Nearby Barbatre - Plage des Boucholeurs 3 km · Fromentine - Plage de la Grande Cote 5 km · Saint-Jean-de-Monts - Plage de la Daviere 15 km · Saint-Brevin - Les Rochelets 32 km · Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie - Grande Plage 32 km · Saint-Brevin - Le Pointeau 34 km · straight-line distance
On the clock
06:00 · 16:00 · 18:00 · 19:00
Gradient wind can be there at dawn, and the sea breeze adds to it through the afternoon. Modelled May-August wind runs near 7.5 kt at 06:00, 8.4 kt at midday and peaks near 10.5 kt around 18:00; across the year the share of hours over 12 kt goes from 20% overnight to 34% between 16:00 and 19:00. The tide still decides, so what you want is a low water in the second half of the day.
The marks are the clock times the record names, laid on a 24-hour day. The bar between the first and the last covers those hours; it is not a promise of wind.
The wind
Direction
Kite sizes
metres · typical quiver highlighted
Character
mixed
fills in: Gradient wind can be there at dawn, and the sea breeze adds to it through the afternoon. Modelled May-August wind runs near 7.5 kt at 06:00, 8.4 kt at midday and peaks near 10.5 kt around 18:00; across the year the share of hours over 12 kt goes from 20% overnight to 34% between 16:00 and 19:00. The tide still decides, so what you want is a low water in the second half of the day.
Typical strength
No mast at the dike. Modelled daylight hours reach 12 kt or more about 40% of the time from December through March and 18-25% from June to August. On a working day the range is roughly 14-22 kt, and winter depressions go well past that: 12-14% of December, January and March daylight hours are over 18 kt. Indicative.
Also on record
10
The quiver, in words
Read off the modelled wind range, not off a local kit count. For 75-85 kg on flat sandbank water: 12 m for the 14-18 kt days, 9 m from about 20 kt, 7 m for winter depressions, 15 m or a foil for the light easterlies that summer brings.Flat water lets you hold a size longer than you would on the ocean side. Indicative.
Direction to shore
The dike faces roughly east into the Baie de Bourgneuf. That makes E onshore, NE and SE cross-onshore, N side-shore along the bank, and the prevailing W to SW straight offshore, which is why this spot only works on the northern and eastern quadrant while Fromentine on the far coast takes the westerlies. Read off the coast orientation rather than a posted chart.
Dominant direction
The prevailing wind on this coast is W to WSW in every month of the year, and at the dike that is offshore. What the spot works in is the other half of the compass, N through SE, and those show up most often in April and in settled spring spells.That mismatch, not the wind strength, is what makes La Digue an occasional spot.
Forecast
Month by month
- Jan61
- Feb58
- Mar73
- Apr64
- May70
- Jun60
- Jul71
- Aug60
- Sep59
- Oct65
- Nov71
- Dec76
per cent of the month at force 4 or more
- 14Jan9°
- 14Feb10°
- 15Mar11°
- 14Apr13°
- 13May16°
- 12Jun20°
- 13Jul20°
- 12Aug21°
- 13Sep20°
- 14Oct18°
- 17Nov14°
- 15Dec11°
avg knots per month · water °C below · season highlighted
| Month | Force 4+ | Knots | From | Air | Water |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 61% | 14.2 kt | WSW | 7.2°C | 9.4°C |
| Feb | 58% | 13.9 kt | W | 8.7°C | 9.6°C |
| Mar | 73% | 14.7 kt | SW | 10.2°C | 10.6°C |
| Apr | 64% | 13.5 kt | NE | 11.7°C | 13.1°C |
| May | 70% | 12.6 kt | NE | 15.6°C | 16.4°C |
| Jun | 60% | 12 kt | WSW | 18.8°C | 19.9°C |
| Jul | 71% | 12.7 kt | NW | 19.9°C | 20.3°C |
| Aug | 60% | 12.1 kt | W | 20.5°C | 21.4°C |
| Sep | 59% | 12.8 kt | WSW | 18.1°C | 19.7°C |
| Oct | 65% | 13.9 kt | SW | 16°C | 17.5°C |
| Nov | 71% | 16.7 kt | W | 12°C | 13.6°C |
| Dec | 76% | 15.3 kt | ENE | 8.6°C | 10.5°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
tidal bay / sandbanks
Standing depth
Big flat lagoons at low tide at La Digue. The school zone out in the Gois, between Noirmoutier and Fromentine, is about +/-1 m deep with calm water over sandbanks around low tide, but that is the boat zone, not the public dike launch.
Tides
Everything here is tide. The public La Digue spot is rideable from about 1h after low tide for around 2h30. The Passage du Gois itself is safe only around low water, up to 1h30 before and after on higher coefficients and a much narrower window in bad weather or on low coefficients.
Temperature
19.5°C summer · 9.2°C winter
Wetsuit
Full wetsuit most of the year. Summer water around Noirmoutier is about 19-20 C; late-winter water is about 9-10 C, so winter sessions need a thick suit and accessories.
Currents
The tide is the hazard. It rises fast enough to trap people and cars on the estran; go out with someone who knows the bay.
Your level
The scene
What riders come here for
Launch and rules
three ways on to the water, and what each one asks of you
With a school or a boat
5 schools name this spot
On your own
Room to launch: Large flat sandbank lagoons at the right tide, but the usable window is short and no official map gives the safe rigging or exit area.
Somewhere else
Barbatre - Plage des Boucholeurs, 3 km
Every spot within 40 km is on the map at the top of this page, with its distance under it.
Rescue
Launch
Technical access/launch around the Gois dike and Baie du Gois sandbanks. Public Le Gois - La Digue is a distinct spot from the school-only boat-access Gois spot.
Space
Large flat sandbank lagoons at the right tide, but the usable window is short and no official map gives the safe rigging or exit area.
Rules & access
Access rules drift faster than anything else we hold — check locally, and propose an edit if this has changed.
Rider tips
- Do not treat this as the beginner option; Boucholeurs at Barbatre and Grande Cote at Fromentine are the learner beaches.
- Check low-tide time, the coefficient and the weather before you drive out; the Gois window is up to 1h30 either side of low water on big coefficients and much less on small ones or in bad weather.
- Go the first time with a rider or school that knows La Digue specifically, not just the wider Baie du Gois.
- Set a turnaround time before you launch: you have about 2h30 from 1h after low tide, and the flood comes in faster than you can walk out.
- Do not park on the Passage du Gois road or on the estran around it; Beauvoir-sur-Mer forbids it and the tide does not care about your car.
- Do not count on a rescue boat; the school boats cover their own students in their own zone.
- The nine causeway markers carry refuge platforms. Know where the nearest one is before the water starts moving.
- If there is fog, do not go out. It is what catches people on these flats, not the wind.
- Look for the oyster tables before you commit to a downwind run; the flats are worked at exactly the tide you ride.
- The day you want is an easterly quadrant with a low water in the afternoon, when the sea breeze is adding to it.
Getting there
Airport
Nantes Atlantique Airport (NTE)
Route
Reach Barbatre/Noirmoutier by road from Nantes via the bridge, or use Regional coach 13 from Nantes TGV station to Fromentine/Noirmoutier. Do not rely on crossing the Passage du Gois unless official low-tide, coefficient and weather guidance confirms a safe window.
Transfer
75 min
Cost level
medium
Staying
Stay in Barbatre, La Barre-de-Monts/Fromentine, Beauvoir-sur-Mer or elsewhere on Ile de Noirmoutier; the area is strongly seasonal.
No-wind days
Visit the Passage du Gois at a safe low-tide time, Noirmoutier salt marshes and villages, cycling, birding around bay/polder landscapes, Ile d'Yeu ferry trips from Fromentine, Pays de Monts forest and local heritage sites.
Photos
FAQ
Is it suitable for beginners?
No, the public spot is described as technical, and riders are advised to go with someone who knows the site rather than treat it as a first independent session.
What is the wind like?
North, northeast, east and southeast are the documented working directions for the public La Digue launch.
How does tide affect the session?
The spot is usable from about one hour after low tide for roughly two and a half hours, and the tide can rise quickly enough to trap people.
Are there rules?
As of 2026, the public La Digue area is open to all kitesurf and wingfoil riders, but parking on the Passage du Gois road and surrounding estran is forbidden.
Last updated: August 2026