Map › Colombia › Santa Verónica › Puerto Velero

Atlántico · Tubará municipality · Tubará · Barranquilla

Puerto Velero

also known as Punta de Puerto Velero, La Punta, Ensenada El Trebal

beginner-friendlymedium crowds

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

On this page

Wind
- Month by month
Forecast
Water
Level
The scene
Launch
- Rescue
Hazards
Rules & access
Schools
Tips
Getting there
FAQ

Nearby Santa Verónica 10 km · Salinas del Rey 11 km · straight-line distance

SeasonJan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Decthe months riders and schools name How windy20-35 kttrade Launchokaccess rules on record, below Watermixed28.6°C in summer · 7 things riders flag LevelBeginner to advancedwith a caveat, in the Level section Schools3named at this spot From the airport47 minBarranquilla (BAQ)

On the clock

09:00 · 10:00 · 12:00

Kiteboarding Colombia says it usually gets windy around 09:00-10:00 and can be ridden until sunset; a 2026 Facebook trip report says wind started around 12:00 each day.

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.

Puerto Velero is a big sheltered bay at Km 88 of the Barranquilla-Cartagena road in Tubará, Atlántico, about 30 minutes from Barranquilla on the Colombian Caribbean coast.

Inside the sand point the water is flat and standing-depth at low tide for 50-100 m out; on the seaside of the sandbank there are small to medium waves for people who want them. Where you launch matters more than anywhere else on this coast.

In front of the restaurants and the marina the wind is offshore and gusty, the bottom is mud, and there are less than five meters between the water and the shacks; walk past the marina to La Punta and the trade comes in side-onshore and steady over flat water.

Season is the Caribbean trade wind from December through March or April, with a weaker June-July window; strength quotes run anywhere from 12 to 35 kt, the wind usually arrives 09:00-10:00 and holds to sunset, and the water is 26.8-28.6 C, so no wetsuit.

DIMAR zoned Ensenada El Trebal/Puerto Velero in 2015: swimmers to 50 m, nautical sports from 50 m to 200 m, boats beyond, everything between 06:00 and 17:00. Beginners get sent here from Salinas del Rey because the bay is easier, and that holds with a school or a rescue boat behind you; the offshore side of the bay is no place to learn alone.

The wind

locals call it Caribbean trade winds

Direction

wind blows away from land — rescue cover matters here

Kite sizes

4567891011121314

metres · typical quiver highlighted

Character

trade

fills in: Kiteboarding Colombia says it usually gets windy around 09:00-10:00 and can be ridden until sunset; a 2026 Facebook trip report says wind started around 12:00 each day.

Typical strength

Reported as 20-35 kt in season; other reported ranges are lower, at 12-23 kt, 15-25 kt, or a 22.8 kt average.

Cleanest at La Punta and on the open-sea side; gustier close to restaurants, schools, marina, and inside-bay launch zones.

Primary season December-March, stretching into April in a good year. A weaker June-July window exists. Camps run January-April plus December, which tells you where the money is.

Thermal or synoptic

synoptic (Caribbean trade winds)

Also on record

22.8

The quiver, in words

6-12 m is the season band for a 75-85 kg rider: 11-12 m on the light days in the low teens, 9 m through the mid teens and low twenties, 7-8 m once the trade is over 25 knots. The band is the season guide quoted locally, not a measured rigging rule.

Direction to shore

gusty offshore close to the restaurants/school/marina inside the bay; steadier side-onshore at La Punta and on the open-sea side

Forecast

Month by month

Jan, riders' month98
Feb, riders' month96
Mar, riders' month94
Apr, riders' month81
May32
Jun22
Jul65
Aug28
Sep18
Oct11
Nov23
Dec, riders' month85

per cent of the month at force 4 or more

Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Dec.

17Jan27°
18Feb27°
16Mar27°
14Apr27°
10May29°
9Jun30°
12Jul30°
10Aug30°
9Sep31°
9Oct31°
10Nov30°
14Dec28°

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

Month	Force 4+	Knots	From	Air	Water
Jan	98%	16.6 kt	NE	26.8°C	27.1°C
Feb	96%	18.1 kt	NE	26.8°C	26.5°C
Mar	94%	16.3 kt	NE	27.1°C	26.9°C
Apr	81%	14.2 kt	NE	27.3°C	27.1°C
May	32%	9.7 kt	NE	27.6°C	29.3°C
Jun	22%	8.7 kt	NE	27°C	30.3°C
Jul	65%	12 kt	NE	27.6°C	29.7°C
Aug	28%	9.8 kt	NE	27.5°C	30°C
Sep	18%	9.1 kt	NE	27.4°C	30.6°C
Oct	11%	8.5 kt	NE	26.9°C	30.5°C
Nov	23%	9.5 kt	NE	26.4°C	29.9°C
Dec	85%	14.4 kt	NE	27.1°C	27.9°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

mixed

Standing depth

Shallow/standing sections inside the bay: low tide is standing-depth and high tide is partial-depth; learners can reach the bottom in the shallow bay; shallow for about 50-100 m.

Tides

Tide is present but small on recent tide tables: August/September 2026 examples range roughly from 0 m lows to 0.6 m highs. High tide rises quickly but remains navigable, with chop at high tide and flatter standing-depth water at low tide.

Temperature

28.6°C summer · 26.8°C winter

Wetsuit

No wetsuit normally needed; nearby Barranquilla sea temperatures stay warm year-round. Sun protection is useful.

27–31°C water

Large semi-enclosed Caribbean bay behind a sand point: flat water inside, waves on the exposed seaside of the sandbank. Ride or teach downwind at La Punta rather than in front of the restaurants and marina, where the wind is dirty. Outside the bay the swell builds and the wind gets irregular.

Your level

beginnerintermediateadvanced

Suitable for beginners only in the supervised shallow bay/La Punta areas used by schools; not beginner-friendly at the tight restaurant launch or when riding offshore wind without rescue. Intermediate riders get flat-water freeride and downwind options. Advanced riders use the outside wave section and downwinders.

The scene

What riders come here for

beginnersflat waterbeginner lessons with a schoolfreeridedownwinderswingfoilwindsurfsmall to medium waves outside the bay

Working watersports beach with restaurants, a marina, schools and weekend traffic. Even so there is a lot of space; a 2026 trip counted about a dozen kiters on the water.

Launch and rules

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

With a school or a boat

3 schools name this spot

See who they are

On your own

Room to launch: ok

access rules on record

Somewhere else

Santa Verónica, 10 km

Santa Verónica Salinas del Rey

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

Rescue

Kite Puerto Velero offers boat support/rescue service; local schools supervise the water area. Independently confirm availability before relying on it.

Launch

Several launch/use zones exist rather than one simple beach launch. For independent riders, La Punta past the marina is the recommended default: the wind is steadier and the water flatter there, away from the gustier restaurant/school area. The restaurant/school area (Nautica Velero, Kite Puerto Velero) remains the default for lessons and downwind starts, though it is tight and gusty.DIMAR Resolution 19 of 2015 defines swimmer, nautical-sport, boat-transit, and four embark/disembark corridors in Ensenada El Trebal/Puerto Velero.

Space

Hazards riders report 7

Offshore or gusty wind inside parts of the bay, especially near restaurants/schools/marina.
Tight restaurant launch: less than five meters between water and restaurant shacks in that area.
Muddy bottom reported in the bay.
Some isolated rocks near the marina, visible at low tide.
Small motorboats at the end of the day.
Outside the bay has more swell and more irregular wind; the outside waves are recommended only for experienced kitesurfers.
DIMAR Resolution 19 of 2015 restricts nautical sports in very strong wind/large-wave red-alert conditions and in night/low-visibility/bad ocean-atmosphere conditions.

Rules & access

2015: DIMAR Resolution 19 MD-DIMAR-CP03-ALIT zones Ensenada El Trebal/Puerto Velero into swimmer, nautical-sport, and boat-transit areas; swimmers are from the beach line to 50 m offshore, nautical sports from 50 m to 200 m offshore, and boat traffic beyond that.
2015: activities are allowed 06:00-17:00 subject to the Captaincy modifying them for meteo-marine conditions; kitesurf is explicitly authorized as a nautical/recreational activity.
2015: nautical operators must hold a commercial maritime-service license, users must carry appropriate safety equipment, life jackets are mandatory for nautical sports except apnea/subaquatic swimming, night/low-visibility/bad-weather practice is prohibited, and regattas/competitions require prior Captaincy authorization.

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

Rider tips

Walk past the marina to La Punta before you rig; at the restaurants the wind is offshore and gusty and the launch gap is under five meters.
Ride the bay at low tide for flat standing-depth water; high tide brings chop and hides the rocks near the marina.
Stay outside the 0-50 m swimmer strip and use the marked corridors to get in and out; the 2015 DIMAR zoning puts kites at 50-200 m.
Confirm Kite Puerto Velero's rescue boat is actually on the water that day before riding the offshore side alone.
Watch for the small motorboats coming home late in the afternoon.
Budget around US$26-32 for a taxi from BAQ (2026); the bay is 45-50 minutes from the airport.

Getting there

Airport

Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport, Barranquilla (BAQ)

Route

Puerto Velero is at Km 88 of the Barranquilla-Cartagena coastal road in Tubará. About 30 minutes from Barranquilla, 45-50 minutes from BAQ, and 1-2.5 hours from Cartagena depending on route and transport.

Transfer

47 min

Cost level

medium; 2026 Rome2Rio estimates BAQ taxi/drive options around US$26-32 and Cartagena bus+taxi around US$35-60, while actual app taxis/transfers can vary.

Staying

On-site or near-spot options include Marina Puerto Velero resort/cabins, Azul Profundo restaurant with hammock/tent/camper options, and accommodation associated with Nautica Velero. Broader stays are available in Barranquilla, Puerto Colombia, Santa Verónica, and Tubará-area beach houses.

No-wind days

Sailing trips from Marina Puerto Velero; windsurf, sailing, paddleboard, kayak and wakeboard at the Sport Aquatic Center; the Tubará beaches and restaurants; Barranquilla, Puerto Colombia, Castillo de Salgar and Cartagena within a day.

FAQ

When is the best time to kite at Puerto Velero?

The main season is December to March or April, with a secondary June-July window also reported.

Is Puerto Velero suitable for beginners?

Yes, in the supervised shallow bay or at La Punta, but the tight restaurant launch area can be gusty and less suitable for first lessons.

What is the wind like at Puerto Velero?

Reports vary, but trade wind commonly runs 15-25 knots and can reach 20-35 knots in season, usually picking up around 9-10am.

Are there rules or restricted zones?

Yes, a 2015 DIMAR resolution zones the bay into a 0-50 m swimmer area, a 50-200 m nautical-sports area and a boat-transit zone beyond, with activities limited to 06:00-17:00.

Are there kite schools nearby?

Yes, including Kite Puerto Velero, Nautica Velero and the Sport Aquatic Center.

Last updated: August 2026