MapSpainPozo Izquierdo, Gran CanariaPozo IzquierdoPozo Izquierdo, Gran Canaria

Pozo Izquierdo

Canary Islands · Pozo Izquierdo - Gran Canaria · Las Palmas · Pozo Izquierdo / Vecindario

also known as Salinas de Tenefe, Pozo Kite Beach, El Arenal

Part of Pozo Izquierdo, Gran Canaria →

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

not for beginnershigh crowds

On this page

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

Riding essentials

Season

May–Sep

Months riders and schools name

How windy

20-35+ kt

Character: trade

Room to launch

tight

access rules on record, below

Water

mixed

23 °C in summerPozo Izquierdo and El Arenal are pebbles, gravel and dark sand

Hazards

Reported by riders

Level

Intermediate to advanced

With a caveat: see Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Crowds

high crowds · busy Jun Jul Aug

Schools

named at this spot

From the airport

15 min

Gran Canaria Airport (LPA)

When it fills in

No onset time is published for this spot.

Nearbystraight-line distance

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

Maspalomas
Salinas de Tenefe / Salinas de Pozo
Pozo Kite Beachalso a name for this spot
Vargasno page yet
Bahia de Formasno page yet
Mosca Pointno page yet

The spot

Pozo Izquierdo is Gran Canaria's high-wind benchmark on the southeast coast, known first as a windsurf wave venue and a long-running PWA and World Wave Tour stop.

Kiter zone and conditions

For kiteboarders the distinction that matters is that the original Pozo bay is windsurfer priority, and kiters ride Salinas de Tenefe, or Pozo Kite Beach, just to the south. The riding is exposed ocean over a rocky coast: chop, wind swell and wave sections, with no forgiving sandy lagoon in reach. Summer trades are the reason to come and they are commonly strong enough for small kites, good for jumping and wave riding if you can hold the power.

Launch difficulty and logistics

The launch is the hard part. Rocks, tight space, gusts and difficult exits mean you want to be able to stay upwind and manage yourself in strong conditions before you rig here. Logistics are easy for a dedicated wind trip: Gran Canaria Airport is roughly 15 minutes away, and Pozo and Vecindario cover supplies, repairs and simple accommodation.

The wind

locals call it Alisios / NE trade wind

Direction

cross-oncross-offwind blows away from land — rescue cover matters here

Direction to shore

Cross-on in the main Pozo bay. At the Salinas kite break the same NE trade comes in cross-shore to cross-off when it has a bit of north in it, so upwind ability matters more there than in the bay.

Kite sizes

The quiver, in words

small kites often needed in summer; exact sizes unconfirmed

Character

trade

Average strength

Monthly averages for Salinas: 18 kt May, 21 kt Jun, 25 kt Jul, 23 kt Aug, 17 kt Sep; a Pozo Izquierdo / Arinaga station dataset shows 13 kt annual average from an old March-April 2007 dataset and notes the station is no longer current

Typical strength

summer commonly 20-35+ kt at Salinas; 30+ kt and gusty in summer at Pozo is also reported, with 15-25 kt outside summer less often

strong and generally cleaner at Salinas than in the main Pozo bay, but still powerful and gusty in summer

The reliable season is late spring through summer, when the NE trades accelerate down Gran Canaria's southeast coast. April to September is the main windy period given for nearby Salinas de Pozo, and May to September the high season. Winter still works, less often, and leans toward waves rather than dependable wind.

Forecast

Live forecast

Windguru Windfinder Windy

Month by month

12 ktJan19°
13 ktFeb19°
13 ktMar19°
13 ktApr19°
13 ktMay20°
14 ktJun21°
16 ktJul22°
15 ktAug23°
12 ktSep23°
11 ktOct23°
11 ktNov22°
12 ktDec21°

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

Modelled monthly averages. Highlighted: the months riders and schools name (May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep).

Modelled from weather reanalysis on a 10–25 km grid (1980-2016), not a ground station: reliable for trade and synoptic winds, understates thermal sea breezes and valley winds.

Every figure, month by monthKnots · Wind from · Air · Water

Month	Knots	Wind from	Air	Water
Jan	12.2 kt	N	16.7 °C	19.4 °C
Feb	12.7 kt	N	16.7 °C	18.9 °C
Mar	12.7 kt	N	17.2 °C	18.9 °C
Apr	12.7 kt	N	17.8 °C	18.9 °C
May	12.8 kt	N	18.9 °C	20 °C
Jun	13.9 kt	N	20.6 °C	21.1 °C
Jul	16.2 kt	N	22.2 °C	21.7 °C
Aug	15.2 kt	N	22.8 °C	22.8 °C
Sep	12.2 kt	N	22.8 °C	23.3 °C
Oct	10.7 kt	N	21.7 °C	22.8 °C
Nov	11.4 kt	N	20 °C	21.7 °C
Dec	11.9 kt	E	17.8 °C	20.6 °C

How this is modelledmodelled · 1980-2016

A weather model's cell over this place, not a station on it. Good for comparing places, weaker for one beach.

A station this far away — often inland or at an airport — can understate accelerated local wind. 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.

Ingenio, Gran Canaria (model 91% weighted on Gran Canaria Airport) · Weatherspark (NASA MERRA-2 reanalysis, 1980-2016)

The water

Type

mixed

Standing depth

Not a standing-depth spot. Salinas is an ocean wave break over lava rock with sections shallow enough to hit the reef mid-turn, and the main Pozo beach is pebbles, gravel and dark sand dropping into chop and shorebreak. A board leash is standard here and booties save skin.

Tides

Low tide is the majority call at Salinas: you launch over exposed boulders but the rock shelf and the shorebreak are more manageable than on the push.In the main Pozo bay all tides are sailable, though high tide brings a big, aggressive shorebreak. Reports are not unanimous - high tide is also argued for at Salinas on the grounds that low tide leaves too many rocks to climb over, and a third account holds that tide makes no difference here at all.

Temperature

23 °C summer · 19 °C winter

Modelled monthly average: 19–23 °C

Wetsuit

shorty or neoprene top in warm months if windy; 3/2 mm full suit likely useful around late February

Currents

Medium to strong along the Pozo bay. At the Salinas break the current sets hard sideways along the rocky shore, which is one reason the spot is listed as high level only.

Conditions

Pozo Izquierdo and El Arenal are pebbles, gravel and dark sand. Swimming water is windy and moderate-wave: chop with small to medium waves, bigger wave days possible, and rock hazards at entry and exit every time. The beach break itself is fairly consistent, and autumn and winter bring the better surf swell.

Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

not for beginners here

Main Pozo is no place for a beginner kiter: a stones and rocks beach, strong gusty wind, shorebreak, windsurfer priority, and a need to ride upwind from the first attempt.

Salinas de Pozo turns up in wave-surfing beginner descriptions and in medium-to-expert recommendations at the same time; between the rocky launch and the wind strength, this record treats independent riding there as intermediate to advanced only.

The scene

What riders come here for

advancedwavesbig airfreestylestraplessstrong-wind training

serious strong-wind scene: Pozo is a long-running PWA/World Wave Tour windsurf venue, while the kite crowd concentrates at Salinas/Pozo Kite Beach with mostly capable riders.

Launch and rules

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

With a school or a boat

5 schools name this spot

See who they are

On your own

Room to launch: tight

Read the access rules

Somewhere else

6 spots nearby

All 6 spots within 40 km are under Nearby

Rescue

Pozo Izquierdo coverage

Red Cross lifeguards cover the Pozo Izquierdo bathing bay in summer under a municipal agreement running since 2017. In 2020 the service ran from 1 July through September, 11:00 to 19:00, seven days a week, from the municipal unit at the seafront mirador, with wound-care and immobilisation kit, an amphibious chair bookable in advance, and a rescue column carrying three throw-floats plus direct phone lines to the local police and to 112.

Salinas

That cover is for the bay, not for the Salinas kite break to the south. At Salinas the only boat support is the school's: kite lessons run with a support boat and radio contact. Independent riders there have no dedicated cover and should assume self-rescue.

Launch

Launch and conditionsThe kite launch is south of the main Pozo windsurf bay at Salinas de Tenefe / Pozo Kite Beach, on the break at the edge of the wind farm, reached from Pozo on the dirt road past the windmills and the ITC. You rig on rock and launch over slippery, head-sized boulders, then ride in often very shallow water over lava reef. Two waves work off the launch: a more radical one breaking over reef to the left, and a smaller, longer right known as Tercero Bunker. Assisted launch and landing is the norm in strong wind, and space is tight, so the sequence matters more than the hurry.

Hazards riders report 16 reported

Wind

very strong, gusty wind
very strong summer trade wind, often 30+ kt and gusty
wind holes or difficult exits downwind near/after the bunker

Crowds and zones

heavy windsurfer traffic in the competition bay
Main Pozo bay carries heavy windsurf traffic and is windsurf-only from 10 knots up
No lifeguard or public rescue at Salinas; the Red Cross post covers the bathing bay only

Bottom

rocky entry/exit
rocky and boulder-strewn launch and entry
very shallow rocky sections at Salinas
Lava-rock seabed at Salinas, shallow enough in places to hit on a turn - wear a leash

Waves and currents

medium to strong currents
aggressive shorebreak at high tide
slippery rocks at low tide
shorebreak and waves can make getting in and out difficult
Strong side-setting current along the rocky shore at the Salinas break

Protected areas and rules

Kiting the main Pozo bay at 10 knots or more breaches the municipal ordinance, not just local etiquette

Rules & access

1 min read

The 2019 municipal beach ordinance of Santa Lucia de Tirajana, still the published text in 2026, divides the coast by zone and names kitesurfing explicitly.

Bahia de Pozo Izquierdo

Bahia de Pozo Izquierdo, the regatta area, is reserved for windsurfing alone whenever the wind is 10 knots (18.5 km/h) or more; under 10 knots it may be used for bodyboard, surf, kayak, canoe or SUP, with the wind speed read from instruments on site or, failing those, from the national met agency.

Salinas zone

The Salinas zone allows windsurfing and kitesurfing together, and when the number of people on the water makes that risky the upwind part is advised for windsurfers and the downwind part for kiters so the two do not cross tracks.

Bahia de Formas

Bahia de Formas allows kitesurf, surf and bodyboard provided lines of travel do not endanger anyone else, with priority to windsurf beginners and marked bathing areas to be respected.

Regulations

Boat-access lanes cannot be used between 11:00 and 19:00 from 15 June to 15 September except for emergencies, security or sporting events.

Leaving boards, sails, craft or trailers outside signposted areas is prohibited.

Fines run from 30.05 EUR for minor breaches to 3,000 EUR for very serious ones, halved if paid within 30 days.

Watersports in conditions unsuitable for swimming are permitted at the rider's own responsibility and must stop the moment a police officer or beach-vigilance staff member says so.

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

Go to Salinas de Tenefé or Pozo Kite Beach rather than the old Pozo bay if you want the easier kiting conditions.
The bay rule is written down: from 10 knots up it is windsurf only, and below that other watersports are allowed there, which in practice means the bay is never the kite option on a windy day.
At Salinas the usual call is low tide, but look at the boulder field before you commit either way, because the low-versus-high argument is not settled.
In the main Pozo bay every tide is sailable; high tide is the one that brings a big, aggressive shorebreak.
Bring booties for the rock and boulder entry, and a board leash for the shallow lava reef.
Carry smaller kites than you would for a normal warm-water trip: July and August days reach 30+ knots.
Do not ride downwind past the bunker unless you know the exits; the shoreline after it is rocky and awkward.
Salinas is only worth the rock scramble when the waves in Pozo are at least head high; on flat days the effort buys you little.

Getting there

Airport

Gran Canaria Airport (LPA)

Route

Drive from LPA via GC-1 toward Pozo Izquierdo; about 15 minutes by car from the airport, taking GC-1 south and exiting for Pozo Izquierdo. Public transport generally gets you to Vecindario/Doctoral, then local bus or taxi is needed for Pozo.

Transfer

15 min

Cost level

mid

Staying

Pozo Izquierdo has local apartments and small stays close to the beach; the conventional hotel and resort bases are in Vecindario, Las Palmas, Maspalomas and the south-coast resort areas. Pozo-area stays ran from about US$58 to US$82 per night in 2026 searches, but live prices vary.

No-wind days

Visit the Salinas de Tenefe interpretation site/salt flats, walk the Pozo-Izquierdo-to-Salinas coast, use the seafront restaurants/cafes in Pozo, or drive inland for Santa Lucia de Tirajana/La Fortaleza/Red Canyon style excursions.

FAQ

When is the best time to kite Pozo Izquierdo?

The reliable trade-wind season runs from May to September, when NE Alisios accelerate along the southeast coast.

Is Pozo Izquierdo suitable for beginners?

No. The main bay is effectively windsurfer-only, and kiters use Salinas de Tenefe to the south, a rocky, gusty setup suited to intermediate and advanced riders.

What is the wind like?

Salinas de Tenefe averages roughly 18-25 knots from May through September, with summer days commonly reaching 20-35+ knots.

Are there rules or restricted zones?

A 2019 Santa Lucia de Tirajana ordinance regulates nautical access zones and restricts board and craft storage outside marked areas, especially from 15 June to 15 September.

Are there kite schools nearby?

Schools in the area include Siroco Kitesurf, Pozowinds and Paberwind Kitesurf School.

The bigger pictureEverything about Pozo Izquierdo - Gran Canaria

Last updated: August 2026