Map › France › Bassin d'Arcachon › Le Betey

Nouvelle-Aquitaine · Bassin d'Arcachon, Gironde · Gironde · Andernos-les-Bains

Le Betey

also known as Plage du Betey, Le Bétey, Plage du Bétey

lagoonbeginner-friendly

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 Claouey 7 km · La Hume (Gujan-Mestras) 10 km · Les Arbousiers (Arcachon) 10 km · Le Porge Ocean 20 km · La Salie (La Teste-de-Buch) 26 km · Lac de Lacanau - Lacanau-Ville 27 km · Port de l'Estey 28 km · Lacanau Ocean 31 km · Mayotte 33 km · Navarrosse 34 km · Biscarrosse Plage Sud 35 km · straight-line distance

SeasonJan, Feb, Mar, Oct, Nov, Decthe months riders and schools name How windy8-15 knotsmixed LaunchLaunch space can be very reduced at high tide, with trees nearby; the beach is occupied by many bathers in July and August.access rules on record, below Waterlagoon20.5°C in summer · 8 things riders flag LevelBeginner to advancedwith a caveat, in the Level section Schools3named at this spot From the airport35 minBordeaux-Mérignac Airport (BOD)

When it fills in

Regional thermal pattern: wind can turn NW around midday and strengthen in the afternoon during warm periods.

Le Betey is the small sandy beach next to the Andernos marina on the north shore of the Bassin d'Arcachon, and it only exists as a kite spot around high tide.

Depending on who you ask the window is 2 h either side of high water or 3 h; either way, turn up at the wrong time and there is no water.

When it is in, you get a big shallow sandbank where you can stand a long way out, which is why it is a learning and waterstart beach first and a freeride spot second.

Usable directions are SE, S, SW, W or NW, but SE pushes you onto the dike and the channel posts, so leave that one to riders who can hold a line.

The launch shrinks to almost nothing at the top of the tide, with trees right behind it, and from March to October moored boats sit within 100 m of the shore. July and August are closed to kites (2026 rule), and the beach is full of bathers then anyway.

October to March is the good stretch: fewer buoys, fewer people, and a 6-9 m kite on the winter fronts. Water is 20.5 C in summer and 11.7 in winter.

The wind

Direction

wind blows away from land — rescue cover matters here

Kite sizes

45678910111213141516

metres · typical quiver highlighted

Character

mixed

fills in: Regional thermal pattern: wind can turn NW around midday and strengthen in the afternoon during warm periods.

Typical strength

10-25 on Bassin d'Arcachon school days; regional warm-season thermals are often 8-15 knots.

Light-to-moderate wind at the right tide is what this beach is for: learning with your feet on the sand. The launch at the top of the tide can be very small.

Better from October to March: fewer mooring buoys, fewer people. Closed to kites in July and August.

Also on record

Bassin d'Arcachon annual average: WNW, 6 kt mean and 10 kt gusts, from a station with limited data.

The quiver, in words

Gironde sizing: an 11-14 m light-wind kite for summer twin-tip sessions, 6-9 m for the stronger winter winds, depending on rider weight.

Direction to shore

The shoreline here runs north-west to south-east and the beach faces roughly south-west, out into the Bassin. SW is straight onshore. W and S are side-onshore.NW blows along the beach away from the port, and SE blows along it the other way, down toward the Andernos dike and the channel posts, which is the reason SE is the one to leave alone. E and NE are offshore. Orientation taken off the shoreline geometry, not from a posted local rule.

Dominant direction

SE, S, SW, W, NW

Forecast

Month by month

Jan, riders' month29
Feb, riders' month32
Mar, riders' month42
Apr47
May53
Jun35
Jul50
Aug39
Sep30
Oct, riders' month39
Nov, riders' month42
Dec, riders' month27

windy days per month (3 h+ at 12 kn+)

Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: Jan, Feb, Mar, Oct, Nov, Dec.

29%Jan12°
32%Feb12°
42%Mar13°
47%Apr14°
53%May17°
35%Jun20°
50%Jul22°
39%Aug23°
30%Sep22°
39%Oct20°
42%Nov16°
27%Dec13°

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	29%	40%	34%	12.9 kt	WSW	14:00	7.7°C	12.3°C	62
Feb	32%	46%	35%	12.7 kt	WSW	15:00	9°C	12.1°C	57
Mar	42%	68%	60%	15.1 kt	W	15:00	11.2°C	12.5°C	62
Apr	47%	70%	62%	14.2 kt	WNW	17:00	12.9°C	14.3°C	60
May	53%	79%	73%	14.3 kt	NW	16:00	16.4°C	16.6°C	62
Jun	35%	77%	63%	12.8 kt	NW	16:00	19.9°C	20.1°C	60
Jul	50%	77%	66%	13.2 kt	NW	17:00	21.4°C	21.5°C	62
Aug	39%	81%	76%	13.9 kt	NW	17:00	22°C	22.7°C	62
Sep	30%	58%	45%	12.7 kt	NW	16:00	19.1°C	21.6°C	60
Oct	39%	53%	47%	13.5 kt	WSW	15:00	17.4°C	19.7°C	62
Nov	42%	50%	45%	14.6 kt	W	13:00	12.7°C	15.9°C	60
Dec	27%	44%	42%	12.8 kt	SE	12:00	9.2°C	13.1°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

lagoon

Standing depth

Large standing-depth sandbank area at usable tide states.

Tides

Tidal, like everything on the Bassin d'Arcachon: the window is high tide plus or minus 2 h, or plus or minus 3 h depending on who you ask; outside it there is no water.

Temperature

20.5°C summer · 11.7°C winter

Wetsuit

Shorty or light full suit in summer; thick winter wetsuit in winter.

Currents

Tidal current runs through the Bassin; how strong it gets at Betey itself is unconfirmed.

12–23°C water

Small sandy beach beside Andernos marina/port, with shallow water over a large area when the tide is in.

Your level

beginnerintermediateadvanced

A learning beach because you can stand a long way out, but the tiny launch, the moorings, the trees, the channel posts and the summer closure mean a beginner still wants a school and the right tide and wind.

The scene

What riders come here for

learningfreerideshallow waterwaterstart practice

Family beach setting beside a wooded park and marina; quieter for kiting outside summer, especially October to March.

Launch and rules

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

With a school or a boat

3 schools name this spot

See who they are

On your own

Room to launch: Launch space can be very reduced at high tide, with trees nearby; the beach is occupied by many bathers in July and August.

access rules on record

Somewhere else

Claouey, 7 km

Claouey La Hume (Gujan-Mestras)Les Arbousiers (Arcachon)

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

Rescue

VHF channel 16

Nothing on the beach: no lifeguard post and no kite rescue. The schools that teach here bring their own cover and can run boat departures from the beach at the right tide.

In an emergency at sea the number is 196 from a phone, or VHF channel 16, both reaching the CROSS; 112 covers a problem inside a supervised bathing area, and the Andernos municipal police are on 05 57 76 11 02 (2026).

Launch

Rig on the small sandy beach next to Andernos port once there is water; in practice that is the couple of hours around high tide.

Space

Launch space can be very reduced at high tide, with trees nearby; the beach is occupied by many bathers in July and August.

Rules & access

2026: Le Betey is closed to kitesurfing in July and August. Across the whole Bassin d'Arcachon, the standing navigation order (prefectoral arrete 2020/040 of 10 July 2020, consolidated 2 May 2022) caps every vessel and nautical craft at 20 knots inside the Bassin and at 5 knots inside the 300 m coastal band, and it carries no kite-specific zoning, so the summer closure at this beach is a municipal measure.

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

Rider tips

Check the Arcachon tide table and turn up before high water; the window is 2 h either side, 3 h at the most, and outside it there is no water to ride.
Skip SE wind unless you can hold upwind cleanly; it puts you onto the dike and the channel posts.
Come between October and March: fewer mooring buoys, fewer people, and the spot is closed to kites in July and August anyway.
Rig tight at high tide; the beach almost disappears and there are trees behind it, so get the kite up and get off the sand.
Give the moored boats room from March to October; they sit within 100 m of the beach.

Getting there

Airport

Bordeaux-Mérignac Airport (BOD)

Route

By car from Bordeaux take the D106 toward Cap-Ferret and Andernos, about an hour. Without a car: Tram A to Merignac Soleil, then TransGironde bus 601 to Andernos-les-Bains; there are also frequent TER and TGV services from Bordeaux. Three car parks serve the beach: at the marina, at the Promenade de la Piscine, and on rue des Coquelicots.

Transfer

35 min

Staying

Stay in Andernos-les-Bains or elsewhere on the Bassin d'Arcachon.

No-wind days

Andernos beach/port area, Bassin d'Arcachon boat trips, cycling and general seaside activities.

Photos

Coucher de soleil à Andernos-33, 29 juillet 2015 — Als33120, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

FAQ

When is the best time?

The spot works better from October to March, with fewer mooring buoys and fewer people, while local club rules close it in July and August.

Is it suitable for beginners?

Yes, the large shallow sandbank lets riders stand far out, though beginners still need supervision to match the tide and wind window.

What is the wind like?

The strongest sectors are southeast, south, southwest, west and northwest, with the usable window centered on high tide.

Are there rules?

As of 2026, Kite Surf Club Lacanau states that Le Bétey is closed to kitesurfing in July and August.

What are the main hazards?

Southeast wind pushes toward the dike and channel posts, and many boats are moored within 100 m of shore from March to October.

Last updated: August 2026