Map › Italy › Lido Manfria

Sicilia · Gulf of Gela · Caltanissetta · Gela

Lido Manfria

also known as Mood Kite Spot, Terramanfria, Piana Marina

advanced onlylow crowds

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 Torre di Gaffe 29 km · Scoglitti 33 km · straight-line distance

SeasonMar to Novthe months riders and schools name How windy15-25 ktmixed Launchlargeaccess rules on record, below Watersea24.2°C in summer · 11 things riders flag LevelIntermediate to advancedwith a caveat, in the Level section Schools1named at this spot From the airport98 minCatania Fontanarossa (CTA)

When it fills in

No onset time is published for this spot.

Lido Manfria sits on the Gulf of Gela, an open sandy beach that most people find under the name Mood Kite Spot at Piana Marina. The useful wind sits between SSW and W.

In summer a SW thermal runs around 16-20 knots and it is frequent and steady enough that a July week is a fair bet; frontal wind in spring and autumn is a different animal and can pass 30 knots.

Sandy seabed, chop and waves once the west wind is on, which is why this is an intermediate-and-up beach rather than a place to learn. Tide does not come into it. NW/Maestrale reportedly does not work here, so a forecast full of Maestrale means driving west toward Licata.

Two things stay open: who comes to get you if you go down, and where the kite corridor actually runs during the 2026 bathing season.

The wind

locals call it Ponente, Libeccio, frontal winds

Direction

cross-onSW

Kite sizes

4567891011121314151617

metres · typical quiver highlighted

Character

mixed

Typical strength

15-25 kt from March to October, mostly thermal, with the summer SW sitting around 16-20 kt. November to February is the frontal season and runs 20-40 kt.

The summer SW thermal is frequent and fairly constant. Frontal wind is stronger and far less predictable.

March to October is the thermal season at 15-25 kt. November to February is the frontal season, stronger and far less predictable, at 20-40 kt. April to July is the window quoted for the Terramanfria launch on the Gela seafront, May to September for Manfria itself, with frontal winds frequent in spring and autumn.

Thermal or synoptic

both

The quiver, in words

Indicative for a 75-85 kg rider, derived from the wind ranges rather than measured on the sand: 10-12 m at the light end of the March-October thermal, 8-9 m once it settles into 16-20 kt, 6-7 m on a 25 kt day, 5 m or under in the November-February frontal wind past 30 kt.The 5.0-5.5 figure that circulates for this coast is a windsurf sail size quoted for the Terramanfria launch, not a kite size.

Direction to shore

West-sector winds arrive side-onshore, which is what makes the beach usable. NW/Maestrale reportedly does not work here.

Dominant direction

SW, WSW, W

Forecast

Month by month

Jan34
Feb44
Mar, riders' month48
Apr, riders' month47
May, riders' month24
Jun, riders' month20
Jul, riders' month32
Aug, riders' month34
Sep, riders' month35
Oct, riders' month18
Nov, riders' month37
Dec34

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

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

34%Jan15°
44%Feb15°
48%Mar16°
47%Apr17°
24%May19°
20%Jun24°
32%Jul27°
34%Aug27°
35%Sep25°
18%Oct23°
37%Nov20°
34%Dec17°

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	34%	47%	42%	12 kt	W	16:00	10.8°C	15.4°C	62
Feb	44%	53%	49%	12.6 kt	W	16:00	11.1°C	14.9°C	57
Mar	48%	63%	56%	13.6 kt	W	16:00	12.9°C	15.8°C	62
Apr	47%	58%	53%	13.7 kt	W	15:00	15.9°C	17°C	60
May	24%	48%	40%	11.7 kt	WSW	14:00	19.7°C	19.4°C	62
Jun	20%	33%	32%	10.2 kt	WSW	15:00	25.4°C	23.7°C	60
Jul	32%	35%	35%	11 kt	WSW	15:00	28.4°C	26.7°C	62
Aug	34%	60%	44%	12.7 kt	WSW	15:00	27.5°C	27.4°C	62
Sep	35%	47%	47%	11.5 kt	W	15:00	24.4°C	25.4°C	60
Oct	18%	34%	24%	9.9 kt	W	15:00	21.1°C	23.2°C	62
Nov	37%	48%	40%	11.5 kt	W	16:00	16.4°C	20°C	60
Dec	34%	55%	50%	12.1 kt	W	16:00	13°C	16.6°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

sea

Tides

Tide reportedly makes no difference to a session here.

Temperature

24.2°C summer · 15.9°C winter

Wetsuit

Summer water is warm enough for shorts; winter sits around 16 C, so bring a full suit.

Currents

Open beach with no shelter, and a coastal current can run along the shore.

15–27°C water

Open sandy beach on the Gulf of Gela with a sandy bottom at Piana Marina/Manfria. When the west wind is working you get chop and waves.

Your level

not for beginners hereintermediateadvanced

Intermediate and up, with experts getting the most out of it. West-wind waves, chop and hard frontal days keep it off the beginner list.

The scene

What riders come here for

wavefreeridejumping

Quiet and empty most of the year. What scene exists runs through the school at Mood Beach Club.

Launch and rules

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

With a school or a boat

1 school names this spot

See who they are

On your own

Room to launch: large

access rules on record

Somewhere else

Torre di Gaffe, 29 km

Torre di Gaffe Scoglitti

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 rescue boat at the beach club, and the club's own courses cover self-rescue technique only. Public cover is the Guardia Costiera: the Gela operations room is staffed 24 hours on 1530 (free), on 112, or on 0933 917755, and on VHF channel 16. Through the bathing season the lifeguard duty sits with the beach establishments, not with the open beach.

Launch

Wide sandy beach at Piana Marina, Manfria, with the beach club at Via Torre di Manfria 33 and plenty of room to lay kites out. The seabed is fine compact sand with no rock breaking the surface. Terramanfria, the older west-wind launch, is a different beach: it sits at Lido Copacabana on the Gela seafront, east of here.

Space

large

Rules & access

2026 Guardia Costiera Gela bathing-safety ordinance 13/2026, dated 1 June 2026. Through the bathing season the band out to 300 m from the waterline is reserved for bathers and marked with red buoys 50 m apart.

Kitesurf may not be sailed inside that 300 m band, nor beyond 1 nautical mile from the coast, nor within 1,000 m of a harbour entrance, 200 m of fixed installations, set nets, fish farms, navigation marks or diver-flag floats, 400 m of vessels at anchor in the Gela roadstead, or 2,000 m of ships manoeuvring in or out of Porto Isola.

Crossing the bathers' band has to happen inside an authorised launch corridor: 30 m wide at the sand, widening to 80 m by 100 m offshore and holding that width to the 300 m limit, edged by orange buoys no more than 20 m apart.

Inside a corridor you body-drag the first 100 m, one kite at a time, riders coming in have priority, swimming is banned and use is free of charge. Launching without a corridor is permitted only on beaches and stretches of water clear of bathers. Daylight hours only.

Minimum age 14, waived for federation school activity. A permanently worn flotation aid, a working quick-release and a line cutter are compulsory; lines go on only just before launch and come off on landing; a kite left unattended must have one wingtip disconnected and the lines wound onto the bar.

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

Rider tips

Write off NW/Maestrale days unless a local operator tells you otherwise that morning.
Ask at Mood Beach Club, or read the posted signage, for the active summer corridor before you pump.
On west frontal days rig for the gusts, not the average; these sessions pass 30 knots.
Catania Fontanarossa (CTA) is about 98 minutes out by road, so plan on a car or a bus to Gela.
In the bathing season you body-drag the first 100 m of the corridor, one kite at a time, and riders coming in go first.
Save 1530 and 0933 917755 before you go out; there is no boat on this beach.
Do not confuse this launch with Terramanfria, which is a separate beach on the Gela seafront.

Getting there

Airport

Catania Fontanarossa (CTA)

Route

Nothing awkward about the access. Drive from Catania Airport, or take a bus to Gela and go on from there.

Transfer

98 min

Cost level

medium

Staying

Hotels and rentals around Manfria and Gela. Nothing kite-specific is listed.

No-wind days

Gela and Manfria beaches · Torre di Manfria · drive west toward Licata or Agrigento coast

Photos

Manfria - panoramio — www.gironavigando.it, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

FAQ

When is the best time to kite at Lido Manfria?

March through November covers the season, with a fairly frequent and constant SW thermal in summer around 16-20 knots.

Is it suitable for beginners?

No, the spot is marked for intermediate riders and experts, given the wave, chop and strong frontal-wind conditions.

What is the wind like?

SW to W winds are the useful directions; NW/Maestrale is reported as unsuitable, and frontal winds can exceed 30 knots.

Are there rules to know?

In 2026 the Gela bathing-safety ordinance restricts summer navigation to permitted corridors or areas free of bathers.

Last updated: August 2026