Map › Italy › Abruzzo — Francavilla Foro to Tortuga Montesilvano › Madonnina di Pescara

Abruzzo · Pescara city north side of the harbour · Pescara

Madonnina di Pescara

also known as Arena del Mare, Madonnina del Porto, La Madonnina, Madonnina del porto

beginner-friendlymedium 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 Pescara Portanuova 1 km · Tortuga Montesilvano 5 km · Francavilla Foro 7 km · Stazione di Tollo 12 km · Spiaggia dei Saraceni 21 km · Fossacesia Marina 34 km · straight-line distance

SeasonJan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Sep, Oct, Nov, Decthe months riders and schools name How windy14 to 24 knotssynoptic Launchmediumaccess rules on record, below Watersea26°C in summer · 6 things riders flag LevelBeginner to intermediatewith a caveat, in the Level section Schools2named at this spot From the airport15 minAbruzzo Airport (PSR)

When it fills in

No daily cycle to plan around. The north-wind episodes are synoptic, not thermal, so the wind can already be up at first light and can hold for a day or more, and there is no afternoon sea breeze that fills the spot in on its own. You watch the forecast for the system, not the clock.

Madonnina is Pescara's home spot, a free beach called Arena del Mare on the north side of the harbour with parking straight onto the sand. It works only when the wind has north in it: north, north-west or north-east, which in practice means Maestrale, Tramontana or Grecale.

The port mole sits offshore and kills the swell, so the water stays flat with some chop and the odd small wave, and the depth is under 1 m a long way out. That makes it a flat-water and wakeboard spot rather than a wave spot, and the season is September to April, not summer.

The catch is the beach itself, which is free, urban and often dirty, so walk it before you put bare feet or a kite down. Coached beginners do fine; a first-timer on their own less so, with harbour structures close by. Kites in use are mostly 9 m and 12 m.

Makai runs lessons here when the direction and the season suit.

The wind

locals call it Maestrale, Tramontana, Grecale

Direction

wind blows away from land — rescue cover matters here

Kite sizes

7891011121314

metres · typical quiver highlighted

Character

synoptic

fills in: No daily cycle to plan around. The north-wind episodes are synoptic, not thermal, so the wind can already be up at first light and can hold for a day or more, and there is no afternoon sea breeze that fills the spot in on its own. You watch the forecast for the system, not the clock.

Typical strength

Indicative rather than measured, read off the 9 m and 12 m kites in normal use here: roughly 14 to 24 knots for a 75-85 kg rider on the days the north wind is in. There are no wind statistics for the spot itself. The nearest long-run station is inland at the airport, and its all-days annual mean of about 6 knots tells you nothing about a Maestrale day on the beach.

protected, relatively flat water in northerly winds; detailed steadiness unconfirmed

Rideable only when the wind has north in it: north, north-west and north-east. Best season September to April. A separate listing gives working directions as N, W and NW, and the W sector is unconfirmed.

The quiver, in words

9 m and 12 m.

Direction to shore

N and NW are generally cross-shore to side-off at the harbour-side beach; NE is side-onshore to onshore

Dominant direction

N, NW, NE

Forecast

Month by month

Jan, riders' month35
Feb, riders' month28
Mar, riders' month31
Apr, riders' month37
May16
Jun13
Jul14
Aug14
Sep, riders' month31
Oct, riders' month15
Nov, riders' month29
Dec, riders' month20

per cent of the month at force 4 or more

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

9Jan12°
9Feb12°
10Mar13°
10Apr16°
9May19°
9Jun24°
9Jul28°
9Aug29°
10Sep26°
8Oct22°
10Nov18°
9Dec14°

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

Month	Force 4+	Knots	From	Air	Water
Jan	35%	9.4 kt	NW	7.9°C	11.8°C
Feb	28%	9.3 kt	WNW	8.7°C	11.5°C
Mar	31%	9.6 kt	NW	10.6°C	13.4°C
Apr	37%	10.3 kt	NNW	13.3°C	15.7°C
May	16%	8.8 kt	NNW	18.4°C	18.8°C
Jun	13%	9 kt	ESE	23.5°C	24.1°C
Jul	14%	9.3 kt	NNW	27°C	28.3°C
Aug	14%	8.9 kt	NW	26.1°C	28.8°C
Sep	31%	9.7 kt	NW	21.7°C	25.9°C
Oct	15%	8.4 kt	NW	18.9°C	22°C
Nov	29%	9.7 kt	W	13°C	17.6°C
Dec	20%	8.7 kt	WNW	9.4°C	13.5°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

sea

Standing depth

Under 1 m; the seabed at the free beach is also described as low and shallow.

Tides

no spot-specific tide dependence found; Pescara tide tables show small Adriatic tidal ranges, commonly around a few decimetres

Temperature

26°C summer · 12°C winter

Wetsuit

Shorts or lycra in high summer; shorty in spring/autumn; full wetsuit in winter and colder shoulder months.

12–29°C water

Flat water behind the Pescara harbour protection. With Maestrale and Tramontana the sea never builds, because the port mole flattens it offshore; what you get is flat, chop or small waves.

Your level

beginnerintermediatenot for advanceds here

School courses take riders from age 6 with ordinary water confidence, but the spot itself rates intermediate, so a beginner without a school should not treat it as a first-day beach.

The scene

What riders come here for

flat waterlessonsfreeridewakeboard

Urban home spot for Pescara riders and the Makai school. How clean the beach is varies week to week.

Launch and rules

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

With a school or a boat

2 schools name this spot

See who they are

On your own

Room to launch: medium

access rules on record

Somewhere else

Pescara Portanuova, 1 km

Pescara Portanuova Tortuga Montesilvano Francavilla Foro

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

Rescue

No kite rescue. Arena del Mare is a free beach, and on free beaches the rescue service is the comune's to provide, in the periods and hours the maritime authority sets; where it cannot, it has to sign the beach with a notice that bathing is unsafe for lack of a rescue service.

The district ordinance, as published, carries the 2024 calendar: manned posts from 1 June to 15 September, 09:00 to 19:00, plus the last two weekends of May and of September, one qualified lifeguard per 150 m of frontage, each post carrying a rescue can or tube, a lifejacket, a boat marked SALVATAGGIO kept at the waterline and 200 m of floating line.

September to April, when this spot actually works, falls almost entirely outside that. At sea the free blue number is 1530 and the general emergency number is 112.

Launch

Free beach at Arena del Mare / Madonnina, immediately north of the Pescara port area, with parking directly on the spot.

Space

medium

Rules & access

Abruzzo Ordinanza Balneare 2026 sets the bathing period as 23 May 2026 to 20 September 2026. The Pescara Capitaneria di Porto maritime safety ordinance, covering the comuni of Pescara, Montesilvano and Citta Sant'Angelo, requires any kitesurf launch corridor to be authorised by the competent municipality, at least 500 m deep and 30 m wide at the shoreline, widening to 80 m from 250 m out and holding that to 500 m, marked with yellow or orange buoys on a floating line and signed on the beach at its mouth.

Kitesurfers are barred from the separate corridors and water areas reserved for launching small fishing and leisure craft. On free beaches the comune must provide the rescue service in the mandated periods and hours or post a notice that bathing is unsafe for lack of one.

Day-to-day rules for kitesurf and the other recreational water activities during the bathing season are referred to a separate specific regulation not contained in this ordinance.

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

Rider tips

Save Madonnina for north wind days; when it swings south, go to Portanuova.
Walk the free beach before you rig, because litter and foot hazards are a known problem here.
Stay well clear of the harbour structures, and check the corridor rules during the 2026 bathing season, 23 May to 20 September.

Getting there

Airport

Abruzzo Airport (PSR), Pescara

Route

Come at the north side of Pescara harbour and Arena del Mare from the city centre or the asse attrezzata. Parking is right at the spot.

Transfer

15 min

Cost level

medium

Staying

Central Pescara and the seafront have hotels, apartments and resort-style summer accommodation.

No-wind days

Pescara city, Ponte del Mare, Marina di Pescara, restaurants, Trabocchi Coast trips and inland Maiella or Gran Sasso excursions.

Photos

Spiaggia di Pescara - panoramio — maury3001, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

FAQ

When is the best time to kite Madonnina di Pescara?

September through April is the working season, since the spot only functions with north, northwest or northeast wind.

Is Madonnina di Pescara suitable for beginners?

A local school lists its course as suitable for all riders from age six, though another source marks the spot itself as intermediate, so independent beginners should go with a school.

What is the water like at Madonnina di Pescara?

The port mole flattens the offshore sea in northerly winds, giving comparatively flat water under 1 m deep near the free beach.

Are there rules at Madonnina di Pescara?

A 2025 Pescara maritime safety ordinance requires kitesurf launch corridors at least 500 m deep and 30 m wide and bans bathing inside them, within a bathing season set for 23 May to 20 September 2026.

Last updated: August 2026