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Les Arbousiers (Arcachon)

Nouvelle-Aquitaine · Bassin d'Arcachon · Gironde

also known as Plage des Arbousiers, Bassin d'Arcachon / Arbousiers

Part of Bassin d'Arcachon →

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

lagoonbeginner-friendlylow crowds

On this page

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

Riding essentials

Season

May–Oct

Months riders and schools name

How windy

under Typical strength, below

Character: mixed

Room to launch

Wide sand at low tide with room to lay out. At high water the beach shrinks to almost nothing against the stone parapet and there is no space to rig.

access rules on record, below

Water

lagoon

21–23 °C in summerAt low tide the sandbanks create a flat-water lagoon sheltered from much of the current

Hazards

Reported by riders

Level

Beginner to advanced

With a caveat: see Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Crowds

low crowds · busy Jun Jul Aug

Schools

named at this spot

From the airport

70 min

Bordeaux-Mérignac Airport (BOD)

When it fills in

Summer thermal commonly builds from early afternoon and lasts into late afternoon.

Nearbystraight-line distance

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

La Hume
Péreireno page yet
Béteyno page yet
Taussatno page yet
Saint-Briceno page yet
Cap Ferret ocean beachesno page yet

The spot

Les Arbousiers is Arcachon's town-beach kite spot on the south shore of the Bassin d'Arcachon, off Allée des Arbousiers, and it is a low-tide spot. As the water drops, the sandbanks turn the front of the beach into flat lagoons with most of the current taken out, which is what people come for and why it works for progression and freeride.

High tide versus low

At high tide it is a different place: chop, a current that gets serious on big coefficients, and a launch squeezed between the stone edge, the dyke and the moorings.

Wind and summer rules

The wind window runs SW through W to NW; June to August it is a thermal of 10-20 knots that builds from early afternoon, and September and October bring the Atlantic fronts. Avoid east wind, which makes getting back hard, and expect gusts near shore in S or NE. The summer rules are the thing to know: from 6 to 30 June the marked channel out through the 300 m band is open to kites all day, from 1 July to 31 August it is closed between 12:00 and 19:00, so you ride before noon or from 19:00 to sunset. The 2026 order number was not confirmed; read the board on the beach.

Skill levels

A beginner can learn here, but only at low tide and preferably with a school; the rest of the time it is intermediate at least.

The wind

locals call it Bassin d'Arcachon thermal plus Atlantic frontal flow

Direction

onshoreSW

Direction to shore

Side-shore to onshore depending on direction; the beach faces north-north-west and anything from SW round to N works.

Dominant direction

SW, WSW, W, WNW, NW

Kite sizes

567891011121314151617

metres · typical quiver highlighted

The quiver, in words

No local size chart is published for the spot. Indicative for a 75-85 kg rider, derived from the spot's own knot range rather than a local measurement: 12 m at the 10-14 kt bottom of the summer thermal, 9-10 m once it settles at 15-20 kt, 7-8 m on the autumn frontal days.

Character

mixed

When it fills in: see above ↑

Typical strength

10-20 in summer thermals; stronger frontal winds possible in autumn

Cleaner away from the immediate shore; gusty/devented near the beach obstacles in south or north-east winds.

Summer thermals are reported from June to August; September and October bring stronger depression/frontal winds.

Forecast

Live forecast

Windguru Windfinder Windy

Month by month

Jan39
Feb35
Mar42
Apr43
May, riders' month44
Jun, riders' month33
Jul, riders' month39
Aug, riders' month42
Sep, riders' month28
Oct, riders' month35
Nov47
Dec44

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

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

39%Jan12°
35%Feb12°
42%Mar13°
43%Apr14°
44%May17°
33%Jun20°
39%Jul22°
42%Aug23°
28%Sep22°
35%Oct20°
47%Nov16°
44%Dec13°

windy days per month (3 h+ at 12 kn+) · water °C below · season highlighted

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.

Every figure, month by monthWindy days · Force 4+ · 12 kn or more · Knots · Wind from · Peaks at · Air · Water · Readings

Month	Windy days	Force 4+	12 kn or more	Knots	Wind from	Peaks at	Air	Water	Readings
Jan	39%	60%	48%	14.4 kt	WNW	13:00	8 °C	12.2 °C	62
Feb	35%	47%	40%	13.2 kt	ESE	15:00	9.8 °C	12.1 °C	57
Mar	42%	71%	58%	15.4 kt	SW	14:00	11 °C	12.6 °C	62
Apr	43%	77%	67%	14.5 kt	NNW	17:00	13.3 °C	14.4 °C	60
May	44%	77%	69%	14.1 kt	NW	16:00	16.2 °C	16.9 °C	62
Jun	33%	77%	63%	12.9 kt	NW	17:00	19.2 °C	20.4 °C	60
Jul	39%	73%	60%	12.8 kt	NW	16:00	20.9 °C	21.9 °C	62
Aug	42%	76%	61%	13.6 kt	NW	17:00	21.5 °C	22.9 °C	62
Sep	28%	62%	42%	12.9 kt	ESE	14:00	19.4 °C	21.7 °C	60
Oct	35%	58%	52%	14.1 kt	ESE	14:00	16.4 °C	19.7 °C	62
Nov	47%	60%	55%	15.8 kt	W	13:00	12.1 °C	15.9 °C	60
Dec	44%	52%	45%	14.4 kt	W	11:00	9.5 °C	13 °C	62

How this is modelledmodelled · 2023-2024

A weather model's cell over this place, not a station on it. Good for comparing places, weaker for one beach.

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

At low tide the banks dry out and the lagoons between them are shallow enough to stand in across a wide area, which is the whole reason to come. At high tide the depth returns and you are swimming, with current in it.

Tides

Strongly tide dependent. Low tide is the one to plan for: flat lagoons between the sandbanks. High tide brings chop and current.

Temperature

21–23 °C summer · 9–16 °C winter

Modelled monthly average: 12–23 °C

Wetsuit

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

Currents

Current can be strong in the pass and at high tide, especially on larger tidal coefficients.

Conditions

At low tide the sandbanks create a flat-water lagoon sheltered from much of the current. At high tide the beach narrows near the shore structures and the water becomes choppy.

Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Low tide suits beginners and flat-water freeride. High tide, the current, the obstacles on the shore and the summer channel hours make it a technical spot, intermediate or experienced unless you pick your window.

The scene

What riders come here for

low-tide flat waterfreerideprogressionBassin d'Arcachon scenery

Town beach on the Bassin: local riders and a couple of schools, plus, in summer, everyone else with a towel or a boat.

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

See who they are

On your own

Room to launch: Wide sand at low tide with room to lay out. At high water the beach shrinks to almost nothing against the stone parapet and there is no space to rig.

Read the access rules

Somewhere else

11 spots nearby

All 11 spots within 40 km are under Nearby

Rescue

No kite-specific rescue service, but the SNSM Arcachon lifeboat station maintains year-round volunteer sea-rescue cover on the Bassin d'Arcachon, including outside the summer bathing season, and has trained with the local kite club on kite-specific rescue scenarios.

Launch

Sandy beach launch off Allée des Arbousiers, facing Cap Ferret. Rigging on the grass strip is tolerated; launching and landing from it are prohibited, so you carry the kite about thirty metres down to the sand.At low tide you then walk out onto the bank to get clear of the shore obstacles and into cleaner wind.The car park has a 2.1 m height barrier and is paid in summer.

Hazards riders report 10 reported

Wind

Gusty or devented wind near shore in south and north-east winds

Crowds and zones

Basin boat traffic
Narrow beach, stone edge, dyke, nearby houses and parking close to the launch
Moorings, anchored boats and corps-morts, especially in summer
Regulated seasonal channel and heavy summer boat traffic
Swimmers and beach users right at the launch in summer

Waves and currents

Exposed sandbanks and shifting channels at low tide
Strong tidal currents in the pass and at high tide

Other

Oyster-farm stakes on the banks
2.1 m height barrier at the beach car park

Rules & access

1 min read

2026: the kite rule sits inside Arcachon's municipal beach order, renumbered every year (recent seasons carried numbers such as n°2023/592; the 2026 number was not confirmed online). Les Arbousiers is the only Arcachon beach where kite and foil are allowed at all, and only through the marked channel out past the 300 m band.

June hours

From 6 to 30 June the channel and the water beyond it are open to kites all day.

July and August confusion

For July and August the texts in circulation do not agree: kite hours appear either as morning until noon plus 19:00 to sunset, or as after 19:00 only, and the end of the summer closure appears as 31 August, 1 September or 4 September. Corner flags on the channel are set out by whoever arrives first. Read the board on the beach before rigging.

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

Schools that ride here

Rider tips

Come at low tide: that is when the lagoon between the sandbanks is flat and there is room on the sand to rig.
Skip east wind; getting back to the beach in it is hard.
At high tide ride only if you are happy with the current, the chop and a launch with a stone edge and moorings behind you.
Read the channel signage before rigging in summer: from 1 July to 31 August the channel is closed to kites between 12:00 and 19:00, and the order is renumbered every year.
Watch for anchored boats and corps-morts on the way out, especially in July and August, and keep clear of the pass, where the current runs hardest.
Set up on the grass by the beach if you like, but launch and land from the sand; whether the grass is allowed for launching is disputed.
Read the channel signage before rigging in summer: the July-August hours are given differently in different texts, and the order is renumbered every year.
Set up on the grass by the beach if you like, but launch and land from the sand.
Look for oyster-farm stakes on the banks as the water drops; they sit right where the flat water is.
The car park barrier is 2.1 m, so a van with a box on the roof does not get in.

Getting there

Airport

Bordeaux-Mérignac Airport (BOD)

Route

Arcachon has TER and TGV trains from Bordeaux. By car it is about 66 km and roughly 1h10 from Bordeaux on the A63 and A660.

Transfer

70 min

Staying

Arcachon resort accommodation; no kite-specific lodging is listed.

No-wind days

Dune du Pilat · paddle or wing at Plage des Arbousiers · cycling around the Bassin d'Arcachon · boat trips on the Bassin

FAQ

Is it suitable for beginners?

Low tide can suit beginners and flat-water freeride, but high tide brings current and obstacles that make the spot more technical.

What is the wind like?

Southwest through west to northwest are the main directions, with summer thermals around 10-20 knots and stronger frontal wind in autumn.

How does tide affect the session?

Low tide exposes sandbanks that create a sheltered flat-water lagoon, while high tide narrows the beach and increases current and chop.

Are there rules?

As of 2026, summer riding uses a marked channel to transit beyond the 300 m band, though the exact time window varies by source, so check current signage.

The bigger pictureEverything about Bassin d'Arcachon

Last updated: August 2026