KiteInsider

Map › France › Hauts-de-France — Cayeux-sur-Mer - Brighton to Fort-Mahon-Plage › Le Crotoy

Hauts-de-France · Somme, Baie de Somme · Somme

Le Crotoy

also known as Plage nord du Crotoy, Baie de Somme - Le Crotoy, Plage du Crotoy

beginner-friendlyhigh crowds
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Nearby Cayeux-sur-Mer - Brighton 8 km · Fort-Mahon-Plage 15 km · Berck-sur-Mer (Grande Plage) 22 km · Stella-Plage 30 km · straight-line distance

SeasonJan to Decthe months riders and schools nameHow windy6 ktsynopticLaunchlargeaccess rules on record, belowWaterbay20.1°C in summer · 8 things riders flagLevelBeginner to advancedwith a caveat, in the Level sectionSchools4named at this spotFrom the airport102 minParis-Beauvais (BVA)

When it fills in

Nothing thermal to wait for. The wind is synoptic and arrives with the weather system; the hour you ride is set by high water.

Le Crotoy is the beach on the north side of the Baie de Somme mouth, a wide shallow sandy bay that is flat to a bit choppy in a west wind. West is the direction: SW comes in onshore, NW side-shore, and both are fine. Anything with east in it is offshore and a bad idea.
The bay empties at low water, so the session is built around high tide: about 2 hours of water on small coefficients, 4 hours on big ones, with coefficient 60-90 the sweet spot; above that the beach at high water is a narrow strip. North or south wind brings more current and a gustier, less regular wind.
It is a good place to learn and to work on freestyle, with a gentle sandy slope and standing depth well out, and kiters generally take the right side of the water with windsurfers on the left. People ride all year; the water is 20.1 C in summer and 7.0 in winter, so it is thick neoprene for months.
The bay is a national nature reserve: kites stay out of the reserve itself, keep 300 m off the seals and the roosting birds, and do not go near the fenced or buoyed areas.

The wind

Direction

beachwater
wind blows away from land — rescue cover matters here

Kite sizes

567891011121314

metres · typical quiver highlighted

Character

synoptic

fills in: Nothing thermal to wait for. The wind is synoptic and arrives with the weather system; the hour you ride is set by high water.

Typical strength

A station on the beach that reported from 2014 to 2021 averaged about 6 kt with gusts near 11 kt: a low mast over a bay that empties, and well under what anyone actually rides in. No session-strength statistic is published for the beach itself.

Good flat-water quality in the recommended westerly sector; less regular with north or south winds.
Rideable all year and someone is usually out; the crowd comes back from April when the water warms.

The quiver, in words

Winter is often 7-9 m, summer 12 m and up; check the forecast before you pick a kite.

Direction to shore

West is the preferred direction; SW is onshore and NW is side-shore. East, southeast and northeast are offshore and strongly discouraged.

Dominant direction

SW, W, NW

Forecast

Next three days, from Windfinder · full forecast

Month by month

  1. Jan, riders' month67
  2. Feb, riders' month79
  3. Mar, riders' month66
  4. Apr, riders' month62
  5. May, riders' month47
  6. Jun, riders' month47
  7. Jul, riders' month51
  8. Aug, riders' month51
  9. Sep, riders' month48
  10. Oct, riders' month72
  11. Nov, riders' month72
  12. Dec, riders' month65

per cent of the month at force 4 or more

Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec.

  1. 15Jan9°
  2. 16Feb8°
  3. 14Mar9°
  4. 14Apr10°
  5. 11May14°
  6. 11Jun17°
  7. 12Jul19°
  8. 12Aug20°
  9. 12Sep20°
  10. 13Oct17°
  11. 15Nov14°
  12. 15Dec11°

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

MonthForce 4+KnotsFromAirWater
Jan67%14.7 ktWSW5.7°C9.4°C
Feb79%16.4 ktWSW7.8°C8.4°C
Mar66%13.9 ktSE8.7°C8.8°C
Apr62%13.8 ktSW10°C10.4°C
May47%11.2 ktWSW13.5°C13.9°C
Jun47%11.3 ktW16.7°C17.1°C
Jul51%12.4 ktW18.5°C18.7°C
Aug51%11.9 ktW19.2°C20.2°C
Sep48%11.8 ktSSW17.1°C19.5°C
Oct72%13.2 ktSSW14.3°C17.4°C
Nov72%15.2 ktSSW9.9°C14.3°C
Dec65%14.9 ktSSW6.9°C11.2°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

bay

Standing depth

Generally shallow with a gentle sandy slope.

Tides

High tide only. The window is about 2 hours on small coefficients and 4 hours on larger ones, with 60-90 the ideal range; outside roughly 1-2 hours before and after high water there is no water.

Temperature

20.1°C summer · 7°C winter

Wetsuit

Cold Channel bay water; most riders need a full wetsuit, with thicker neoprene in winter.

Currents

North or south wind brings stronger current and a more irregular wind.

8–20°C water
Large shallow Baie de Somme water area, flat to choppy depending on wind, with sand banks exposed as the tide drops.

Your level

beginnerintermediateadvanced
Beginner-friendly at the right tide and in a west wind: shallow, a gentle sandy slope, flat to choppy. Freeriders and freestylers use the same water.

The scene

What riders come here for

learningfreeridefreestyleflat waterprogression
Moderately frequented on weekdays, busy on weekends and in summer, but the riding area is wide.

Launch and rules

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

With a school or a boat

4 schools name this spot

See who they are

On your own

Room to launch: large

access rules on record

Somewhere else

Cayeux-sur-Mer - Brighton, 8 km

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

Rescue

VHF channel 16

No lifeguard post and no club watch on the north beach are recorded. Sea rescue is CROSS Gris-Nez, on 196 from a phone or VHF channel 16 (2026). On the ebb the likelier trouble is being left standing on a drying bank several hundred metres out, which is a walk rather than a call.

Launch

Beach launch on the north side of the Baie de Somme at Le Crotoy. Kiters tend to use the right side of the water area and windsurfers the left, and there is room for both.

Space

large

Hazards riders report 8

  • stronger current and irregular wind in N or S winds
  • offshore E-sector winds
  • offshore E, SE and NE winds
  • sand banks uncovering on the falling tide
  • very narrow beach or insufficient water outside the right tide window
  • Baie de Somme reserve and wildlife disturbance restrictions nearby
  • no lifeguard post or club rescue cover on the north beach
  • launching gets awkward on coefficients above 90, when high water leaves little beach
Rules & access
2026: inside the Baie de Somme nature reserve, keep 300 m from seal and bird resting or feeding areas, stay out of fenced or buoyed exclusions, keep high-sail sports including kitesurfing out of the reserve, and do not beach on purpose near the sandbanks the wildlife uses.

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

Rider tips

  • Build the session around high tide, not the wind graph; outside roughly 1-2 hours either side of high water there is no water to ride.
  • Pick a day with a coefficient between 60 and 90; below it the window is short, above it the beach at high water is a narrow strip.
  • Watch the sandbanks on the ebb; the water goes quickly and you can be standing on sand a long way from the beach.
  • Rig 7-9 m in winter and 12 m or bigger in summer, and look at the forecast before choosing rather than going by the season.
  • Rig on the right-hand side of the water area; windsurfers use the left.
  • Stay 300 m off the seals and the resting birds, and keep out of the reserve and its fenced or buoyed exclusions.

Getting there

Airport

Paris-Beauvais (BVA)

Route

By road on the A16 or A28; from the A16 take the Abbeville Nord exit and follow signs for Le Crotoy. By train, the Paris-Amiens-Boulogne line to Abbeville or Noyelles-sur-Mer, then Trans80 bus line 709 to Le Crotoy. Beauvais-Tille airport connects by the A16.

Transfer

102 min

Staying

Le Crotoy and the Baie de Somme coast have many hotels and rentals; no kite-specific accommodation is listed.

No-wind days

Baie de Somme railway · bird watching · Saint-Valery-sur-Somme · Cayeux-sur-Mer · cycling around the bay

Photos

Beach of Le Crotoy at low tide-2162
Raimond Spekking, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

FAQ

When is the best time?

The spot is used year-round, with most riders returning from April as temperatures rise.

Is it suitable for beginners?

Yes, the shallow sandy bay and gentle slope make it beginner-friendly when tide and wind align, and it also suits freeride and freestyle.

What is the wind like?

Southwest, west and northwest are the best directions, with west preferred; east-sector winds are offshore and discouraged.

Are there rules?

As of 2026, Baie de Somme reserve guidance requires staying 300 m from resting or feeding wildlife, respecting fenced exclusions and avoiding kitesurf inside the reserve.

How does tide affect the session?

The bay is best around high tide, with a usable window of about 1-2 hours either side and little to no water outside that time.

More in Hauts-de-FranceDunkerque - Malo-les-Bainsall →
Also in season in JanuaryBassin d'ArcachonCorsica - BonifacioCorsica - Porto-VecchioGruissanHyères - Presqu'île de Giens (L'Almanarre)

Last updated: August 2026