Map › Portugal › Peniche / Baleal › Praia da Areia Branca
Lisboa e Oeste · Lourinha · Lisbon · Praia da Areia Branca / Lourinha
Praia da Areia Branca
Nearby Baleal / Peniche 11 km · Praia de Santa Rita 11 km · Santa Cruz 15 km · Praia Azul 17 km · Óbidos Lagoon 20 km · Ribeira das Ilhas 32 km · Praia do Matadouro 33 km · Praia da Foz do Lizandro 37 km · straight-line distance
On the clock
09:00 · 15:00 · 18:00 · 20:00
Dead in the morning, near 6 knots at dawn. The north wind builds from about 09:00, is worth rigging for by early afternoon, holds from 15:00 to 18:00, and drops after 20:00. Indicative, from a modelled hourly series for 2022-2025.
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 Nortada
Direction
Kite sizes
metres · typical quiver highlighted
Character
thermal
fills in: Dead in the morning, near 6 knots at dawn. The north wind builds from about 09:00, is worth rigging for by early afternoon, holds from 15:00 to 18:00, and drops after 20:00. Indicative, from a modelled hourly series for 2022-2025.
Typical strength
Summer afternoons run 12-18 knots, and the better days touch 20. In the modelled 2022-2025 series the May-August afternoon mean is about 10-11 knots, over 12 knots roughly a third of the time and over 15 about one hour in eight, so it is a wind that works often rather than one that blows hard. Indicative, no working local anemometer.
Also on record
6
The quiver, in words
For a 75-85 kg rider, a 12 m covers most summer afternoons, 9-10 m on the days that push past 18 knots, 7 m when a strong north sector sets in. Surf and shorebreak argue for the smaller end of whatever the range allows. Indicative, matched to the local wind range rather than measured here.
Direction to shore
N to NNW is generally sideshore to side-onshore on this west-facing coast, inferred from the mapped coastline; W would be onshore.
Forecast
Month by month
- Jan31
- Feb40
- Mar19
- Apr22
- May, riders' month45
- Jun, riders' month38
- Jul, riders' month45
- Aug, riders' month50
- Sep, riders' month22
- Oct26
- Nov18
- Dec29
windy days per month (3 h+ at 12 kn+)
Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep.
- 31%Jan16°
- 40%Feb15°
- 19%Mar15°
- 22%Apr16°
- 45%May16°
- 38%Jun18°
- 45%Jul18°
- 50%Aug17°
- 22%Sep17°
- 26%Oct19°
- 18%Nov18°
- 29%Dec16°
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 | 31% | 40% | 35% | 10.6 kt | N | 14:00 | 11.9°C | 15.6°C | 62 |
| Feb | 40% | 54% | 49% | 11.7 kt | N | 14:00 | 12.6°C | 15.3°C | 57 |
| Mar | 19% | 40% | 29% | 10.7 kt | SW | 15:00 | 13.5°C | 15.2°C | 62 |
| Apr | 22% | 43% | 33% | 11 kt | N | 16:00 | 15.3°C | 16.1°C | 60 |
| May | 45% | 58% | 53% | 12.2 kt | N | 16:00 | 17.2°C | 16.2°C | 62 |
| Jun | 38% | 55% | 43% | 11.2 kt | NNW | 16:00 | 18.9°C | 18.2°C | 60 |
| Jul | 45% | 60% | 50% | 11.6 kt | NNW | 16:00 | 20.2°C | 18°C | 62 |
| Aug | 50% | 66% | 56% | 12.3 kt | N | 16:00 | 20.3°C | 16.7°C | 62 |
| Sep | 22% | 38% | 27% | 10.7 kt | N | 16:00 | 19.5°C | 17.4°C | 60 |
| Oct | 26% | 35% | 29% | 10.6 kt | SW | 14:00 | 18.5°C | 19°C | 62 |
| Nov | 18% | 35% | 28% | 10 kt | ESE | 13:00 | 15.6°C | 17.7°C | 60 |
| Dec | 29% | 42% | 34% | 10.9 kt | E | 14:00 | 12.7°C | 16.3°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
ocean
Standing depth
Nothing to stand in past the shorebreak. The sand shelves straight into open Atlantic, and with roughly 1.3 m to 3.1 m between low and high water on an ordinary day the beach narrows and the break moves inshore as the tide fills.
Tides
The kite spot is tide independent. The wave itself is best on the falling tide toward low.
Temperature
20°C summer · 14°C winter
Wetsuit
A 2 mm long-sleeve shorty or a 3/2 mm spring suit near the August peak; 4/3 mm with boots near the February minimum, or 5/3 mm for long sessions in the cold.
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
9 schools name this spot
On your own
Room to launch: tidal
Somewhere else
Baleal / Peniche, 11 km
Every spot within 40 km is on the map at the top of this page, with its distance under it.
Rescue
Launch
Sand beach whose usable width depends on the tide. Rock formation at the north end, and the central stretch sits beside a small river mouth.
Space
tidal
Rules & access
Access rules drift faster than anything else we hold — check locally, and propose an edit if this has changed.
Rider tips
- Treat it as a wave venue and keep your launch away from the summer bathing area.
- Read the swell alongside the north wind: a good surf forecast here can mean too much water moving to get off the beach cleanly.
- Watch the north end for the rock formation, and the beach itself for concrete.
- For a first lesson, drive to Lagoa de Obidos; flat-water kite instruction runs there and not here.
Getting there
Airport
Lisbon Airport (LIS)
Route
About 69 km and 56 minutes by car from Lisbon Airport. Rodoviaria do Oeste buses run from Lisbon Campo Grande to Praia da Areia Branca.
Transfer
56 min
Cost level
medium
Staying
Surf camps, surf houses, beach rentals and hotels in Praia da Areia Branca and Lourinha.
No-wind days
surf · SUP · Peniche and Baleal · Berlengas boat trips from Peniche · Lourinha dinosaur museum · Obidos
Photos
FAQ
Is it suitable for beginners?
No, it is listed for intermediate and expert riders only, since open-ocean waves, rocks and concrete on the beach make it unsuitable for learning.
When is the best time?
May to September matches the west-coast summer Nortada pattern and is given as the best season.
What are the rules?
The beach is lifeguarded from 15 June to 15 September 2026, though no kite-specific rule is listed.
What are the hazards?
Rocks, concrete, summer swimmers, river-mouth water movement and Atlantic surf are all documented hazards.
Last updated: August 2026