Map › Spain › Costa Tropical › Playa Punta del Río
Andalucía mediterránea · Costa Tropical, Granada · Comarca de la Costa Granadina · Salobreña
Playa Punta del Río
also known as Punta del Río Salobreña, La Cagaílla
Nearby Playa Granada 2 km · La Herradura 15 km · straight-line distance
On the clock
15:00 · 17:00 · 19:00 · 20:00
Nothing in the morning. What breeze there is fills from around midday, tops out between 15:00 and 17:00, and is gone by 19:00-20:00. The rare strong episodes are the offshore drainage off the sierra, which can run at night and early morning instead. Indicative, 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.
The wind
locals call it Levante/Poniente
Direction
Kite sizes
metres · typical quiver highlighted
Character
mixed
fills in: Nothing in the morning. What breeze there is fills from around midday, tops out between 15:00 and 17:00, and is gone by 19:00-20:00. The rare strong episodes are the offshore drainage off the sierra, which can run at night and early morning instead. Indicative, no local measurement.
Typical strength
Light. Fewer than one hour in a hundred reaches 12 kt across the year, and the five-year modelled maximum at the beach cell is 19 kt. Plan this as a spot you ride when a front happens to line up, not one you book around. Indicative, no local measurement.
Also on record
5
The quiver, in words
There is no reliable wind window to size for. A 75-85 kg rider who catches one of the rare working days is on the biggest kite in the bag, 14-17 m, or on a foil; nothing under 12 m has an obvious use here. Indicative only, with no local measurement and no published local kite range.
Direction to shore
The shoreline runs about WNW-ESE and the beach faces roughly southwest. The afternoon sea breeze out of the south and southwest comes in onshore. Poniente from the west is cross-shore from the right.Levante from the east is cross-offshore from the left, and anything from the north or northwest drains off the sierra and blows straight out to sea.
Forecast
Month by month
- Jan27
- Feb53
- Mar39
- Apr27
- May23
- Jun15
- Jul5
- Aug5
- Sep25
- Oct27
- Nov23
- Dec19
windy days per month (3 h+ at 12 kn+)
- 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 | 24.4°C | 25.1°C | 60 |
| Oct | 27% | 34% | 31% | 9.5 kt | WSW | 15:00 | 21.8°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
Standing depth
Along the river wall you can wade out roughly 100 m and still touch bottom, over stable rock boulders. Step off that line and it drops away; deep water sits close offshore, which is what lets the swell run in.
Tides
Semidiurnal and small. The nearest gauge, 4 km east at Motril, measures a mean range near 30 cm and about 40 cm on springs, with only a few centimetres of non-tidal set-up on top. Nothing about launching or riding changes with the tide.
Temperature
24.7°C summer · 14.9°C winter
Wetsuit
Shorty or nothing in summer, full suit 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
3 schools name this spot
On your own
Room to launch: medium
Somewhere else
Playa Granada, 2 km
Every spot within 40 km is on the map at the top of this page, with its distance under it.
Rescue
Launch
Beach launch at the Guadalfeo river mouth beside the surf club at Urbanización TH2, 189, Playa Punta del Río. Under the shallow shelf by the river wall the bottom is stable rock boulder rather than clean sand.Access runs through a reed bed and farmland: aim for Salobreña Playa first and pick the club up from there, because a straight GPS line puts you on dirt tracks.
Space
medium
Rules & access
Access rules drift faster than anything else we hold — check locally, and propose an edit if this has changed.
Rider tips
- Ring 18 Nudos before you drive out; they will tell you whether the wind is doing anything that week.
- Navigate to Salobreña Playa first and pick up the club from there, because a straight GPS line puts you on dirt tracks.
- Check the swell as well as the wind: the bank at the river mouth moves and the wave moves with it.
- Beaches are open 10:00-21:00, so plan the session inside those hours and go in and out through the enabled accesses.
- Shorty or nothing at 24.7 C in summer; full suit in winter when it drops to 14.9 C.
- Wade out along the river wall if you want depth you can stand in. About 100 m of it, over rock boulders.
- The wind that blows hard here comes off the mountains from the northwest and takes you out to sea. That is not a session.
Getting there
Airport
Granada-Jaén (GRX) is the nearest airport to Salobreña; Málaga (AGP) is the other usual Costa Tropical gateway.
Route
Road access from the Salobreña and Motril coast. Come in via Salobreña Playa and pick up 18 Nudos from there, or the GPS will route you down rural dirt tracks.
Transfer
70 min
Staying
Salobreña is the closest base, with Motril and Playa Granada next along the coast.
No-wind days
surf · paddle surf · kayak · Salobreña old town · Granada day trip
FAQ
Is Punta del Río suitable for beginners?
Local school and directory evidence supports lessons and general riding, though no full kiteboarding level breakdown is published for the spot.
What is the wind like at Punta del Río?
Both Levante and Poniente are used, but old station data averages only 5 knots, so wind reliability should be checked day by day.
Are there kite schools at Punta del Río?
Yes, 18 Nudos Surf Club is based directly on the beach.
What hazards are there at Punta del Río?
Moderate surf and a river mouth where sediment and swell can reshape the beach and its waves.
Last updated: August 2026