Map › Italy › Granelli & Marina di Modica › Marina di Modica

Sicilia · Modica coast, Ragusa province · Ragusa

Marina di Modica

also known as Marina di Modica Molo, Marina Modica

advanced onlymedium crowds

On this page

Wind
- Month by month
Forecast
Water
Level
The scene
Launch
- Rescue
Hazards
Rules & access
Schools
Tips
Getting there
Photos
FAQ

Nearby Tiki Beach (Pozzallo) 7 km · Santa Maria del Focallo 15 km · Granelli 21 km · Marina di Ragusa 21 km · Caucana 25 km · Punta Secca 27 km · Scoglitti 37 km · straight-line distance

Seasonno season namedthe months riders and schools name How windyno knot figure publishedsynoptic Launchmediumaccess rules on record, below Watersea24.8°C in summer · 4 things riders flag LevelIntermediate to advancedwith a caveat, in the Level section Schools6named at this spot From the airport91 minComiso (CIY)

When it fills in

No onset time is published for this spot.

The kite spot at Marina di Modica is the small molo on the Ragusa coast, where the sand banks on the right and the left work with NW and W sea. It is chop and small to medium waves on open sea, which makes it an intermediate spot with room for experts and a poor place to learn.

Strong active N and NW wind is what switches the banks on. Rip currents close inshore are reported and the pier is hard structure, so the level requirement is real. Tide is not a planning factor.

The winds you will hear named here are Ponente, Libeccio and Maestrale, and SW or W are the directions riders recommend for kiting. No best-month list, average wind speed or normal kite size has ever been published for this exact launch, so bring a spread of sizes and read the forecast yourself.

The wind

locals call it Ponente, Libeccio, Maestrale

Direction

Character

synoptic

Open sea: wind and wave. Reliability here has never been quantified.

SW and W are the winds to come for. The sand-bank setup at the molo also wants NW and W sea with active N and NW wind behind it.

Counts of windy days put roughly 129 a year at 4 Bft or more, with January to May and September to December the better stretch and June to August the weakest; a second reading calls March to November the season and a third describes this coast as very windy in summer on thermals, so nothing here is settled.

Strength

No knot figure is published for this spot.

Direction to shore

SW/W are the kite-recommended directions; N/NW are linked to wave/swell at the molo

Dominant direction

SW, W; N and NW for the molo/sand-bank wave setup

Forecast

Month by month

Jan47
Feb52
Mar66
Apr72
May49
Jun38
Jul25
Aug27
Sep44
Oct19
Nov50
Dec47

per cent of the month at force 4 or more

12Jan16°
12Feb15°
13Mar16°
14Apr17°
12May19°
10Jun23°
9Jul27°
10Aug28°
11Sep26°
9Oct24°
12Nov21°
11Dec18°

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

Month	Force 4+	Knots	From	Air	Water
Jan	47%	12.1 kt	WNW	11.7°C	16.1°C
Feb	52%	12.1 kt	WNW	11.8°C	15.4°C
Mar	66%	12.9 kt	WNW	13°C	15.7°C
Apr	72%	14 kt	WNW	15.2°C	16.8°C
May	49%	11.5 kt	W	18.7°C	19.2°C
Jun	38%	10.4 kt	W	23.9°C	23.3°C
Jul	25%	9.4 kt	W	27.1°C	26.7°C
Aug	27%	9.6 kt	W	26.5°C	28°C
Sep	44%	10.5 kt	W	24.1°C	26.3°C
Oct	19%	8.8 kt	WNW	21.2°C	23.8°C
Nov	50%	11.9 kt	WNW	17.1°C	21°C
Dec	47%	11.4 kt	WNW	13.8°C	17.8°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

Tides

tide independent

Temperature

24.8°C summer · 16°C winter

Wetsuit

boardshorts or light summer protection in high summer; full wetsuit in winter

Currents

Rip currents run close inshore and are described as strong. On a wide open bay with a pier at its centre they are the reason to keep checking your position downwind before you are committed.

15–28°C water

Sandy open-sea beach with chop and small to medium waves. Sand banks sit on both sides of the small pier and work with NW and W swell.

Your level

not for beginners hereintermediateadvanced

Intermediate and expert. Wave exposure, the pier structures and reported rip currents rule out unsupervised beginners.

The scene

What riders come here for

wavefreeridebump-and-jump

Small resort beach with lidos, restaurants and watersports; quieter outside the bathing season.

Launch and rules

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

With a school or a boat

6 schools name this spot

See who they are

On your own

Room to launch: medium

access rules on record

Somewhere else

Tiki Beach (Pozzallo), 7 km

Tiki Beach (Pozzallo)Santa Maria del Focallo Granelli

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

Rescue

No kite-specific rescue has been found: no club boat, no posted number, and the beach club on the sand advertises loungers, showers and a pizzeria but no water sports and no assistance. Sea emergencies in Italy go to the Coast Guard on 1530.

Launch

Sandy beach about 700 m long, with a medium launch and landing area. Riders use both sides of the small molo when the wave setup is working.

Space

medium

Rules & access

2026: no bathing ordinance covering the Modica shoreline has been obtained. The 300 m text that circulates for this coast belongs to the Gela maritime district, which by its own wording covers only the comuni of Gela and Butera, so it does not govern Marina di Modica. What that neighbouring ordinance requires is still the shape to expect in Sicily: a strip up to 300 m off the shoreline reserved for bathers, with kite and windsurf transit banned inside it from 08:00 to sunset; launch and landing in that strip only inside an authorised buoyed corridor, 30 m wide at the sand widening to 80 m by 100 m out and marked with orange buoys; body drag only through the first 100 m, one rider at a time, priority to whoever is coming in; free launching only on beaches empty of bathers; white buoys marking the 1.60 m safe-water limit for non-swimmers; minimum age 14; a buoyancy aid and a working quick release worn throughout. Ask on the beach or at the local maritime office which of this is actually enforced here before you rig.

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

Rider tips

Treat the molo as a wave and sand-bank spot, not a school lagoon.
Check the swell as well as the wind: the banks need NW or W sea to break.
Leave a wide margin around the pier and the hard structures either side of it.
In summer, find the current launch corridor and see where the bathers are before you rig: from 08:00 to sunset the 300 m bathing strip is closed to kite transit (2026).
In summer, find the current launch corridor and see where the bathers are before you rig.
The 300 m closure you will read quoted for this coast comes from the Gela district ordinance, which covers only Gela and Butera. Ask locally which rule and which hours apply at Marina di Modica.
Rips run close inshore. Look at where the water is moving before you walk in, and pick a landing spot upwind of where you want to end up.

Getting there

Airport

Comiso (CIY) nearest; Catania-Fontanarossa (CTA) larger practical option

Route

Drive in via Modica or Pozzallo, or take the Catania Airport bus links toward Pozzallo and Modica and finish by local taxi. Comiso is the nearest airport, Catania the more practical one for most arrivals.

Transfer

91 min

Cost level

medium

Staying

Beach apartments, holiday rentals and lidos in Marina di Modica; broader accommodation in Modica, Scicli and Pozzallo.

No-wind days

Modica · Scicli · Ragusa Ibla · Sampieri beach · Pozzallo · restaurants and beach clubs in Marina di Modica

Photos

Spiaggia di Marina di Modica — Davide Mauro, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

FAQ

Is Marina di Modica suitable for beginners?

No, it is labeled for intermediate riders and experts because of wave exposure, pier structures and reported rip currents close to shore.

What is the wind like at Marina di Modica?

Southwest and west are the recommended kiting winds, while north and northwest wind is linked to the wave and sand-bank setup at the small pier.

What are the hazards at Marina di Modica?

Rip currents close to shore, rocks or hard structures near the pier, and waves are the main reported hazards, alongside seasonal swimmers and beach-club traffic.

Are there rules at Marina di Modica?

A 2026 Ragusa/Gela Coast Guard ordinance reserves the first 300 m from shore for bathers during the bathing season and prohibits kitesurf transit in that zone from 08:00 to sunset.

Last updated: August 2026