MapMozambiquePonta do OuroPonta do OuroPonta do Ouro

Ponta do Ouro

Maputo Province · Ponta do Ouro · Matutuíne

also known as Ponta d'Ouro, Ponta de Ouro, Ponta

Part of Ponta do Ouro →

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

beginner-friendlyhigh crowds

On this page

The spot
Wind
Forecast
Month by month
Water
Level
The scene
Launch
Schools
Tips
Getting there
Photos
FAQ

Riding essentials

Season

Aug–Dec

Months riders and schools name

How windy

15-25 knots

Character: mixed

Room to launch

access rules on record, below

Water

mixed

27.5 °C in summerOpen Indian Ocean bay: chop and small to medium waves, with proper waves outside

Hazards

Reported by riders

Level

Beginner to advanced

With a caveat: see Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Crowds

high crowds · busy December January Easter holidays South African long weekends

Schools

named at this spot

From the airport

120 min

Maputo International Airport (MPM)

When it fills in

Fills in around midday and builds through the afternoon, so mornings are usually a write-off; it eases back towards evening.

Nearbystraight-line distance

Backup spotsWhere riders go when the wind doesn't work here.

Bilene
Kosi River Mouthno page yet
Kosi Bayno page yet
Bilene Lagoonno page yet
Maputo Kite Beach
Inhaca Islandno page yet

The spot

Ponta do Ouro is ocean, not lagoon: chop, small to medium waves, a sandy beach launch, and flatter water inside the point when the tide is right. The wind to want is the north-easterly, cross-on along the bay, filling in around midday and building through the afternoon, and August to December is the season people plan around.

Getting there and skill level

Getting there stopped being an expedition when the Maputo-Katembe road connection improved, and the South African border is close. Treat it as an intermediate spot first. A supervised beginner gets windows in the protected bay, but the shorebreak is real and nothing is watching the water.

Sessions and practical info

The session everyone talks about is the downwinder from Ponta Malongane, or the long one from Ponta Mamoli back into town. It is a dive and fishing town with dolphin trips running most mornings, so South African weekends and the December and January holidays put swimmers and boats where you want to launch.

Marine protection

The coast sits inside a marine reserve with turtle nesting and big marine wildlife, so confirm current protected-area rules locally before you ride.

The wind

locals call it North-easterly trade/thermal sea breeze

Direction

cross-onoffshorewind blows away from land — rescue cover matters here

Direction to shore

cross-on. North-west is the offshore direction at the point, so the north-easterly the guides recommend arrives cross-onshore along the bay and gives port-tack riding. A south-easterly crosses the wooded headland at the south end of the bay before it reaches the break and turns gusty there; a northerly goes onshore into heavy shorebreak.

Dominant direction

NE to NNE for the commonly recommended kite wind; some wind-stat tables show SE/SSE monthly averages.

Kite sizes

567891011121314151617

metres · typical quiver highlighted

The quiver, in words

For a 75-85 kg rider on the usual 15-25 kt: 9 m is the workhorse from August through December, 12 m for the soft midday start and the marginal days, 7 m for the 30 kt afternoons that turn up a few times a season.There is no confirmed rental stock in town, so bring both ends of the quiver rather than one middle kite.

Character

mixed

When it fills in: see above ↑

Average strength

9-11 knots as a monthly average, from a table that leaves thermal wind out. Rideable afternoons run well above that.

Typical strength

15-25 knots, with 20-27 knots also given and occasional stronger days around 30 knots.

usually steadier on the NE; SE can work but may be gusty near the treed/headland area

August-December is the window to plan around. August-March turns up as a wider season and August-May wider still, so treat the extra months as possible rather than promised.

Forecast

Live forecast

Windguru Windfinder Windy

Month by month

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

No month-by-month share of windy days is held for this spot. The months riders and schools name are Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec.

About these figuresno series

Nothing usable has been measured or modelled for this place. The months come from what riders say, or from nothing at all.

Highlighted months are the riding season from the spot record.

The water

Type

mixed

Standing depth

About 500 m of standing-depth water at the sandy bay/inside point; elsewhere it is classified as ocean rather than a shallow lagoon.

Tides

Tide affected, worked off the Kosi Bay station 3 km away. The range is modest for Mozambique: roughly 0.5 m between successive tides on neaps and up to about 2.3 m on springs, with highs around 1.6-2.0 m against lows of 0.3-0.6 m.Low springs are the tide people plan around. They drain the inside of the point and open the flattest water of the month.

Temperature

27.5 °C summer · 22.4 °C winter

Wetsuit

Boardshorts/rash vest in the warm months; shorty or thin summer wetsuit can be useful in winter or long windy sessions.

Currents

No measured current data is published. The bay is an exposed point break over submerged rocks, so expect surf-zone drift and rips along the beach and around the point once there is swell, and more of it on spring tides.With no boat cover, the working rule is to keep every session inside a distance you could swim or walk back from.

Conditions

Open Indian Ocean bay: chop and small to medium waves, with proper waves outside. Inside the point the water is flatter, and reportedly choppier at low tide. Warm water and white sand, with jellyfish and blue bottles at times.

Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Intermediate and advanced first, because of the chop, the waves and the shorebreak. The protected bay can suit a beginner with an instructor; anyone learning on their own should confirm conditions and supervision locally before rigging.

The scene

What riders come here for

freeridewavesdownwindersfreestyle at low springs

Rustic but popular South African holiday/weekend town with beach bars, dive operators and lodging at the spot; water can still be uncrowded outside peak holiday windows.

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: ok

Read the access rules

Somewhere else

2 spots nearby

All 2 spots within 40 km are under Nearby

Rescue

No lifeguard and no kite rescue boat.

What the town does have is dive operations with skippered boats off the beach most mornings: Gozo Azul Charters, a PADI 5-star centre, and Underwater Explorers, whose boat takes 13 divers, plus rubber-duck ocean safaris.

They are not a rescue service and they are not out after early afternoon, but they are the realistic help if something goes wrong within sight of the bay.

Any private boat or kayak you bring for support needs a temporary maritime licence.

Launch

Sandy beach launch on the Ponta do Ouro bay front, with the flattest water inside the point on the right tide. The beach is wide and sandy, though the usable launch and landing area is medium-sized rather than huge.

Hazards riders report 16 reported

Wind

SE wind can be gusty where it passes over trees/headland terrain
Sharks are part of the wider marine ecosystem, and the concern is offshore rather than in the bay
Sharks are part of the wider marine ecosystem here, mainly a concern well offshore

Crowds and zones

boat traffic (busy dive/snorkel town)
Busy holiday beach and dive/boat town, so watch swimmers, boats and beach traffic

Bottom

Submerged rocks at the point: the break is an exposed point over rock, not clean sand all the way

Waves and currents

Open-ocean shorebreak and small-to-medium waves
Northerly winds can be onshore with heavy shorebreak
Rips and surf-zone drift around the point on bigger swell and spring tides, with no boat on standby

Protected areas and rules

Marine protected area with turtle nesting and other wildlife; avoid disturbing wildlife and confirm local restrictions
Marine protected area with turtle nesting and other wildlife; keep clear of wildlife and confirm local restrictions
Turtle nesting beaches from October, patrolled to the end of March; nests can be anywhere above the high-water mark
Beach driving is banned outside the marked boat-launch strips and fined

Other

open ocean beach break conditions
Jellyfish and blue bottles in the water at times
Jellyfish and blue bottles

Rules & access

1 min read

2026: no kite permit, no launch zoning, no hours and no seasonal kitesurf ban. Kitesurf is named among the allowed visitor activities of the Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve, 678 km2, three nautical miles offshore, open 24 hours, warden on +258 827276434.

Beach driving

The rules that actually catch visitors are elsewhere. Driving on the beach outside the designated boat-launch strips is strictly forbidden and the fine is heavy.

Support craft

A temporary maritime licence is required for any private boat, jet ski, kayak, dive or fishing activity; kites are not on that list, but a support boat or kayak is.

Turtle nesting

Loggerhead and leatherback turtles nest from October, with reserve vehicle and foot patrols on the nesting beaches through to the end of March.

Border crossing

The Kosi Bay border runs 08:00-17:00, seven days a week.

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

Schools that ride here

Rider tips

Wait for the north-easterly. Cross-on along the bay is the safe setup, and it gives you the flatter water inside the point.
Time it on the low springs. The inside of the point flattens out and stays that way for an hour or two either side.
Bring your own kit. No rental stock in town is confirmed, so arrive with both ends of the quiver.
Do not launch through swimmers or boat traffic on a holiday weekend; walk to a stretch clear of the dive boats.
For a downwinder from Ponta Malongane or Ponta Mamoli, arrange a vehicle pickup and go with someone who knows the coastline.
The Mamoli run is the trophy session: about two hours downwind past empty beach and back into town, with a driver needed at both ends.
Cross at Kosi Bay inside 08:00-17:00, seven days a week in 2026, and expect a queue in the holidays.
Ask locally about the reserve sub-zones and the turtle nesting protocol before you use a quieter beach.
Do not drive on the sand for a launch or a recovery: it is fined, and from October you are driving over turtle nests.
A support boat or kayak of your own needs a temporary maritime licence. Sort it before you arrive, not on the beach.

Getting there

Airport

Maputo International Airport (MPM); Durban and Johannesburg are common South African access airports for road trips via Kosi Bay.

Route

From Maputo, the Katembe bridge and the coastal road south: about 120 km, roughly 2 hours, tarred and fine in a normal car. From South Africa, the Kosi Bay border, open 08:00-17:00 seven days a week in 2026 and 13-16 km from town on largely tarred road.Since the road was surfaced a 4x4 is no longer needed to reach the village itself, but it still is for the sand trails out to Malongane, Mamoli and the quieter beaches. Fill up in Manguzi before crossing rather than relying on the Ponta fuel station.

Transfer

120 min

Cost level

medium

Staying

Lodges and resorts in Ponta do Ouro itself, campgrounds too, with more at Ponta Malongane, Ponta Mamoli, Techobanine, Ponta Chemucane, Santa Maria, Inhaca Island and Portuguese Island.

No-wind days

scuba diving · snorkeling · dolphin/ocean safaris · deep-sea fishing · surfing · SUP · canoeing · hiking · Maputo National Park/Maputo Special Reserve excursions · turtle nesting viewing in season with approved operators

Photos

FAQ

Is Ponta do Ouro suitable for beginners?

Several guides rate it mainly for intermediate and advanced riders because of chop and waves, though the protected bay can suit beginners with instruction.

When is the best time?

August to December is the most commonly cited main season, sometimes extended into March.

What is the wind like?

A north-easterly, cross-on wind typically 15-25 knots, strongest from midday into the afternoon.

What hazards should I know?

Open-ocean shorebreak and waves, jellyfish and blue bottles, and marine wildlife protection zones with turtle nesting.

How do you get there?

Via the Maputo-Katembe road, about 2 hours, or the Kosi Bay border from South Africa, open 08:00-17:00 daily as of 2026.

The bigger pictureEverything about Ponta do Ouro

Last updated: August 2026