	13.6°C
Apr	37%	10.3 kt	NNW	13.3°C	15.7°C
May	16%	8.8 kt	NNW	18.4°C	18.9°C
Jun	13%	9 kt	ESE	23.5°C	24.1°C
Jul	14%	9.3 kt	NNW	27°C	28.3°C
Aug	14%	8.9 kt	NW	26.1°C	28.7°C
Sep	31%	9.7 kt	NW	21.7°C	25.9°C
Oct	15%	8.4 kt	NW	18.9°C	22°C
Nov	29%	9.7 kt	W	13°C	17.8°C
Dec	20%	8.7 kt	WNW	9.4°C	13.7°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 water reported; exact standing-depth zone unconfirmed

Tides

Tide independent in practice; Adriatic tides at Pescara are small, with published ranges around 0.2-0.4 m.

Temperature

26°C summer · 12°C winter

Wetsuit

Shorts or lycra in high summer; shorty in spring/autumn; full wetsuit in winter and colder shoulder months.

12–29°C water

South wind never builds a proper wave here. The water is shallow, flat to choppy with small waves, and behind the rocky wave breakers about 120 m offshore it goes lagoon-flat.

Your level

beginnerintermediatenot for advanceds here

Nothing here forms a proper wave, which puts the spot within reach of most riders. An intermediate to expert requirement also appears on record, so treat a first solo session with care.

The scene

What riders come here for

freerideslalomlessonsflat water

Beach-club coast. Space, not rider numbers, is what gets tight in summer.

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: medium

access rules on record

Somewhere else

Stazione di Tollo, 6 km

Stazione di Tollo Pescara Portanuova Madonnina di Pescara

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

Rescue

Nothing kite-specific and no safety boat. The concession beaches have to run an organised lifeguard service through the bathing period, with at least one qualified assistente bagnanti per 150 m of beach front; the maritime-district ordinance on file for this coast sets that as 1 June to 15 September, 09:00 to 19:00, plus the last two weekends of May and of September from 09:30 to 18:30, dates written for the 2024 season and not confirmed for 2026. Outside those hours, and on the free beach, there is no cover.

At sea the number is 1530, the coastguard's free emergency line, or 112.

Launch

Sandy beach on the Foro stretch between Francavilla al Mare and Ortona. The launch is medium-sized, and in summer the beach clubs leave very little of it.

Space

medium

Rules & access

Abruzzo's 2026 ordinanza balneare sets the bathing period as 23 May 2026 to 20 September 2026 and prohibits occupying beach areas with surf, windsurf and kitesurf equipment except in designated racks or authorised areas.

The maritime-district safety ordinance for this coast reserves the first 300 m from the shoreline for bathing from 1 May to 15 October and bans transit and anchoring by any craft inside it, leaving launching and landing to an authorised launch corridor: a kite corridor must run at least 500 m offshore, be 30 m wide at the water's edge, widen to 80 m between 250 m and 500 m, be marked with yellow or orange buoys on a floating line, carry white flags at its seaward mouth, and be authorised by the comune.

Bathing, separately from kiting, is banned where rivers and streams reach the sea, which covers the Foro mouth, and within 3 m of coastal defence works such as groynes and breakwaters. Concession beaches must run a lifeguard service in the bathing hours.

The copy of that district ordinance in circulation is written for the 2024 season, so the dates need checking against the current year's text.

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

Rider tips

Come when a south wind is actually on the beach; nothing else here is documented to work.
Walk the breakwater gaps and pick your line before riding out past the flat inside water.
Stay out of the busy bathing hours unless a legal kite corridor and clear launch ground are in place.
Keep gear off the open sand: the 2026 Abruzzo ordinance bans occupying the beach with kite equipment outside racks or authorized areas.

Getting there

Airport

Abruzzo Airport (PSR), Pescara

Route

Drive south along the coast from Pescara toward Francavilla al Mare and the Foro area.

Transfer

20 min

Cost level

medium

Staying

Francavilla al Mare and Pescara have beach hotels, apartments and summer resort accommodation.

No-wind days

Pescara city, Marina di Pescara, Trabocchi Coast, Maiella and Gran Sasso day trips.

Photos

Clear shallow water at the sandy spiaggia del Foro beach, breakwater rocks visible offshore — maury3001 / CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

FAQ

When is the best time to kite at Francavilla Foro?

The main season runs from May to September, when south wind fills the beach; checking a live forecast is recommended since exact wind strength was not measured.

Is Francavilla Foro suitable for beginners?

One local source calls it suitable for any level since there is no formed wave, while another frames it as intermediate to expert, so newer riders should check locally first.

Are there kite schools nearby?

Yes, East Sailing Windsurf School, Makai Kitesurf School and Surfing Sports Pescara operate in the area, running courses from April to October depending on wind.

Are there rules or restricted zones?

The 2026 Abruzzo bathing ordinance (23 May-20 September) bans occupying beach areas with kite gear outside designated racks, and a 2025 Pescara maritime ordinance requires kite launch corridors at least 500 m deep and 30 m wide during bathing-season operations.

Last updated: August 2026