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Ghisonaccia

Corsica - East coast · Upper Corsica

also known as Vignale, Plage de Ghisonaccia, Plage d'Erba Rossa, Plage Urbino

Part of Corsica east coast →

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

not for beginnersmedium crowds

On this page

The spot
Wind
Forecast
Month by month
Water
Level
The scene
Launch
Schools
Tips
Getting there
FAQ

Riding essentials

Season

Apr–Oct

Months riders and schools name

How windy

3-7 kt

Character: thermal

Room to launch

huge

access rules on record, below

Water

mixed

26 °C in summerOpen Tyrrhenian Sea beach with chop and small waves

Hazards

Reported by riders

Level

Intermediate to advanced

With a caveat: see Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Crowds

medium crowds · busy Jul Aug

Schools

none named here

From the airport

70 min

Bastia-Poretta (BIA)

When it fills in

The south to south-east thermal usually sets in at the start of the afternoon and can blow into the evening; in summer it runs almost daily. Morning sessions happen when a synoptic north-easterly is already established rather than because the thermal is early.

Nearbystraight-line distance

Pinarellu40 km

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

Morianino page yet
Aléria / Plage Urbinono page yet
Solenzarano page yet
Pinarellono page yet
Piantarella
Balistra

The spot

Ghisonaccia is an east-coast Corsica spot rather than a managed kite centre: a long sandy shoreline at Vignale and Erba Rossa, open sea, usually chop with small waves.

Wind patterns

The wind that makes it work is the south-east summer thermal, close to daily from June to August, setting in at the start of the afternoon and holding into the evening, with a north-east Gregale as the other usable window. Outside the thermal the raw statistics are modest and this becomes a forecast-led spot. West and north-west blow straight offshore on this coast, and you do not ride them.

Summer conditions and access

In July and August the beach fills with swimmers, with campgrounds and with a municipal bathing-only zone at Vignale, so the launch space is there but the water in front of it is not all yours. There is no school, no club and no rescue boat, so bring somebody to ride with. And do not count the Etang d'Urbinu as a flat-water option: a 2024 municipal order prohibits access and circulation on the lagoon water except for authorized and service boats.

The wind

locals call it SE summer thermal; NE Gregale

Direction

cross-onSE

Direction to shore

cross-on

Kite sizes

78910111213141516

metres · typical quiver highlighted

The quiver, in words

For a 75-85 kg rider a 12 m covers the ordinary summer south-east thermal, 9-10 m the stronger afternoons and the Gregale days, and 14 m or a light-wind setup the first hour before the thermal is properly in. No local school publishes a chart, so treat these as a starting point rather than a local convention.

Character

thermal

When it fills in: see above ↑

Average strength

Published monthly averages run 3-7 kt, with about 87 days a year at 4 Bft (12 kt) or more, and they exclude thermal wind, which is the wind you come here for.

Typical strength

Rideable days here are reportedly around 22 kt on average, but that average only counts the days people ride. The year-round station picture is 3-7 kt with roughly 87 days reaching 4 Bft (12 kt), so the number that matters is the south-east thermal of June to August, which is close to daily and holds from early afternoon into the evening. Outside it, this is a forecast-led spot.

The summer SE thermal is close to daily; the non-thermal averages are low. Expect a forecast-sensitive freeride spot rather than guaranteed strong wind.

June to August for the summer SE thermal, with NE/Gregale and SE/SSE the rideable directions. West and northwest are offshore on this east-facing coast and unsafe.

Forecast

Live forecast

Windguru Windfinder Windy

Month by month

riding season from the spot record · the wind series here holds no strength figure

No month-by-month share of windy days is held for this spot. The months riders and schools name are Apr, May, Jun, Sep, Oct, Jul, Aug.

Measured at Solenzara Air Base (candidate), ~13 km from the spot.

How this was measuredmeasured

The source named below holds no month-by-month figure for this place, so no season is drawn from it. The season is the one the spot record names.

A station this far away — often inland or at an airport — can understate accelerated local wind. Highlighted months are the riding season from the spot record.

Solenzara Air Base (candidate) · Windfinder

The water

Type

mixed

Standing depth

Reportedly standable close in on fine sand at both tide states, deepening gradually as you go out. How far out you can stand is not published anywhere, and it moves: this shoreline has been retreating and the bank profile changes with it.

Tides

Kitesurfing conditions are reported as not tide-dependent; Mediterranean tidal range is small, but no official local tidal range was found.

Temperature

26 °C summer · 14 °C winter

Wetsuit

Shorts or a rash vest in summer; shorty or 3/2 mm in spring/autumn; normal to thicker wetsuit in winter.

Currents

Open-beach current and shorebreak build with onshore and easterly swell, and there is current near the Urbino and Diana lagoon mouths. The 2024 Urbinu municipal order prohibits access and circulation on the lagoon water except for authorized and service boats.

Conditions

Open Tyrrhenian Sea beach with chop and small waves; flat water may occur only near shore or in lighter conditions. The nearby Etang d'Urbinu is a protected Natura 2000/Ramsar lagoon and should not be treated as a public kite lagoon.

Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

not for beginners here

Rated for any level in some places and intermediate in others, with warnings about the offshore sectors, the shorebreak and the current. Without a school or a rescue setup on the beach, it is not a reliable beginner teaching spot.

The scene

What riders come here for

freerideintermediatewingfoilwindsurfsmall-wave freeride

Who it suitsbeginner

Quiet by Corsica kite-spot standards outside peak summer, but Vignale/Erba Rossa is a family beach and campground/marina strip in July-August with swimmers and other beach users.

Launch and rules

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

With a school or a boat

No school names this spot

Nobody has been recorded teaching or running a boat here.

On your own

Room to launch: huge

Read the access rules

Somewhere else

1 spot nearby

Pinarellu40 km

The one spot within 40 km is under Nearby

Rescue

VHF channel 16

Rescue — full text1 min read

No kite school, no club and no rescue boat on this beach.

The only cover is municipal bathing surveillance inside the Vignale zone, 10:30-18:30 from 30 June to 31 August under the 2025 order, and that zone is 100 m wide by 40 m deep.

Everywhere else and every other hour, bathing and nautical activity are explicitly at your own risk.

At sea the emergency number is 196 or VHF channel 16.

Launch

Very long sandy beach on the Ghisonaccia/Vignale-Erba Rossa shoreline, with parking reported at the beach and large launch space outside the marked swimming zone and summer beach users.

Hazards riders report 11 reported

Wind

West and northwest winds are offshore on the east-facing beach; do not navigate in those directions.

Crowds and zones

the RT10 coastal road serving the area carries heavy summer traffic
Swimmers, summer beach infrastructure and jet skis are present around the Vignale/Erba Rossa beach area in high season.
No school, club or rescue boat on the beach; the nearest kite schools are in the far south of the island.
Outside the small supervised Vignale zone and its hours, bathing and nautical activity are formally at users' own risk.

Waves and currents

Onshore/easterly swell can create shorebreak and currents that make entry and exit difficult.

Protected areas and rules

narrow lagoon outlet channel current if riding near the Étang d'Urbino mouth
Marked bathing-only zone at Vignale in the 2025 municipal order; navigation and mooring are banned inside that zone during the supervised period.
The Urbinu lagoon and Pinia area are protected sites with strict access, traffic and water-use rules; do not assume the lagoon is rideable.
narrow lagoon outlet channel current if riding near the Etang d'Urbino mouth

Other

Coastal erosion has caused notable shoreline retreat; check access before going.

Rules & access

1 min read

2025: Ghisonaccia municipal beach order 2025-29 marks the 300 m coastal band and creates a Vignale bathing-only zone 100 m wide and 40 m deep south of the access channel, supervised 30 June-31 August 2025 from 10:30 to 18:30; navigation, mooring, craft including motorized personal watercraft and diving are prohibited inside that bathing zone. 2025: the same order says outside the supervised zone/hours bathing and nautical activities are at users' own risk, vehicles are banned from beaches except authorized/service use and craft-launch access at the channel, camping/naturism/fires/littering are prohibited, dogs are tolerated 30 June-31 August only on leash, and users must obey safety flags.

2024: municipal order 2024-75 for Pinia and Etang d'Urbinu prohibits access and circulation on the Urbinu lagoon water and prohibits bathing there, except for public-service, management or specifically authorized boats; it also bans vehicle access outside marked roads/parking areas, bans access to the Urbinu mouth/lido by vehicles, permits pedestrian circulation only on marked paths, bans leisure fishing in the lagoon, and requires authorization for gatherings/occupation of the site.

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

Plan the session for the afternoon: the south-east thermal is the wind that makes this spot work, and it arrives after midday.
Check direction as well as strength. SE and NE are the useful windows; W and NW are offshore.
Rig well clear of the Vignale bathing-only zone, 100 m wide by 40 m deep, and read the beach signage before you launch.
Bring your own gear, your spares and a self-rescue plan, because there is no kite school and no rescue boat on this beach.
Ride with someone. Nothing on this beach will come and get you.
Stay off the Etang d'Urbinu unless a local authority or the site manager has explicitly authorized it.

Getting there

Airport

Bastia-Poretta (BIA) is the most practical airport by road; Ajaccio (AJA) and Figari Sud-Corse (FSC) are also within roughly 1.5 hours by car.

Route

Drive south from Bastia and Poretta on the T10/N198 corridor to Ghisonaccia, then take the beach road towards Vignale and Erba Rossa. The D144 runs to the main beach parking; the D444 and semi-surfaced access go towards the protected Pinia and Urbino side, where the parking restrictions apply.

Transfer

70 min

Cost level

medium-high

Staying

Beachfront and near-beach campgrounds dominate the immediate launch area, including Marina d'Erba Rossa with direct beach access; Ghisonaccia town has additional hotels, rentals and services a few kilometres inland.

No-wind days

Pinia forest walk between sea and lagoon, Etang d'Urbinu nature/birdwatching from permitted access areas, family beach time at Vignale, local cycling, and day trips along the Costa Serena/east coast.

FAQ

When is the best time to kitesurf at Ghisonaccia?

June through August is best supported for the SE summer thermal, which is described as regular and quasi-daily, though non-thermal wind averages are modest.

Is Ghisonaccia suitable for beginners?

No dedicated beginner setup is confirmed; the spot is rated intermediate to advanced because of offshore-risk winds, shorebreak and currents, with no school or rescue service on site.

What is the wind like at Ghisonaccia?

A SE summer sea-breeze thermal is the main pattern, typically building in early afternoon into evening, with NE Gregale also rideable; W and NW winds blow offshore and should be avoided.

Are there rules at Ghisonaccia?

A 2025 municipal order sets a supervised Vignale bathing zone from 30 June to 31 August 2025 where navigation is banned, and a separate 2024 order prohibits access to the nearby Etang d'Urbinu lagoon except for authorized boats.

The bigger pictureEverything about Corsica - East coast

Last updated: August 2026