Map › Portugal › Algarve - Fuseta/Olhão › Praia da Rocha Baixinha

Algarve · Vilamoura / Albufeira · Faro · Vilamoura

Praia da Rocha Baixinha

also known as Praia dos Tomates, Rocha Baixinha, Rocha Baixinha Oeste, Rocha Baixinha Nascente, Rocha Baixinha Poente

advanced onlymedium 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 Praia dos Salgados 16 km · Ilha de Faro / Ria Formosa 16 km · Praia Grande de Pêra 18 km · Praia da Rocha 35 km · Fuseta Lagoon 36 km · Ilha de Cabanas 46 km · Fábrica / Cacela Velha 53 km · Praia da Manta Rota 56 km · Praia da Alagoa 58 km · straight-line distance

SeasonMar to Octthe months riders and schools name How windy12-22mixed Launchmediumaccess rules on record, below Waterocean22°C in summer · 6 things riders flag LevelIntermediate to advancedwith a caveat, in the Level section

Schoolsnone named here

From the airport30 minFaro Airport (FAO)

When it fills in

No onset time is published for this spot.

Praia da Rocha Baixinha is the long sand between Falesia and Vilamoura, starting immediately west of the marina. Chop is the normal surface; waves arrive in winter and on Levante. The wind set is the southwest thermal plus the east or southeast Levante, 12-22 knots, with March to October the useful stretch.

It suits intermediates and experts, not first-timers: no school works off this beach and no kite rescue has been confirmed. The part that catches people out is the naming.

The beach is split into official bathing sections, Rocha Baixinha along with Rocha Baixinha-Nascente and Rocha Baixinha-Poente, all bathing water from 15 May to 15 October 2026, so where you rig decides whether you are inside the rules.

Winter water is 14 C and summer 22 C, so a 4/3 in the cold months and a shorty or thin full suit in summer, depending on the upwelling.

The wind

locals call it Levante

Direction

wind blows away from land — rescue cover matters here

Kite sizes

7891011121314

metres · typical quiver highlighted

Character

mixed

Typical strength

12-22

A real intermediate and expert spot, with the thermal SW and the Levante E/SE as the two options. No school-grade reliability data was found for it.

Wind all year, best March-October: southwest thermal days plus east and southeast Levante.

Thermal or synoptic

thermal and Levante

The quiver, in words

No local report of sizes. Working back from the 12-22 kt the spot is credited with, a 75-85 kg rider covers most of that on a 12 m and a 9 m; indicative, not measured here.

Direction to shore

On this south-facing beach SW is generally side-onshore to onshore and E/SE side-shore to side-onshore, depending on which section you launch from. The summer Nortada out of the northwest is offshore here, which is why the SW days are the ones people ride.

Forecast

Month by month

Jan15
Feb33
Mar, riders' month13
Apr, riders' month15
May, riders' month6
Jun, riders' month10
Jul, riders' month6
Aug, riders' month5
Sep, riders' month5
Oct, riders' month16
Nov18
Dec6

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

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

15%Jan17°
33%Feb16°
13%Mar16°
15%Apr17°
6%May17°
10%Jun19°
6%Jul19°
5%Aug19°
5%Sep18°
16%Oct19°
18%Nov18°
6%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	15%	24%	21%	9 kt	ESE	15:00	13.2°C	16.5°C	62
Feb	33%	42%	37%	10.3 kt	ESE	15:00	13.9°C	16.3°C	57
Mar	13%	34%	26%	9.7 kt	SW	15:00	14.7°C	15.8°C	62
Apr	15%	30%	23%	9.8 kt	NNW	14:00	17.2°C	17°C	60
May	6%	47%	29%	10.3 kt	NW	17:00	19.9°C	17.1°C	62
Jun	10%	30%	18%	9.5 kt	WSW	16:00	22.2°C	19°C	60
Jul	6%	40%	24%	9.3 kt	NW	18:00	25.6°C	18.7°C	62
Aug	5%	27%	16%	8.9 kt	NNW	17:00	25.6°C	18.7°C	62
Sep	5%	20%	12%	8.7 kt	WSW	15:00	21.7°C	18.2°C	60
Oct	16%	31%	21%	9.6 kt	WSW	15:00	20.2°C	19.3°C	62
Nov	18%	25%	20%	8.3 kt	ESE	14:00	16.7°C	18.2°C	60
Dec	6%	18%	16%	7.6 kt	ESE	14:00	14°C	17.2°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

Tides

The spot works on all tides. No spot-specific tide limitation has turned up.

Temperature

22°C summer · 14°C winter

Wetsuit

Shorty or thin full suit in summer depending on upwelling; 4/3 or warm 3/2 in winter.

16–19°C water

Open sandy Algarve beach. Chop is the normal kite surface, with waves in winter or on Levante wind. Sandy maritime beach running west from Vilamoura Marina.

Your level

not for beginners hereintermediateadvanced

Intermediate, and experts will find something in it too. No beginner teaching setup has been found on this beach.

The scene

What riders come here for

freeridechopsmall waveswinter Levante waves

Resort-beach traffic out of Vilamoura and Albufeira. Kiting works better away from the swimmer areas and outside the busiest bathing hours.

Launch and rules

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

With a school or a boat

No school names this spot

Nobody has been recorded teaching or running a boat here.

On your own

Room to launch: medium

access rules on record

Somewhere else

Praia dos Salgados, 16 km

Praia dos Salgados Ilha de Faro / Ria Formosa Praia Grande de Pêra

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

Rescue

Lifeguards cover the official bathing beach during the 2026 bathing season, 15 May to 15 October, and nothing covers it outside those dates. No kite-specific rescue and no safety boat.

The maritime police post at Albufeira runs a 24-hour picket on 289 079 011 and 916 613 540, the lifeboat station at Ferragudo is on 912 176 694, and the general emergency number is 112.

Launch

Large sandy beach west of Vilamoura Marina, with a medium to large rigging area.

Space

medium

Rules & access

2026: Rocha Baixinha, Rocha Baixinha-Nascente and Rocha Baixinha-Poente are Albufeira bathing waters from 15 May to 15 October 2026 under Portaria n. 204-A/2026. The beach lies west of the Vilamoura marina inlet, inside the Capitania do Porto de Portimao jurisdiction, which runs from the Alvor to the mouth of the Ribeira de Quarteira, and its 2023 edital (n. 1733/2023) sets the kiteboarding rules. Riding is allowed only in daylight, from sunrise to one hour before sunset, with visibility over 1000 m, and is banned outright under an orange IPMA wind warning. During the bathing season kiteboarding is prohibited within 300 m of the water line in concessioned zones, out to 2 nautical miles; outside concessioned zones you ride between 100 m and 2 nautical miles from shore. Entry and exit must use a marked corridor where one exists, and where none exists only through non-concessioned sand, away from the bathers. Beyond 500 m from shore you carry a 50x50 cm orange signalling flag; beyond 1 nautical mile a motorboat escort is required, no more than four riders to a boat and all within 500 m of it. Foil riders must wear a helmet, carry a line knife and use a 50 N buoyancy aid. Schools operating here need a municipal licence, an RNAT number, an emergency plan and a first-aid kit on site, with at most four students per instructor.

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

Rider tips

Check which named section you are standing on before you rig; Nascente and Poente are managed as separate bathing areas.
Keep away from the sunbeds and swimmer zones between 15 May and 15 October 2026.
Treat a Levante wave day as an intermediate-plus session rather than a cruise.
Look for other riders before you go out alone; no kite school operates directly on this beach.
Bring a 4/3 for winter and a shorty or thin full suit in summer, depending on the upwelling.
In season, enter and leave the water through a marked corridor or through unconcessioned sand well clear of the bathers, and stay outside 300 m once you are riding.
Riding is legal only from sunrise to an hour before sunset, and an orange wind warning closes the beach to kites.

Getting there

Airport

Faro Airport (FAO)

Route

Drive or take a transfer west from Faro Airport toward Vilamoura and Falesia; the beach starts immediately west of Vilamoura Marina.

Transfer

30 min

Cost level

medium-high

Staying

Vilamoura resort hotels and apartments, Quarteira accommodation, and Albufeira/Falesia beach hotels.

No-wind days

Surf or SUP lessons at Falesia and Vilamoura when the water suits, Vilamoura Marina, golf, the walk along Falesia, and Albufeira old town.

Photos

Praia da Rocha Baixinha - Portugal (8614869328) — Vitor Oliveira from Torres Vedras, PORTUGAL, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

FAQ

Is it suitable for beginners?

No, the spot is rated intermediate, with experts also expected to enjoy it; no source documents a beginner teaching setup there.

When is the best time?

March to October is the best season, with SW thermal wind and E/SE Levante both reported at 12-22 knots.

Are there rules?

The beach is official bathing water from 15 May to 15 October 2026, so kiting must stay outside marked swimmer zones under national beach rules.

What are the hazards?

Beachgoers and swimmer zones during the long bathing season, plus winter or Levante wave conditions, are the main hazards, with no verified kite-specific rescue.

Last updated: August 2026