Map › Portugal › Alentejo — Lagoa de Santo André / Praia da Costa de Santo André to Praia do Pego › Praia do Pego

Alentejo · Carvalhal, Grândola · Setúbal · Carvalhal

Praia do Pego

also known as Comporta Praia do Pego, Praia do Pêgo, Pego Beach

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 do Carvalhal 1 km · Comporta 11 km · Melides 18 km · Lagoa de Santo André / Praia da Costa de Santo André 22 km · Bico das Lulas, Tróia 25 km · straight-line distance

SeasonMay to Septhe months riders and schools name How windy15-20 ktmixed Launchlargeaccess rules on record, below Waterocean18-22°C in summer · 7 things riders flag LevelIntermediate to advancedwith a caveat, in the Level section Schools2named at this spot From the airportin words under Getting thereLisbon Airport (LIS)

Nortada

12:00 · 14:00 · 15:00 · 16:00

Afternoon. The Nortada builds through the middle of the day, strengthens noticeably from 14:00, is at its hardest roughly between 12:00 and 15:00, and starts to pull off the beach from around 16:00. West-coast pattern rather than a Pego 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.

Pego is the better half of the Carvalhal-Pego pair for wind, and it is still an open Atlantic beach with no kite centre behind it. The afternoon breeze arrives cleaner and less crossed-up than at Carvalhal, which is why kite and windsurf riders head down here when it starts blowing.

Shifting sandbanks and currents make it a spot for riders who already have water time behind them. The beach is 130-150 m of sand, classed as mesotidal and moderately exposed, and in July and August it fills up with beach-club traffic near the access.

Water is cool to cold by kite-travel standards, 18-22 C in summer and 14-16 C in winter, so bring the rubber. The 2026 bathing season runs 30 May to 30 September and the flagged swimming area is out for kites. What is missing is the useful stuff: a wind average, any posted kite corridor, and kite rescue.

The wind

locals call it Nortada

Direction

cross-onNW-W

Kite sizes

567891011121314151617

metres · typical quiver highlighted

Character

mixed

fills in: Afternoon. The Nortada builds through the middle of the day, strengthens noticeably from 14:00, is at its hardest roughly between 12:00 and 15:00, and starts to pull off the beach from around 16:00. West-coast pattern rather than a Pego measurement.

Typical strength

The summer afternoon Nortada is classed as moderate at 28-37 km/h, roughly 15-20 kt, with strong days above 35-45 km/h and peak gusts recorded from 65 to 90 km/h. Those are Portuguese west-coast figures: no measured average exists for Pego itself, and the nearest coastal station statistics come from stations that are no longer reporting.

Cleaner and quieter than Carvalhal. Consistency is undocumented, so a trip built around it is a gamble.

The useful summer pattern is the Alentejo afternoon Nortada, blowing out of the northern quadrant between 315 and 45 degrees. It runs from May to September and is most reliable in July and August, when it affects the Portuguese mainland in roughly 82 per cent of the month. No measured long-term average has been published for Pego itself.

Thermal or synoptic

thermal

The quiver, in words

Nothing local is published. On a moderate 15-20 kt Nortada a 75-85 kg rider is indicatively on 9-11 m, dropping to 7-8 m on the hard afternoons. It is an open Atlantic beach with gusts well above the average, so size for the top of the range rather than the middle.Indicative, not a local figure.

Direction to shore

cross-shore to cross-on depending on exact launch and wind angle

Forecast

Month by month

Jan30
Feb35
Mar48
Apr52
May, riders' month70
Jun, riders' month66
Jul, riders' month66
Aug, riders' month62
Sep, riders' month58
Oct47
Nov37
Dec34

per cent of the month at force 4 or more

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

10Jan16°
11Feb15°
12Mar15°
12Apr17°
13May17°
12Jun19°
12Jul19°
12Aug18°
12Sep18°
12Oct19°
10Nov18°
10Dec17°

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

Month	Force 4+	Knots	From	Air	Water
Jan	30%	10.1 kt	ENE	12.2°C	15.7°C
Feb	35%	10.5 kt	N	12.8°C	15.4°C
Mar	48%	11.8 kt	NW	13.8°C	15.3°C
Apr	52%	11.8 kt	NNW	16.2°C	16.5°C
May	70%	12.5 kt	NNW	18.6°C	16.8°C
Jun	66%	12.3 kt	NNW	20.7°C	19°C
Jul	66%	11.9 kt	NNW	22.6°C	18.6°C
Aug	62%	12.2 kt	NNW	22.7°C	17.6°C
Sep	58%	11.7 kt	NNW	20.5°C	17.7°C
Oct	47%	11.5 kt	SSW	19.2°C	19.1°C
Nov	37%	10.3 kt	N	15.9°C	18°C
Dec	34%	10.2 kt	ENE	13°C	16.6°C

modelled

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

Modelled from weather reanalysis on a 10–25 km grid (2022-2024), not a ground station: reliable for trade and synoptic winds, understates thermal sea breezes and valley winds. 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.

ERA5 reanalysis grid point (modelled) · Open-Meteo historical weather API — ECMWF ERA5/ERA5-Land reanalysis, not a ground station · 2022-2024

The water

Type

ocean

Standing depth

false

Tides

Tide and swell both matter and the sandbanks shift; Pego is classed as mesotidal, moderately exposed Atlantic coastal bathing water.

Temperature

18-22°C summer · 14-16°C winter

Wetsuit

Summer shorty, 2 mm or 3/2 when windy; winter 4/3 or 3/2 with boots.

Currents

Yes. Shifting sandbanks and currents are the reason this is a beach for riders with some experience.

15–19°C water

Wide, exposed Atlantic sand beach south of Carvalhal. It is not a lagoon or standing-depth teaching spot.

Your level

not for beginners hereintermediateadvanced

Pego suits riders with some experience: open Atlantic, sandbanks, currents. Surf schools teach surfing here, and no beginner kite school or rescue setup is confirmed.

The scene

What riders come here for

freeridewind sportsopen-water cruisingquiet beach sessions

Stylish but spacious Comporta beach; generally quieter than Carvalhal, with beach-club traffic near the main access.

Launch and rules

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

With a school or a boat

2 schools name this spot

See who they are

On your own

Room to launch: large

access rules on record

Somewhere else

Praia do Carvalhal, 1 km

Praia do Carvalhal Comporta Melides

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

Rescue

Pego is a 2026 Blue Flag and Accessible bathing beach from 30 May to 30 September, with beach-support services including surveillance and emergency communications. No kite-specific rescue is confirmed.

Launch

Rig on the broad sandy beach away from the main bathing flags, beach-club foot traffic and dune vegetation. Check flags and lifeguard instructions during the bathing season.

Space

large

Rules & access

2026: Pego is listed as an official coastal bathing beach from 30 May to 30 September. No kite-specific permit, ban or launch corridor is published; obey posted beach plans, flags, lifeguards and maritime-authority instructions.

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

Rider tips

Park at the Pego access and walk clear of the beach club and the lifeguarded swimming zone before you rig.
Read the swell as carefully as the wind; the sandbanks move and change what the shorebreak does.
Come for the afternoon, which is when the Nortada fills in.
Plan to be self-sufficient: no kite school and no kite rescue is confirmed at Pego.
Use Carvalhal for food and mixed surf days, and Pego on the days it is actually blowing.
Aim for the window between midday and 15:00. It softens from about 16:00.
Gusts on this coast run far above the average, so rig for the top of the range, not the mean.

Getting there

Airport

Lisbon Airport (LIS)

Route

Drive from Lisbon via A2/A12 and Alcácer do Sal toward Carvalhal/Pego, or route through Setúbal and the Tróia ferry when that suits traffic and itinerary. A car is strongly preferred for beaches along the Comporta coast.

Transfer

80-95 minutes by car in normal traffic

Cost level

high

Staying

Boutique hotels, villas, beach-club stays and rural houses dominate the Comporta-Carvalhal area; lower-cost options are more likely inland around Grândola or farther south.

No-wind days

surf lessons at Pego · beach walks · restaurants and beach clubs · rice-field cycling · Carrasqueira stilt pier · Sado Estuary dolphin watching from Tróia/Setúbal · wine tasting at Herdade da Comporta

Photos

Praia do Pêgo - Portugal (49981345107) — Vitor Oliveira from Torres Vedras, PORTUGAL, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

FAQ

When is the best time to kite at Pego?

The useful pattern is the Alentejo afternoon Nortada from north to northwest, running May to September.

Is it suitable for beginners?

No, it is described as better suited to riders with some experience because of open Atlantic conditions, shifting sandbanks and currents.

How does it compare to nearby Carvalhal?

Pego catches a cleaner cross-shore breeze than Carvalhal and has more space, making it the preferred choice when the afternoon wind rises.

Are there rules or restricted zones?

Pego is an official coastal bathing beach from 30 May to 30 September 2026; riders should stay clear of the supervised swimming zone.

Last updated: August 2026