Map › France › Haute-Savoie › Plage d'Albigny

Lacs alpins e intérieurs · Haute-Savoie, Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes · Upper Savoy · Annecy-le-Vieux / Annecy

Plage d'Albigny

also known as Albigny, Petit Port Annecy, Le Petit Port - Annecy-le-Vieux

advanced onlyhigh crowds

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

On this page

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

Nearby Bout du Lac - Doussard 14 km · Lake Bourget | Aix Beach 31 km · Lac du Bourget - Cap des Ceselets 34 km · straight-line distance

SeasonJan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Oct, Nov, Decthe months riders and schools name How windy12-17 knotsmixed LaunchConstrained public urban beach bordered by large trees to the northeast, the sailing-club parking/UNCA area to the northwest and a supervised swimming zone nearby in summer.access rules on record, below Waterfreshwater lake18-26°C in summer · 12 things riders flag LevelIntermediate to advancedwith a caveat, in the Level section Schools3named at this spot From the airportno transfer time published

On the clock

13:50

Afternoon, reportedly: the lake thermal is an afternoon wind and one logged Albigny session got going around 13:50.

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.

Albigny is the south-wind spot on Lake Annecy: a grass public beach at the Petit Port end of Annecy-le-Vieux where the local foil riders go when a southerly fills in, typically 12-17 knots, and the water gets choppy fast.

The bise from the north runs 10-14 knots and sometimes up to 25, but Albigny sits in its shelter, so a bise day is usually not an Albigny day.

This is a foil spot more than a twintip spot, and an urban one: big trees to the north-east, the UNCA sailing club and its parking to the north-west, and a buoyed swimming rectangle right next to the departure area in summer.

It is legally open all year from sunrise to sunset, but in July and August you are asked to walk around the basin and launch farther upwind from the end of the dyke, and a buoyancy vest is mandatory for kiting on the lake.

The rideable window is short and the wind is a mountain-lake wind, so the useful season is the cold half of the year, October to April, when the beach is empty and the southerlies come through. Nobody teaches kite here; no kite school or rental in Annecy is on record. If you cannot self-launch cleanly on a crowded lawn, skip it.

The wind

locals call it bise

Direction

Kite sizes

7891011121314151617

metres · typical quiver highlighted

Character

mixed

fills in: Afternoon, reportedly: the lake thermal is an afternoon wind and one logged Albigny session got going around 13:50.

Typical strength

South wind sessions run 12-17 knots; bise runs around 10-14 knots and sometimes up to 25 knots.

Opportunistic and urban; south wind can be good, north wind is more sheltered at Albigny, and Lake Annecy wind is not consistently strong.

Open all year by the rules, sunrise to sunset, but in practice this is a winter south-wind spot: in summer the beach belongs to the swimmers.

Thermal or synoptic

synoptic

The quiver, in words

One logged session: foil with a 9 m in 12-17 knots, and the foil plus an 11 m still worked when it dropped. Not enough data for a full range.

Direction to shore

Albigny is the south-wind spot: south comes onto Plage d'Albigny, while north (bise) reportedly crosses the bay as a traverse and reaches Albigny sheltered.

Dominant direction

South gives the best Albigny setup; north/bise can also work but is more protected at Albigny.

Forecast

Month by month

riding season from the spot record · no wind series here is trusted enough to name a season

Jan, riders' month5
Feb, riders' month5
Mar, riders' month2
Apr, riders' month12
May8
Jun2
Jul0
Aug2
Sep3
Oct, riders' month3
Nov, riders' month5
Dec, riders' month2

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

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

The model is wrong here

The model reads 12% of days at its best month, which does not sit with the season and the wind strength this record states. The figures are kept and drawn as hatching so no wind colour can be read off them, and the ringed months are the ones riders name.

Month	Windy days	Force 4+	12 kn or more	Knots	From	Peaks at	Air	Readings
Jan	5%	21%	18%	6.9 kt	NW	14:00	3.3°C	62
Feb	5%	12%	9%	6.4 kt	NW	16:00	5.4°C	57
Mar	2%	16%	15%	7.7 kt	NW	14:00	7.9°C	62
Apr	12%	22%	12%	8.1 kt	NW	16:00	9.7°C	60
May	8%	18%	11%	8.5 kt	NW	16:00	15°C	62
Jun	2%	13%	8%	8.3 kt	NNW	16:00	19.7°C	60
Jul	0%	8%	3%	6.5 kt	W	16:00	22.1°C	62
Aug	2%	8%	5%	6.6 kt	W	15:00	22.7°C	62
Sep	3%	10%	7%	6.6 kt	NW	16:00	17°C	60
Oct	3%	8%	5%	6.2 kt	NW	15:00	14.6°C	62
Nov	5%	12%	12%	6.9 kt	SE	13:00	7.6°C	60
Dec	2%	10%	6%	6 kt	NW	15:00	4.5°C	62

riders' months

Riders and schools name these months. The model reads lower here, and both are shown rather than averaged.

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

freshwater lake

Tides

No sea tide; Lake Annecy is a regulated inland lake with seasonal level management.

Temperature

18-26°C summer · 2-10°C winter

Wetsuit

Full wetsuit outside warm summer conditions; cold-water gear in winter.

Clear fresh water on an urban stretch of Lake Annecy, the Petit Port bay. Riders walk out across the bay to get away from the shore; by the rock at the end of the jetty there is enough depth to start on a foil.

Your level

not for beginners hereintermediateadvanced

Rated intermediate. In south wind the water gets agitated fast; a beginner should only be out here in very light wind, and even then it is a poor place to learn.

The scene

What riders come here for

foilopportunistic sessionswinter south-wind sessionsopportunistic urban lake sessions

An urban lakefront shared with swimmers and tourists, the sailing club and the local foil crowd. It only works if you launch with discipline.

Launch and rules

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

With a school or a boat

3 schools name this spot

See who they are

On your own

Room to launch: Constrained public urban beach bordered by large trees to the northeast, the sailing-club parking/UNCA area to the northwest and a supervised swimming zone nearby in summer.

access rules on record

Somewhere else

Bout du Lac - Doussard, 14 km

Bout du Lac - Doussard Lake Bourget | Aix Beach Lac du Bourget - Cap des Ceselets

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

Rescue

No dedicated kite rescue service is on record; respect UNCA boat movements and the supervised bathing zone.

Launch

Grass beach at the Petit Port end of Annecy-le-Vieux. Outside summer you can rig on the preparation lawn and go straight in; in July and August riders raise the kite, walk around the basin and start upwind from the end of the dyke. In a south wind the sheltered water behind the dyke is the place to get in.Park in the large car parks across the avenue du Petit Port, though in winter parking at the launch itself is tolerated for riders; the sailing club's boats have priority on the slipway and in the parking either way.

Space

Constrained public urban beach bordered by large trees to the northeast, the sailing-club parking/UNCA area to the northwest and a supervised swimming zone nearby in summer.

Rules & access

2026: Plage d'Albigny / Annecy-le-Vieux is open all year from sunrise to sunset, and Le Petit Port carries the FFVL label. Riders are asked for maximum caution and respect toward other users; in July and August you raise the kite, then walk around the basin and start farther upwind from the end of the dyke. A buoyancy or life jacket is mandatory for kitesurf on Lake Annecy. The buoyed swimming rectangle beside the departure zone is to be avoided even when empty. Kitefoil is reported as no longer authorised on the lake, though the regulation is unclear and foils are commonly seen off Albigny, so check before you rig one.

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

Rider tips

Park in the big car parks across the road, not the small lakeside technical parking by the club.
In July and August walk around the basin and launch upwind from the end of the dyke; the buoyed swimming rectangle is off limits even when nobody is in it.
Wear the buoyancy vest, it is mandatory for kite on Lake Annecy, and give way to the UNCA boats when they are moving.
South wind is the Albigny wind: expect 12-17 knots and choppy water within minutes, so bring the foil; one logged session was a 9 m on the foil, with an 11 m still manageable in the lull.
Watch the club anemometer before you drive over; the window is usually an afternoon one (a logged session got going around 13:50) and it does not last.
In bise, 10-14 knots and sometimes 25, Albigny is in the shelter; that is a day for another lake spot.
There is no kite club and nowhere to rent in Annecy, so bring the whole kit, buoyancy vest included.
In south wind get in behind the dyke rather than off the open lawn; the bay roughens up fast.
The kitefoil rule on the lake is murky. Ask the club or the local riders before you turn up with one.

Getting there

Airport

Geneva Airport or Lyon-Saint Exupery Airport

Route

Head for the Petit Port/Albigny lakefront in Annecy-le-Vieux. Park in the larger car parks across the road; the small lakeside technical parking is not for kiters.

Cost level

high

Staying

Hotels, apartments and campsites around Annecy and the Lake Annecy shore.

No-wind days

cycling around Lake Annecy · paddle and swimming in season · sailing and boat trips · hiking in the Bauges and Bornes mountains · Annecy old town

Photos

Kitesurfing @ Plage d'Albigny @ Lake Annecy (37083781582) — Guilhem Vellut from Annecy, France, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Last updated: August 2026