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Andalucía mediterránea · Costa Tropical, Granada · Comarca de la Costa Granadina · Motril

Playa Granada

also known as AWA Watersports Playa Granada, AWA Center Playa Granada, Granada Beach Motril

beginner-friendlyhigh 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 Playa Punta del Río 2 km · La Herradura 17 km · straight-line distance

SeasonApr to Octthe months riders and schools name How windy18-20 knotsmixed Launchmediumaccess rules on record, below Watersea28°C in summer · 6 things riders flag LevelBeginner to intermediatewith a caveat, in the Level section Schools2named at this spot From the airport60 minGranada-Jaen Airport (GRX)

When it fills in

No onset time is published for this spot.

AWA Watersports has run its Granada base on this beach at Motril since 2014, next to the Hoyo 19 beach bar, and the water in front of it is plain open Mediterranean: moderate surf over about 2 km of fine-to-coarse sand that narrows and widens between 20-40 m depending on where you walk in.

Both poniente and levante work on the south-facing Costa Tropical. Neither is a given in high summer, so the April through October window is optimistic; 2025 was reportedly light for stretches. In July and August the beach itself is the bigger problem, with resort frontage and sun-loungers end to end and the golf behind.

Motril's summer rules, reported in 2018, keep kites outside the 200 m bathing zone and route you out through marked nautical channels, and the current 2026 municipal wording was not found, so ask at the base which channel is live.

Nobody has published usable wind statistics for the spot and the depth profile off the sand has not been checked, so a first session here should be a school session. Come in April, May or October if you want space.

The wind

locals call it Levante and Poniente

Direction

cross-shore

Kite sizes

67891011121314

metres · typical quiver highlighted

Character

mixed

Typical strength

Nothing is measured on this beach. A 10 m as the everyday size puts an ordinary working day around 18-20 knots for a 75-85 kg rider, which is a derived figure and not a local reading; the nearest archived Motril station stopped reporting in 2017 and its annual mean of 4 knots is a climate number of no use to a rider.

Poniente and levante both get it going. No reliable public wind statistics exist for the spot itself, so plan on the forecast, not on averages.

April through October is the working season at the AWA base. Summer 2025 was reportedly light for stretches, which makes that window look optimistic; treat it as forecast-dependent.

The quiver, in words

10 m is the everyday reference size on this beach. A 75-85 kg rider should carry a 12 m for the light end and an 8 m or 9 m for a strong levante. Indicative: the 10 m is the only local figure published and the bracket around it is derived.

Direction to shore

side-shore for east or west winds on the south-facing Costa Tropical beach

Dominant direction

E levante is the working direction, with W poniente also rideable on this south-facing coast.

Forecast

Month by month

Jan27
Feb53
Mar39
Apr, riders' month27
May, riders' month23
Jun, riders' month15
Jul, riders' month5
Aug, riders' month5
Sep, riders' month25
Oct, riders' month27
Nov23
Dec19

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

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

27%Jan15°
53%Feb16°
39%Mar16°
27%Apr18°
23%May19°
15%Jun21°
5%Jul25°
5%Aug27°
25%Sep25°
27%Oct21°
23%Nov18°
19%Dec17°

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	27%	40%	37%	10.4 kt	WSW	15:00	12.9°C	15.4°C	62
Feb	53%	60%	56%	14 kt	ESE	15:00	14.1°C	15.6°C	57
Mar	39%	45%	45%	11.8 kt	WSW	15:00	16.2°C	15.8°C	62
Apr	27%	37%	32%	10.7 kt	WSW	15:00	18.1°C	17.7°C	60
May	23%	34%	31%	9.8 kt	WSW	16:00	21.2°C	19.3°C	62
Jun	15%	25%	23%	8.3 kt	WSW	15:00	25.2°C	21.3°C	60
Jul	5%	13%	10%	6.8 kt	WSW	15:00	28.7°C	24.9°C	62
Aug	5%	11%	10%	7.3 kt	WSW	14:00	28.5°C	26.9°C	62
Sep	25%	35%	30%	10.3 kt	WSW	15:00	24.3°C	25.1°C	60
Oct	27%	34%	31%	9.5 kt	WSW	15:00	21.7°C	20.9°C	62
Nov	23%	33%	28%	9.1 kt	WSW	15:00	17.8°C	17.9°C	60
Dec	19%	32%	24%	9.1 kt	WSW	14:00	13.8°C	16.7°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

Microtidal, small enough to ignore. Readings for 27 August 2026 at Playa Granada showed only minor movement.

Temperature

28°C summer · 16°C winter

Wetsuit

Swimwear or a shorty in summer, a full suit in winter. Derived from Andalucia sea temperatures, not from anyone riding here.

15–27°C water

Open Mediterranean beach at Motril: about 2 km of fine-to-coarse sand, 20-40 m wide depending on the stretch, moderate surf, and packed urban frontage behind it in season.

Your level

beginnerintermediatenot for advanceds here

Beginners and intermediates are covered by the AWA centre on the sand. Nothing verifies it as a wave or advanced spot, and the depth profile off the beach is unchecked.

The scene

What riders come here for

lessonsfreeridewindsports centerwindsurfwingfoilmulti-sport center

Serviced resort beach on the Costa Tropical: the AWA centre and beach bars on the sand, with golf and resort blocks behind. The crowd is mixed water sports rather than a kite scene.

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: medium

access rules on record

Somewhere else

Playa Punta del Río, 2 km

Playa Punta del Río La Herradura

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

Rescue

Lifeguard and first-aid posts are part of the beach's public services in season, and the AWA monitors hold lifeguard and first-aid qualifications alongside their nautical ones. No dedicated kite rescue boat is confirmed, and no cover is listed outside the bathing season.

Launch

Beach launch from the AWA Watersports base at Motril, next to the Hoyo 19 beach bar. The beach itself is pebbles mixed with sand rather than clean fine sand, about 1,367 m long and roughly 40 m wide on average, with buoys running parallel to the shore in the bathing season and nautical lanes cut through them.Vehicle access comes in from two routes, with parking, bike spaces and a bus stop.

Space

medium

Rules & access

2018-2026: in the bathing season kites stay outside the 200 m bathing zone and go in and out through the marked nautical lanes, under the 2018 municipal text. The beach is buoyed parallel to the shore with those lanes cut through it, and their position is not fixed from year to year, so check which one is live before rigging. The current municipal wording was not found and remains unconfirmed.

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

Rider tips

Call AWA before you drive out: the base runs several nautical sports and kite needs its own wind window.
Rig next to the AWA base by the Hoyo 19 beach bar, away from the busiest stretch of sun-loungers.
In June to September stay outside the 200 m bathing zone and use the marked nautical channel; ask which one is in place that week.
Bring a shorty for summer water at 28 C and a full suit if you come in winter, when it sits near 16 C.
If the forecast dies, take SUP, kayak or sailing at the base, or drive the A-44 up to Granada and the Sierra Nevada.
In June to September stay outside the 200 m bathing zone and use the marked nautical lane; ask which one is in place that week.
The sand has pebbles through it, so something on your feet for the walk in is worth having.
Levante from the east is the direction that works here most reliably; poniente from the west also gets it going.
Parking fills before midday in high season, and the beach is at its most crowded around then.

Getting there

Airport

Granada-Jaen Airport (GRX); Malaga-Costa del Sol Airport (AGP) is another common option

Route

Drive in on the A-44 down from Granada, or along the A-7 coastal corridor. GRX is the nearest airport; plenty of people fly into Malaga and drive the coast instead.

Transfer

60 min

Cost level

medium

Staying

Resort hotels and apartments sit right behind Playa Granada, with campsite and golf accommodation alongside. Motril and Salobrena are the cheaper fallbacks.

No-wind days

SUP, sailing, kayak or the snorkel routes at the base, the AWA Surf Break, a walk around Motril or Salobrena, and the drive up to Granada city and the Sierra Nevada.

Photos

Sunset over the Alboran Sea from Robinson Club Playa Granada, Motril, Spain — Jiuguang Wang, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

FAQ

When is the best time to kite Playa Granada?

April through October is listed as best, though a 2025 report noted summer can sometimes bring little wind.

Is Playa Granada suitable for beginners?

Yes, it is listed for any level and hosts a nautical center running kite lessons on site.

What is the wind like at Playa Granada?

Both Levante and Poniente work here as side-shore wind on the south-facing beach, though no reliable knot statistics are published.

Are there kite schools at Playa Granada?

Yes, AWA Watersports runs its Granada base directly on the beach, next to the Hoyo 19 beach bar.

Are there rules or restricted zones at Playa Granada?

2018 Motril summer rules reportedly required kiting outside the 200 m bathing zone via marked nautical channels, though the current 2026 wording was not confirmed.

Last updated: August 2026