Map › Spain › Barcelona coast › Montgat
Cataluña · Maresme
Montgat
also known as Platja de les Barques
Nearby Badalona - Platja dels Pescadors 3 km · Premia de Mar 7 km · Platja del Bogatell 10 km · Vilassar de Mar / Cabrera de Mar 11 km · Castelldefels 34 km · Segur de Calafell 64 km · Coma-ruga 71 km · straight-line distance
On the clock
15:00 · 17:00
On the clock
09:00 · 15:00 · 16:00 · 17:00
Sea-breeze clock on thermal days: it builds from mid-morning, is worth rigging for around midday, peaks between 15:00 and 17:00 and falls away at dusk. Modelled hourly means more than double from a dawn floor to a 15:00-16:00 maximum, and the regional breeze is described as running from about 09:00 to 17:00 with its peak just after noon. Synoptic E, NE and SW days ignore all of that and can blow at any hour.
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.
The wind
locals call it Garbi / Levante
Direction
Kite sizes
metres · typical quiver highlighted
Character
mixed
fills in: Sea-breeze clock on thermal days: it builds from mid-morning, is worth rigging for around midday, peaks between 15:00 and 17:00 and falls away at dusk. Modelled hourly means more than double from a dawn floor to a 15:00-16:00 maximum, and the regional breeze is described as running from about 09:00 to 17:00 with its peak just after noon. Synoptic E, NE and SW days ignore all of that and can blow at any hour.
Typical strength
No local measurement is published. The regional sea breeze that drives most afternoons is described at 2-7 m/s, roughly 4-14 knots, and modelled afternoon means for this stretch of coast sit at 6-9 knots by month. So the thermal days are light; the sessions that hold a big rider come from a synoptic E, NE or SW gradient, not from the breeze.
Thermal or synoptic
both
The quiver, in words
Indicative, derived from the wind range rather than from any local reporting: a 75-85 kg rider covers the ordinary sea-breeze afternoon with 12-17 m or a foil, and drops to 9-12 m on the synoptic E, NE or SW days that push past 18 knots.
Direction to shore
The beach faces roughly SE; E/NE are onshore to side-onshore, while SSW/SW Garbi is side to side-off depending on exact launch position.
Dominant direction
NE, E, SSW and SW.
Forecast
Month by month
- Jan18
- Feb18
- Mar29
- Apr23
- May, riders' month5
- Jun, riders' month25
- Jul, riders' month19
- Aug, riders' month19
- Sep, riders' month20
- Oct39
- Nov22
- Dec16
windy days per month (3 h+ at 12 kn+)
Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep.
- 18%Jan14°
- 18%Feb14°
- 29%Mar14°
- 23%Apr16°
- 5%May18°
- 25%Jun22°
- 19%Jul25°
- 19%Aug28°
- 20%Sep25°
- 39%Oct22°
- 22%Nov18°
- 16%Dec16°
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 | 18% | 23% | 23% | 9.1 kt | NNW | 11:00 | 9°C | 14.2°C | 62 |
| Feb | 18% | 26% | 25% | 9.7 kt | SSW | 15:00 | 10.5°C | 13.6°C | 57 |
| Mar | 29% | 45% | 42% | 11.2 kt | SSW | 16:00 | 12.7°C | 14.3°C | 62 |
| Apr | 23% | 40% | 32% | 10.7 kt | SSW | 15:00 | 14.3°C | 15.6°C | 60 |
| May | 5% | 23% | 21% | 9.2 kt | SSW | 14:00 | 17.9°C | 18.4°C | 62 |
| Jun | 25% | 42% | 33% | 10.5 kt | SSW | 16:00 | 22.5°C | 21.9°C | 60 |
| Jul | 19% | 35% | 27% | 10.5 kt | SSW | 15:00 | 25.4°C | 25.4°C | 62 |
| Aug | 19% | 40% | 34% | 10.6 kt | SSW | 16:00 | 26°C | 27.5°C | 62 |
| Sep | 20% | 45% | 35% | 10.7 kt | SSW | 16:00 | 21.9°C | 25.2°C | 60 |
| Oct | 39% | 52% | 47% | 12 kt | SW | 16:00 | 19.5°C | 22°C | 62 |
| Nov | 22% | 35% | 32% | 10.4 kt | SW | 14:00 | 14.6°C | 17.9°C | 60 |
| Dec | 16% | 21% | 19% | 9 kt | NNW | 12:00 | 10.6°C | 15.9°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
Mediterranean beach; no kite-source tide dependency found.
Temperature
25°C summer · 13°C winter
Wetsuit
Shorty or no wetsuit in high summer; full wetsuit in winter.
Your level
The scene
What riders come here for
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
On your own
Room to launch: Narrow and shrinking. Sand loss left only three of the six municipal beaches with a usable strip in 2026 and kept the guinguetes off the sand entirely.
Somewhere else
Badalona - Platja dels Pescadors, 3 km
Every spot within 40 km is on the map at the top of this page, with its distance under it.
Rescue
Launch
Platja de les Barques is one of three Montgat beaches with services in 2026, with les Roques and Can Tano; Toldos, Monsolís and Cala Taps have only unstable, broken strips of sand and are not recommended.Sand loss is the defining fact of this beach — one working shower, no beach bar installed at all in 2026 — so the usable strip is narrow and changes year to year. RENFE stations and metropolitan buses are a short walk away, and les Barques has the toilet, shower and footwash module.
Space
Narrow and shrinking. Sand loss left only three of the six municipal beaches with a usable strip in 2026 and kept the guinguetes off the sand entirely.
Rules & access
Access rules drift faster than anything else we hold — check locally, and propose an edit if this has changed.
Rider tips
- Check the exact wind angle at the launch before you pump; SW sectors go side-off on parts of the beach.
- Take the train for the wind check, then look at how much free sand there is before carrying kit down.
- Stay off it in the bathing season unless a marked, legal kite zone is up.
- Wear a full suit in winter, when the water sits near 13 C; a shorty or nothing covers high summer at 25 C.
- Ride the season you can and accept there is no cover: lifeguards work 1 June to 15 September, 10:00-19:00, and the rest of the year the beach is unwatched.
- Do not plan the trip around the thermal. Sea-breeze afternoons here average single-digit knots; the days that count come from a gradient E, NE or SW.
Getting there
Airport
Barcelona-El Prat Airport (BCN)
Route
Montgat is on the Maresme coast north of Badalona. RENFE stations and metropolitan buses sit a short walk from the serviced beaches, with accessible parking nearby, so the train is the honest way in; the coast road from Barcelona works too.
Cost level
medium
Staying
Montgat, Badalona and Barcelona-area accommodation.
No-wind days
Barcelona city sightseeing · Maresme beaches · SUP, surf or wingfoil when conditions allow
Photos
FAQ
Is it suitable for beginners?
No; spot guides list Montgat for intermediate and expert riders because of the waves, exposure and seasonal beach crowding.
What is the wind like?
Usable directions include NE, E, SSW and SW, producing conditions from flat water to chop and waves depending on strength and angle.
Are there rules?
Kitesurfing is reported as restricted or not allowed in summer, including July to September by one source, so current Ajuntament de Montgat rules should be checked before riding.
How do you get there?
Montgat sits on the Maresme coast north of Badalona, reachable by coastal road or by train from Barcelona.
Last updated: August 2026