MapMadagascarLavanonoMadagascar

Lavanono

Androy · Near Beloha, southern tip of Madagascar, west of Tôlanaro (Fort-Dauphin)

also known as Lavanono Point

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

wavesnot for beginnerslow crowds

On this page

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

Riding essentials

Season

Jun–Nov

Months riders and schools name

How windy

15-30 knots

Character: trade

Room to launch

big

access rules on record, below

Water

waves

29–30 °C in summerOcean wave spot with a clean medium-wave setup

Hazards

Reported by riders

Level

Intermediate to advanced

With a caveat: see Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Crowds

low crowds · busy Jul Aug Sep Oct

Schools

none named here

From the airport

480 min

Fort-Dauphin Airport (FTU)

On the clock

10:00

On the clock

15:00

The point belongs to the surfers until about 10:00, when the trade freshens. It usually dies around 15:00, so the kiteable day is roughly five hours long.

The mark is the clock time the record names, laid on a 24-hour day. The fade after it is not an end time, and not a promise of wind.

Lavanono has no other spot on this map within 40 km of it. straight-line distance

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

lavanono beachbreakno page yet
baie des galionsno page yet
baie-des-signes-madagascarno page yet

The spot

Lavanono is a wave spot on the far south coast of Madagascar, near Cape Sainte-Marie, and it is a long way from everything. The point is a clean, big left with the trade wind cross-offshore behind it; in the bay there is a smaller beachbreak on a friendlier cross-shore angle. Medium waves, clean water, a big sandy beach, no tide to plan around.

Level and drift

Intermediate and expert only, and the cross-off point is the reason: drift downwind of it and you are on your own.

Season and day

The season is austral winter and spring, with the window given as June to October in one place and July to November in another. Wind freshens after about 10:00 and often dies around 15:00, so the riding day is short. Getting in means 4x4 piste, commonly 8-9 hours from Fort-Dauphin, and what waits at the end is rooms and very little else, with no kite school confirmed.

The wind

locals call it alizés

Direction

cross-shorecross-offwind blows away from land — rescue cover matters here

Direction to shore

cross-off at the point; more cross-shore in the bay beachbreak

Kite sizes

4567891011121314151617

metres · typical quiver highlighted

The quiver, in words

Indicative, derived from the 15-30 knot range rather than from local size reports: a 75-85 kg rider is on 10-12 m at the light end early and late in the season, 8-9 m through the meat of the trade, and 6-7 m when it pushes 30.Windsurfers coming here are told to bring a 4.0 m sail, which says how often the strong end turns up.

Character

trade

When it fills in: see above ↑

Thermal or synoptic

synoptic (trade winds)

Typical strength

15-30 knots through the trade season, with the top of that range common once the wind is properly in.

Clean trade-wind waves in season. Cross-offshore at the point leaves little margin for self-rescue.

Two windows are given for the same coast: June to October, and July to November. July to November is the one used on the ground, and it lines up with the humpback whales that pass this shore in the same months. Inside the season the wind still only works between about 10:00 and 15:00.

Forecast

Live forecast

Windguru Windfinder Windy

Month by month

Jan85
Feb81
Mar74
Apr71
May56
Jun, riders' month69
Jul, riders' month56
Aug, riders' month76
Sep, riders' month69
Oct, riders' month72
Nov, riders' month76
Dec60

per cent of the month at force 4 or more

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

15 ktJan27°
14 ktFeb27°
14 ktMar28°
13 ktApr26°
12 ktMay24°
12 ktJun24°
11 ktJul23°
13 ktAug22°
13 ktSep23°
13 ktOct25°
13 ktNov26°
13 ktDec27°

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

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.

Every figure, month by monthForce 4+ · Knots · Wind from · Air · Water

Month	Force 4+	Knots	Wind from	Air	Water
Jan	85%	15.2 kt	ESE	26.2 °C	26.8 °C
Feb	81%	14.4 kt	E	27.1 °C	27.3 °C
Mar	74%	13.8 kt	E	25.8 °C	27.9 °C
Apr	71%	12.9 kt	E	24.6 °C	25.5 °C
May	56%	11.6 kt	E	22.3 °C	24.4 °C
Jun	69%	12 kt	ESE	20.7 °C	23.6 °C
Jul	56%	11.4 kt	E	20.3 °C	22.9 °C
Aug	76%	13.3 kt	E	21.2 °C	22.3 °C
Sep	69%	12.6 kt	E	23.1 °C	23.2 °C
Oct	72%	13.2 kt	ESE	24.1 °C	24.6 °C
Nov	76%	12.9 kt	ESE	25.5 °C	26.2 °C
Dec	60%	12.7 kt	SE	26.6 °C	27.2 °C

How this is modelledmodelled · 2022-2024

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.

ERA5 reanalysis grid point (modelled) · Open-Meteo historical weather API — ECMWF ERA5/ERA5-Land reanalysis, not a ground station · 2022-2024

The water

Type

waves

Standing depth

Not a standing spot. The point breaks over a flat reef carpeted in weed and the bay beachbreak is open ocean; there is no shallow shelf to walk a kite back along, and no measured depth exists.

Tides

Tide independent.

Temperature

29–30 °C summer · 23–24 °C winter

Modelled monthly average: 22–28 °C

Wetsuit

Shorts generally; shorty can be useful in the cooler season.

Conditions

Ocean wave spot with a clean medium-wave setup; the point is a clean, big left, with a smaller Lavanono Beachbreak in the bay.

Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

not for beginners here

Intermediate and expert. The cross-off point and the remoteness rule out learning here.

The scene

What riders come here for

wave riding

A remote surf-trip spot. Basic beds, almost no nightlife.

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: big

Read the access rules

Somewhere else

No neighbour on record

No other spot in the atlas sits within reach of this one.

Rescue

None. No lifeguards, no rescue boat, no kite school and no shop. The village holds around 500 people and sits over 300 km and 8-9 hours of piste from Fort-Dauphin, so an injury means a very long evacuation.

The stretch of coast either side is still almost undeveloped for kitesurfing, with nothing organised to call on.

Launch

Sand beach, car access and a short walk. The point and the bay beachbreak are two different sessions.

Hazards riders report 6 reported

Wind

Cross-offshore wind at the point: go down there and the next land is a long way behind you.
Short wind window, roughly 10:00 to 15:00, with no margin if a session runs long.

Bottom

Flat reef under the point, covered in weed.

Other

No rescue, no clinic and no school; Fort-Dauphin is 8-9 hours away by 4x4.
Sharks are described as rare on this coast, which is not the same as absent.
Piste access: a breakdown, a fuel problem or a medical problem is yours to solve.

Rules & access

1 min read

Nothing listed as of 2026. Ask in the village: access on this coast can come down to local arrangements.

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

Rider tips

Treat the point as an experienced-rider wave: the wind is cross-offshore and nobody is coming out for you.
Ride between about 10:00 and 15:00. Outside that the trade is usually gone.
Carry fuel, water, cash and a recovery plan for the piste, and budget 8-9 hours from Fort-Dauphin.
Ask the surfers before you take the point early in the day.
Bring spares and a repair kit. There is no rental, no shop and nobody within a day's drive who can fix a canopy.
Boards and gear left behind for the village kids are welcome here.

Getting there

Airport

Tôlanaro/Fort-Dauphin Airport (FTU) or Toliara Airport (TLE), depending on route.

Route

Lavanono is over 300 km west of Fort-Dauphin and takes 8-9 hours to drive; other accounts put the 4x4 piste at 7-9 hours.

Transfer

480 min

Cost level

high

Staying

Rooms nearby, plus an eco ranch run by one of the original windsurf pioneers.

No-wind days

surfing · Cap Sainte-Marie excursion · remote coastal and spiny-forest scenery

Photos

FAQ

When is the best time to kite at Lavanono?

Best months are given as June to October in one source and July to November in another, both within the austral winter/spring trade-wind season.

Is Lavanono suitable for beginners?

No; it's rated for intermediate and expert riders because of the cross-offshore point wave and remote location.

What is the wind like at Lavanono?

The trade wind (alizés) blows cross-offshore at the point, typically 15-30 knots, freshening after about 10:00 and often dying by 15:00.

How do you get to Lavanono?

It requires a remote 4x4 piste drive of about 8-9 hours, over 300 km from Fort-Dauphin.

Last updated: August 2026