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Map › France › Pays de la Loire — La Turballe - Pen Bron to Pont-Mahé (Assérac) › La Turballe - Pen Bron

Pays de la Loire · Loire-Atlantique - La Turballe / Le Croisic traict · Loire-Atlantique · La Turballe

La Turballe - Pen Bron

also known as Pen-Bron, Plage de Pen Bron, La Turballe

beginner-friendlylow crowds

Nearby La Baule - Plage Benoit 8 km · Mesquer - Plage de Sorlock 13 km · Pont-Mahé (Assérac) 16 km · Saint-Brevin - Le Pointeau 26 km · Saint-Brevin - Les Rochelets 28 km · straight-line distance

Seasonno season namedthe months riders and schools nameHow windyno knot figure publishedmixedLaunchLarge at low tide, very tight at high tide, when the beach shrinks to nothing against the rocks, the ganivelles and the palisades.access rules on record, belowWaterAtlantic bay / sandy ocean beach18.7°C in summer · 10 things riders flagLevelBeginner to advancedwith a caveat, in the Level section
Schoolsnone named here
From the airportno transfer time published

When it fills in

No onset time is published for this spot.

Pen Bron is the west-facing sand beach that runs from the port of La Turballe down to the point, and the tide runs it. Come at low tide: at high water the beach narrows or can disappear against the rock dyke, the palisades and the ganivelles, and there is nowhere to land.
North and south wind is side-shore; northwest or southwest is side-on; west is straight onshore, and onshore is what you get most of the time, with a shore break at the launch and chop outside. Winter depressions turn it into a wave spot; foilers cross the bay.
On big coefficients, low-tide pools form on the Pen Bron side, and that is the only place a beginner should be, with someone watching. Otherwise it is a technical spot, and a quiet one: wild, little frequented, with the working port and the Le Croisic channel traffic next door.
In summer there is a marked kite zone near the parking and swimmers have priority; no landkite in July and August. Wind statistics, a best-month list and any rescue arrangement are all unconfirmed.

The wind

Direction

beachwater
cross-onN

Character

mixed

Often onshore at the beach, which is what makes it technical; no long-term wind statistics for the spot.
Wave sessions come with the winter depressions; flatter low-tide pools appear on high tidal coefficients. A best-month list for the spot is unconfirmed.

Strength

No knot figure is published for this spot.

Direction to shore

North and south are side-shore, northwest and southwest are side-onshore, and west is onshore on the west-facing bay.

Dominant direction

N, NW, W, SW, S

Forecast

Month by month

  1. Jan52
  2. Feb54
  3. Mar61
  4. Apr49
  5. May48
  6. Jun40
  7. Jul51
  8. Aug45
  9. Sep44
  10. Oct57
  11. Nov62
  12. Dec68

per cent of the month at force 4 or more

  1. 13Jan10°
  2. 13Feb10°
  3. 14Mar11°
  4. 12Apr13°
  5. 11May16°
  6. 11Jun18°
  7. 11Jul19°
  8. 11Aug20°
  9. 12Sep19°
  10. 13Oct17°
  11. 15Nov14°
  12. 14Dec11°

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

MonthForce 4+KnotsFromAirWater
Jan52%13 ktWSW7°C10.1°C
Feb54%12.7 ktW8.6°C10.1°C
Mar61%13.8 ktWSW9.9°C10.8°C
Apr49%12.4 ktNE11.4°C12.6°C
May48%11.2 ktNE15.1°C15.5°C
Jun40%10.8 ktW18.3°C18.4°C
Jul51%11.3 ktW19.3°C18.6°C
Aug45%10.9 ktWNW19.9°C19.7°C
Sep44%11.6 ktWSW17.6°C18.7°C
Oct57%12.5 ktSW15.4°C17.4°C
Nov62%15.1 ktW11.6°C14.2°C
Dec68%13.6 ktWSW8.2°C11.4°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

Atlantic bay / sandy ocean beach

Standing depth

Tide-dependent shallow pools can form at low tide on big tidal coefficients on the Pen Bron side; otherwise nothing on record makes it a standing-depth learning lagoon.

Tides

Big Atlantic tides. Ride at low tide; at high tide the beach is narrow or gone.

Temperature

18.7°C summer · 9.6°C winter

Wetsuit

Summer shorty or light full suit; winter thick full suit with cold-water accessories.

Currents

Tidal water at the entrance to the Traict du Croisic; how strong the current runs for a kiter is unconfirmed.

10–20°C water
The west-facing beach runs from the port of La Turballe toward Pointe de Pen-Bron, with chop offshore, shore break at launch, and wave sessions in strong swell or winter depressions.

Your level

beginnerintermediateadvanced
Beginner to expert on paper, technical in practice because of the onshore wind and the shore break. Beginners only really have the low-tide pools that form on big coefficients on the Pen Bron side, and only with supervision.

The scene

What riders come here for

freeridelearningfoilwaveswingfoil
The spot is generally wild and little-frequented; summer still has beach-user priority and zoning.

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: Large at low tide, very tight at high tide, when the beach shrinks to nothing against the rocks, the ganivelles and the palisades.

access rules on record

Somewhere else

La Baule - Plage Benoit, 8 km

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

Launch

Sand beach launch along the Pen Bron / La Turballe beach; the summer kite zone/chenal is near the parking.

Space

Large at low tide, very tight at high tide, when the beach shrinks to nothing against the rocks, the ganivelles and the palisades.

Hazards riders report 10

  • working port and bay traffic nearby
  • tide-dependent beach and currents
  • local zoning should be checked
  • shore break at launch
  • frequent onshore wind
  • rock dyke at high tide
  • palisades and ganivelles along the beach edge
  • narrow or absent beach at high tide
  • working port and Le Croisic channel traffic nearby
  • seasonal bathing zones where kite is not allowed
Rules & access
2019 La Turballe municipal beach order: a delimited summer kite zone/chenal near the parking, beach users have priority over kite, funboard or wingfoil, and no landkite in July and August.

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

Rider tips

  • Plan around low tide; on a big coefficient that is your only real launch space.
  • Beginners: only in the low-tide pools on the Pen Bron side, on big coefficients, and with someone experienced on the beach.
  • Read the current La Turballe beach order and find where this summer's chenal is before rigging.
  • Stay out of the port approach and the Le Croisic channel; there is boat traffic.

Getting there

Route

By road to La Turballe, then south toward the Pen Bron peninsula and beach sectors; exact launch and summer chenal should be checked locally.

Staying

La Turballe has nearby bars, restaurants and camping; no specific kite accommodation is listed.

No-wind days

Guérande salt marshes · Le Croisic · Pen Bron coastal paths

Photos

Elevated view across the Pen-Bron water and sand spit toward the héliomarin building, with sailboats moored in the bay
Jibi44 / CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

FAQ

Is Pen Bron suitable for beginners?

It is labeled beginner to expert overall but is considered technical; beginner practice is specifically supported only in low-tide pools that form during big tidal coefficients on the Pen Bron side.

What is the wind like?

North and south wind are side-shore, northwest and southwest are side-onshore, and west is onshore on this west-facing bay.

Are there rules or restricted zones?

A 2019 La Turballe municipal regulation sets a delimited summer kite zone near the parking, gives priority to other beach users, and bans landkiting in July and August.

What hazards should I know about?

The beach becomes narrow or disappears against rocks and palisades at high tide, so low tide is recommended, and there is working port traffic nearby.

Last updated: August 2026