Map › France › Pays de la Loire — La Turballe - Pen Bron to Pont-Mahé (Assérac) › Mesquer - Plage de Sorlock

Pays de la Loire · Loire-Atlantique - Mesquer / Quimiac · Mesquer

Mesquer - Plage de Sorlock

also known as Sorlock, Plage de Sorlock, Sorlok

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 Pont-Mahé (Assérac) 3 km · La Turballe - Pen Bron 13 km · La Baule - Plage Benoit 16 km · Saint-Brevin - Le Pointeau 30 km · Saint-Brevin - Les Rochelets 32 km · straight-line distance

SeasonApr to Septhe months riders and schools name How windy7-8 ktmixed LaunchSorlock is a large family sandy beach with six entrances; the kite launch itself is small.access rules on record, below Watersheltered bay beach18°C in summer · 10 things riders flag LevelBeginner to advancedwith a caveat, in the Level section Schools2named at this spot From the airport44 minSt. Nazaire Montoir (SNR)

On the clock

16:00 · 18:00 · 19:00

The daily curve is gentle. Modelled speed starts rising around midday, peaks between 16:00 and 18:00 about 2 kt above the overnight level, and falls back after 19:00. Most of the wind here is synoptic, so treat an afternoon build as a bonus rather than the plan. Indicative modelling, no local measurement.

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.

Sorlock is a sandy beach on the Mesquer / Quimiac coast, on Route de Merquel just short of Pointe de Merquel, facing the sheltered Baie de la Vilaine.

It is a tidal Atlantic bay beach and the tide decides your session: the sand widens and shrinks, and there are rocks to the north and south of the beach that you want to have seen before you rig. Which wind works is disputed.

South and southwest reportedly give the flattest sessions, north and west are also recommended, and nothing on record settles it. Nobody has quantified the wind either; April to September is the best window for the Loire-Atlantique coast in general, not a Sorlock figure.

The level rating is split the same way, beginner flat water on one reading and intermediate-to-expert chop and small waves on another, so go by the tide and the direction, not the label.

The beach has six accesses, summer lifeguards, toilets and a nautical channel; in July and August, launch and land through the channel on the left of the beach rather than across the bathing area; no kite-specific municipal rule was found.

Kites share the water with windfoils and wingfoils, and the water is 18.0 C in summer and 9.6 C in winter.

The wind

Direction

wind blows away from land — rescue cover matters here

Kite sizes

78910111213141516

metres · typical quiver highlighted

Character

mixed

fills in: The daily curve is gentle. Modelled speed starts rising around midday, peaks between 16:00 and 18:00 about 2 kt above the overnight level, and falls back after 19:00. Most of the wind here is synoptic, so treat an afternoon build as a bonus rather than the plan. Indicative modelling, no local measurement.

Typical strength

No local wind station. Modelled hourly wind for 2021-2025 in the bay averages 7-8 kt from June to September and 9-10 kt from November to March, with 12 kt or more in 8-17 per cent of summer hours against 23-31 per cent in winter. Counting days with at least three afternoon hours over 12 kt gives roughly 4-8 a month in summer and 10-13 a month from November to March. Indicative modelling, not a measurement at the beach.

Sheltered bay, calm on the right day, but chop and small waves are common rather than pure flat water.

April through September is the best window for the Loire-Atlantique coast in general; there is no Sorlock-specific figure.

The quiver, in words

Nothing is published from riders who use the beach. On the modelled band, a 75-85 kg rider would spend the summer on 12-14 m and reach a 9-10 m mainly in the autumn and winter westerlies. Indicative, derived from wind speeds rather than reported by anyone on site.

Direction to shore

The beach faces roughly WNW. NW comes in straight onshore and W is side-onshore from the right; N is side-onshore from the other side; SW is sideshore; S through SE blows off the land, which is where the flat-water reports come from and also what puts open bay behind you if you go down. NE is offshore.

Dominant direction

S and SW, reportedly; N and W are also recommended.

Forecast

Month by month

Jan49
Feb52
Mar58
Apr, riders' month49
May, riders' month47
Jun, riders' month37
Jul, riders' month49
Aug, riders' month47
Sep, riders' month46
Oct54
Nov61
Dec66

per cent of the month at force 4 or more

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

13Jan9°
13Feb10°
14Mar11°
12Apr13°
11May17°
11Jun20°
11Jul21°
11Aug21°
12Sep20°
12Oct17°
15Nov13°
13Dec10°

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

Month	Force 4+	Knots	From	Air	Water
Jan	49%	12.7 kt	WSW	6.9°C	8.9°C
Feb	52%	12.5 kt	W	8.5°C	9.8°C
Mar	58%	13.5 kt	SW	9.9°C	10.8°C
Apr	49%	12.2 kt	W	11.4°C	13.1°C
May	47%	11 kt	NE	15.1°C	16.7°C
Jun	37%	10.7 kt	W	18.3°C	19.8°C
Jul	49%	11.4 kt	W	19.3°C	20.6°C
Aug	47%	11.1 kt	WNW	19.9°C	21.4°C
Sep	46%	11.5 kt	WSW	17.6°C	19.7°C
Oct	54%	12.2 kt	SW	15.3°C	17°C
Nov	61%	14.6 kt	W	11.5°C	13.2°C
Dec	66%	13.4 kt	WSW	8.1°C	9.9°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

sheltered bay beach

Tides

Semidiurnal with a large range: about 5.2-5.3 m between low and high around a coefficient of 100, and roughly 2.4-3.1 m on neaps, two highs and two lows a day. The sand, the rocks and the swimming area all change with it, and the lifeguards re-mark the bathing limits as the water moves. Which state of tide suits kiting best is still unconfirmed.

Temperature

18°C summer · 9.6°C winter

Wetsuit

Summer shorty or light full suit; winter thick full suit with cold-water accessories.

9–21°C water

Flat water on a sheltered day in the Vilaine bay, chop and small waves on others; rocks around the beach.

Your level

beginnerintermediateadvanced

Rated beginner flat water on one reading and intermediate to expert on another; suitability depends on tide, wind direction and how much rock is showing.

The scene

What riders come here for

learningflat waterfoilwingfoilfreeride

Family beach with summer surveillance and a children's beach club; kite-specific crowd level is unconfirmed.

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: Sorlock is a large family sandy beach with six entrances; the kite launch itself is small.

access rules on record

Somewhere else

Pont-Mahé (Assérac), 3 km

Pont-Mahé (Assérac)La Turballe - Pen Bron La Baule - Plage Benoit

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

Rescue

VHF channel 16

Qualified lifeguards watch Sorlock daily from 1 July to 31 August, 12:00 to 19:00, under the 2021 municipal order. The limits of the swimming zone are set each day by the head lifeguard from the state of the tide and marked with blue triangular pennants planted at the water's edge and moved as the water moves.

Green flag means supervised, yellow or orange supervised but dangerous, red means no swimming anywhere on the beach, and no flag means nobody is watching. Outside those dates and hours there is no cover: 112 from a mobile, VHF channel 16, the sea rescue coordination centre at Etel on 02 97 55 35 35, or 18 for the fire service. There is no rescue boat on call for kitesurfers.

Launch

Sandy beach at Plage de Sorlock on Route de Merquel, reached from Mesquer or Quimiac heading toward the Pointe de Merquel. From 1 July to 31 August the middle of the beach is a lifeguarded swimming zone and craft are excluded from it: launch and land through the marked transit channel at the slipway on the western, southern edge of the beach, 40 m wide at the water and opening to 90 m offshore.Six accesses serve the beach, and the usable sand changes a lot between high and low water.

Space

Sorlock is a large family sandy beach with six entrances; the kite launch itself is small.

Rules & access

2021 municipal beach police order P/60/PM/2021 for the commune of Mesquer, which names kitesurfs directly. Bathing zones are closed to all sailing and motor vessels, to motorised nautical craft, and to unregistered craft including windsurf boards, boards, kayaks, sea canoes, kitesurfs, surfboards and bodyboards.

From 1 July to 31 August the supervised bathing zone at Sorlock measures 310 m along the sand and 155 m at its seaward edge, bounded to the north by the line of cadastral parcels 40 and 34 and the rocky platier, and to the south by the transit channel.

That channel is 40 m wide at the water's edge, opens to 90 m offshore, sits next to the beach access slipway on the west side, and is reserved for non-motorised light pleasure craft, sea kayaks, non-motorised sailboards and other non-motorised nautical craft: it is the way through. The order's provisions apply only while the buoyage is actually in place.

Flying a kite from the sand is on the list of things prohibited on every beach in the commune, dogs are banned from 15 June to 15 September, and motor vehicles may not drive on or park on the beach.

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

Rider tips

Look at the tide before you rig: the rocks to the north and south of the beach appear and vanish with the water, and so does the usable sand.
In July and August, launch and land through the channel on the left of the beach, never through the lifeguarded bathing area.
Ask locally whether any kite zoning is in force before a summer session; nothing municipal was found in writing.
Winter needs a thick full suit, boots and gloves; the water is 9.6 C.
In July and August, launch and land through the channel by the slipway at the western end, never through the lifeguarded bathing area.
Winter needs a thick full suit, boots and gloves; the water is around 9 C.
The rules bite only while the buoys and pennants are out, so read the beach before you assume the zone is where it was last week.
Southerly wind is the flat-water option and also the one that blows you away from the beach; keep something upwind of you.
Outside 1 July to 31 August nobody is watching: 112, VHF 16, or Etel on 02 97 55 35 35.

Getting there

Airport

St. Nazaire Montoir (SNR) 35 km, Nantes (NTE) 95 km, Rennes (RNS) 120 km.

Route

From the D774 into Mesquer, then north toward the Pointe de Merquel; Sorlock is before the point, on Route de Merquel. Saint-Nazaire Montoir is 38 km and about 45 minutes by road, Nantes Atlantique 94 km and about 80 minutes.

Transfer

44 min

Staying

Mesquer / Quimiac is a family seaside area with camping and beach tourism nearby; no kite-specific accommodation is listed.

No-wind days

Pointe de Merquel walk · GR34 coastal path · Parc naturel régional de Brière · beach activities at Sorlock

Photos

Pointe de Sorlok a Quimiac — Wolfgang Moroder, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

FAQ

Is Plage de Sorlock suitable for beginners?

One source describes it as a beginner flat-water spot in the sheltered Baie de la Vilaine, though others rate it intermediate to expert depending on tide, wind direction and rock exposure.

What wind works best at Sorlock?

South and southwest winds give the best flat-water sessions, though the spot can also turn choppy with small waves.

When is the best time to kite at Sorlock?

April through September is listed as the best season for the wider Loire-Atlantique region.

What are the main hazards?

Rocks toward the north and south of the beach are the main hazard, along with tidal changes in the beach width.

Are there kite schools nearby?

Yes, several schools operate in the area, including Tropikitesurf, Plaisir Kite and KiteCenter44.

Last updated: August 2026