Map › Spain › Playa de Cabo de Gata

Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park, Almería · Almeria - Cabo de Gata · Cabo de Gata

Playa de Cabo de Gata

also known as Cabo de Gata, Playa de San Miguel

flat waterbeginner-friendlymedium crowds

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

On this page

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

Nearby Los Genoveses 7 km · Retamar 16 km · Playa de Costacabana 21 km · El Zapillo 26 km · Las Salinas 36 km · straight-line distance

SeasonApr to Septhe months riders and schools name How windyno knot figure publishedmixed Launchbigaccess rules on record, below Waterflat, chop, small waves and medium waves on a long open beach with fine pebbles20.9-25.5°C in summer · 5 things riders flag LevelBeginner to advancedwith a caveat, in the Level section Schools4named at this spot From the airport34 minAlmeria Airport (LEI)

When it fills in

No onset time is published for this spot.

Playa de Cabo de Gata is a long open beach on the Almeria coast, between the village of Cabo de Gata and the Las Salinas salt pans, and all of it sits inside Cabo de Gata-Nijar Natural Park. Launch space is never the problem: the beach is very long and wide, with fine pebbles rather than soft sand.

What you get on the water depends on direction: W and SW put small to medium waves on the shore, while S and SSE leave it flatter and choppy. The sideshore angles are NNW and SSE.

Levante and Poniente are the regional winds, but nobody has published wind statistics for this beach, so the April to September window is inherited from the coast rather than measured here. Tide does not matter.

Sea temperature runs 20.9-25.5 C in summer, warmest in August, and 14.8-16.5 C in winter, which is a shorty for most of the season and a full suit in the cold months. Services along this stretch are thin compared with the city beaches, and the dunes, the birds and the seabed are protected, so read the signage before you rig.

The wind

locals call it Levante/Poniente regional winds

Direction

cross-shore

Character

mixed

Levante from the east and Poniente from the west are the two regional winds. No spot-specific season, knot range or onset time is published for Playa de Cabo de Gata, so the months come from the coast rather than from this beach.

Strength

No knot figure is published for this spot.

Direction to shore

Sideshore with NNW and SSE.

Forecast

Month by month

Jan57
Feb71
Mar74
Apr, riders' month69
May, riders' month65
Jun, riders' month73
Jul, riders' month60
Aug, riders' month71
Sep, riders' month82
Oct66
Nov49
Dec43

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.

14Jan16°
16Feb16°
17Mar16°
15Apr18°
14May20°
15Jun22°
13Jul26°
14Aug28°
15Sep26°
15Oct21°
13Nov18°
12Dec17°

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

Month	Force 4+	Knots	From	Air	Water
Jan	57%	13.5 kt	NE	13.3°C	16.2°C
Feb	71%	15.5 kt	NE	14.1°C	15.7°C
Mar	74%	17.4 kt	WSW	15.6°C	15.8°C
Apr	69%	15.3 kt	WSW	17.3°C	17.5°C
May	65%	14.4 kt	WSW	20.1°C	19.5°C
Jun	73%	15.3 kt	WSW	24.1°C	22°C
Jul	60%	13.1 kt	E	27.4°C	25.8°C
Aug	71%	13.8 kt	ENE	28.2°C	27.6°C
Sep	82%	15 kt	WSW	24.5°C	25.5°C
Oct	66%	14.7 kt	WSW	21.7°C	21.2°C
Nov	49%	12.6 kt	WSW	17.4°C	18.2°C
Dec	43%	11.5 kt	NE	14.3°C	16.8°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

flat, chop, small waves and medium waves on a long open beach with fine pebbles

Tides

Tide does not change the kitesurfing here.

Temperature

Summer 20.9-25.5 monthly averages, warmest in August

Winter 14.8-16.5 monthly averages

Wetsuit

long wetsuit in winter, shorty or shorts in summer, shorty in shoulder seasons

16–28°C water

Small to medium waves turn up with W and SW wind. S and SSE leave it flatter, chop rather than swell.

Your level

beginnerintermediateadvanced

Beginners get a big open launch and flat-to-choppy water on S and SSE. The wave days on W and SW are for riders who can handle shore break. It is not an advanced-only beach.

The scene

What riders come here for

beginnerfreeridebump and jumpsmall waves

A natural-park beach next to a small village, without the resort machinery of the Almeria city spots.

Launch and rules

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

With a school or a boat

4 schools name this spot

See who they are

On your own

Room to launch: big

access rules on record

Somewhere else

Los Genoveses, 7 km

Los Genoveses Retamar Playa de Costacabana

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

Launch

Very long, wide beach of fine pebbles. Space is never the problem here.

Space

big

Rules & access

2026: the beach lies inside Cabo de Gata-Nijar Natural Park. No kitesurf-specific rule is published, so what governs the spot is the protected-area access rules, the posted beach signage and keeping off the dunes and the bird areas.

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

Rider tips

Read the beach signage before rigging; this is natural-park coastline and the access rules apply on land as well as on the water.
Rig well clear of the dunes, the vegetation and the bird areas around Las Salinas. There is enough beach that you never need to be near them.
Take S or SSE days if you want it flat, and expect shore break when the wind swings W or SW.
Bring water and food: the village is small and there is little along the beach.
Drive out from Almeria through Retamar, about 29 km from LEI and roughly 34 minutes.

Getting there

Airport

Almeria Airport (LEI)

Route

Drive east out of Almeria through Retamar, then southeast to Cabo de Gata: about 29 km by road from Almeria Airport and roughly 34 minutes.

Transfer

34 min

Cost level

medium

Staying

Small-village and natural-park accommodation around Cabo de Gata and Retamar, or a base in Almeria. There is no kite resort here.

No-wind days

Cabo de Gata-Nijar Natural Park beaches and coves · birdwatching at Las Salinas · snorkeling or diving when sea state allows · Almeria city

Photos

named Cabo de Gata coast, 175m — efepunto / CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

titled Playa (beach) del Corralete, 175m — Susana80 / CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

lighthouse landmark at the point, 266m — frankblacknoir / CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

FAQ

When is the best time to kite Cabo de Gata?

April through September, though no reliable spot-specific wind statistics have been published.

Is Cabo de Gata suitable for beginners?

Yes, it is listed as suitable for any level, with a big launch area and mixed flat, chop and wave conditions.

What is the wind like at Cabo de Gata?

Levante from the east and Poniente from the west are the two regional winds; W and SW winds can bring small to medium waves.

Are there rules or restricted zones at Cabo de Gata?

The beach lies inside Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park, so protected-area access rules and local signage apply, though no kite-specific rule was verified.

Are there kite schools at Cabo de Gata?

Yes, including Yourtimealmeria Kitesurf, Blue Surf Center, Bora Kite School and EPIC Kiteschool Almería.

Last updated: August 2026