MapColombiaPunta GallinasColombia

Punta Gallinas

La Guajira · Rancheria Luz Mila / Uribia municipality

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

lagoonnot for beginnerslow crowds

On this page

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

Riding essentials

Season

Dec–Aug

Months riders and schools name

How windy

20-30

Character: trade

Room to launch

large, remote beaches and bays; exact launch sizes vary by sub-spot

access rules on record, below

Water

mixed flat-water bays, lagoons, channels and open-sea wave sections

28 °C in summer

Hazards

Reported by riders

Level

Intermediate to advanced

With a caveat: see Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Crowds

low crowds · busy Dec Jan Feb Mar

Schools

named at this spot

From the airport

Almirante Padilla Airport

Transfer times under Getting there

La Guajira trade winds

07:00 · 09:00 · 11:00 · 17:00

The trade never really stops - it is still 15-16 kt at first light - but it steps up between 07:00 and 09:00 and then holds 19-20 kt from late morning to mid-afternoon, easing gradually after 17:00. The stable window trips are run in is roughly 11:00 to 17:00. Indicative for the hourly figures, which come from five years of model history rather than a local anemometer.

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.

Punta Gallinas has no other spot on this map within 40 km of it. straight-line distance

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

Cabo de la Vela
Mayapo
La Boquitano page yet
Dunas de Taroano page yet
Punta Agujano page yet

The spot

Punta Gallinas is the northern tip of mainland South America, a long 4x4 day through Wayuu desert from Riohacha via Mayapo or Cabo de la Vela, and nobody goes for one session.

Launches

The kiting is spread over several put-ins: La Laguna and La Boquita are flat water, Punta Aguja is open sea with small waves, and Taroa under the dunes has real waves for people who ride them.

Wind and risk

The La Guajira trade blows 20-30 knots from December to August, mostly sideshore at the launches, and can top 35 on the downwind legs. Those legs are the point and also the risk: some sections are offshore or side-offshore, some carry 2-3 m waves, and stretches of the coast toward Cabo de la Vela have no road and nowhere to land, so the only rescue is the boat your operator brings.

Water and operators

Water is around 26-28 C, boardshorts or a lycra. Operators do teach beginners in the flat bays with instructors and boat support; on your own it is an intermediate-to-advanced trip. A 2026 package from Riohacha ran 800-1090 USD, sleeping in shared cabins, rancherias or a chinchorro. Which compass direction the wind takes at each launch has not been written down anywhere.

The wind

locals call it La Guajira trade winds

Direction

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

Direction to shore

Side-onshore to side-shore at the flat-water bays, which is what makes them teachable. Parts of the downwind legs turn side-offshore or offshore, and that is where the trip's real risk sits.

Dominant direction

East, and relentlessly so. Across five years of hourly history for the point, the wind sits in the east sector about nine hours in ten from December through August, with almost all of the rest north-east; west of north or south is close to nonexistent. Indicative - a model grid point, not a mast on the beach.

Kite sizes

567891011121314

metres · typical quiver highlighted

The quiver, in words

For a 75-85 kg rider the 9 m is the everyday kite from December to August, with a 7 m for the reinforced afternoons and the exposed downwind legs; a 12 m earns its place only in the dawn and dusk lull. Indicative sizing read off the recorded wind range, no local measurement.

Character

trade

When it fills in: see above ↑

Thermal or synoptic

synoptic (Caribbean trade winds)

Average strength

20-30

Typical strength

20-30; can exceed 35 on demanding downwinders

20-30 knots most days from December to August, stronger on the exposed downwind legs.

December-August is given as the season for Punta Gallinas; guided trips are scheduled for March and June 2026.

Forecast

Live forecast

Windguru Windfinder Windy

Month by month

Jan, riders' month100
Feb, riders' month96
Mar, riders' month100
Apr, riders' month96
May, riders' month99
Jun, riders' month96
Jul, riders' month100
Aug, riders' month96
Sep89
Oct72
Nov68
Dec, riders' month100

per cent of the month at force 4 or more

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

21 ktJan26°
21 ktFeb25°
21 ktMar26°
20 ktApr26°
21 ktMay27°
21 ktJun28°
23 ktJul27°
19 ktAug27°
17 ktSep29°
14 ktOct30°
15 ktNov29°
19 ktDec27°

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

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.

Every figure, month by monthForce 4+ · Knots · Wind from · Air · Water

Month	Force 4+	Knots	Wind from	Air	Water
Jan	100%	20.5 kt	E	26.8 °C	25.8 °C
Feb	96%	20.5 kt	ENE	26.6 °C	25.2 °C
Mar	100%	21.3 kt	E	27 °C	25.9 °C
Apr	96%	20.3 kt	E	27.6 °C	26.2 °C
May	99%	21.3 kt	E	28.6 °C	27.2 °C
Jun	96%	21 kt	E	29 °C	28 °C
Jul	100%	22.7 kt	E	28.8 °C	26.8 °C
Aug	96%	19 kt	E	29.1 °C	27.4 °C
Sep	89%	16.7 kt	E	29.3 °C	29.1 °C
Oct	72%	14.4 kt	E	28.8 °C	30.1 °C
Nov	68%	14.7 kt	E	27.6 °C	29.4 °C
Dec	100%	18.5 kt	E	27.5 °C	26.5 °C

How this is modelledmodelled · 2022-2024

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

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 flat-water bays, lagoons, channels and open-sea wave sections

Standing depth

Bahia Hondita is standable across the flat-water area, sand the whole way with no rock or reef to hit, which is why beginners are taught there and nowhere else. Punta Aguja and Taroa are open sea and are not.

Tides

Micro-tidal.Four turns a day and a total swing usually under half a metre - about 0.4 m across a September 2026 day on this coast - so the tide does not decide the session, and the flat bay is rideable at both high and low water.Nothing is published for the individual lagoons, the La Boquita channel or the Taroa wave area.

Temperature

Summer (°C) around 28 near Riohacha / La Guajira reference waters

Winter (°C) around 26 near Riohacha / La Guajira reference waters

Modelled monthly average: 25–30 °C

Wetsuit

boardshorts or lycra; thick wetsuit not needed in the Colombian Caribbean

Currents

No measured figure. The risk described here is drift rather than current: strong side-shore trade over an unpeopled coast, so anything that goes downwind of you keeps going, and on the roadless stretch toward Cabo de la Vela there is nowhere to wash up.

Conditions

La Laguna and La Boquita are flat-water venues, Punta Aguja is open to the sea with small waves, and Taroa is a larger-wave option for experienced riders.

Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

not for beginners here

Ride it independently only as an intermediate or better: the access is remote and the downwind routes cross offshore wind, open water and 2-3 m waves. Beginners are taught in selected flat-water bays with instructors and a boat, and nowhere else.

The scene

What riders come here for

downwind safarisadventure kitingfreestyle in flat waterwave sessions at Taroaremote expedition travel

Remote, rustic expedition setting in Wayuu territory, usually experienced through organized camps or kite safaris rather than casual day sessions.

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, remote beaches and bays; exact launch sizes vary by sub-spot

Read the access rules

Somewhere else

No neighbour on record

No other spot in the atlas sits within reach of this one.

Rescue

No public rescue service: no lifeguards, no coastguard station in reach, and the boat your operator brings is the whole safety net. The nearest hospital-grade care is Riohacha, over 300 km away with the last stretch on unpaved desert track, which is a day's drive rather than an evacuation.

Launch

Remote Wayuu desert coastline with flat-water bay and lagoon launches reached by 4x4, boat transfer, or guided downwind itinerary.

Hazards riders report 11 reported

Wind

offshore or side-offshore wind on some downwind sections
strong wind
The wind almost never drops: over 15 kt about nine hours in ten from December to August, so there is no light-wind rest day to fall back on

Waves and currents

strong, consistent wind and swell
2-3 m waves on exposed sections

Other

remoteness / no rescue infrastructure
remote desert access
limited infrastructure
no road or landing access along parts of the Punta Gallinas to Cabo de la Vela route
Over 300 km of track and highway between the point and the nearest hospital in Riohacha
No ATM, patchy signal, and solar power at the rancherias that often runs only from about 18:00 to 23:00

Rules & access

1 min read

Access and territory

2026: no kitesurf permit, no published kite zoning and no marine-authority rule found for these launches. What governs access is the land. Punta Gallinas sits in Wayuu territory in Uribia municipality, reached only over community tracks, and the working rules are the community's: ropes are strung across the desert track by Wayuu families as informal tolls - a couple of thousand pesos a vehicle, or sweets and school supplies - and they come thick along the tourist section of the route.

Practical considerations

Ask before photographing people, and carry your rubbish out. Going in without a local driver is not illegal but is discouraged everywhere, and fluent Spanish is a condition of doing it. There are no ATMs at Punta Gallinas and none reliable before Uribia, so bring the whole trip's cash in small notes; power at the rancherias is solar and often on only from about 18:00 to 23:00.

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

Book a guided trip unless you know the desert tracks; the run from Mayapo alone is about 300 minutes of 4x4.
Get the operator to confirm boat support for every downwind leg that runs offshore or along the roadless stretch toward Cabo de la Vela.
Carry cash in small bills and follow the community's protocols in Wayuu territory.
Treat the beginner courses as guided-only: the flat bays are teachable, the rest is not.
The March and June 2026 scheduled trips are the easy way in if you want a group; otherwise December to August is the window.
Budget three days minimum. There is no version of Punta Gallinas that works as a day trip.
Keep small notes and a bag of sweets or pencils within reach on the drive: the rope tolls come every few hundred metres through the tourist section of the track.
Charge everything before dark - the rancheria's solar power is often on only from about 18:00 to 23:00.

Getting there

Airport

Almirante Padilla Airport, Riohacha

Route

Typically reached by organised 4x4 from Riohacha via Mayapo and/or Cabo de la Vela, or as part of a guided downwind itinerary through Wayuu territory.Three days is the practical minimum - a day in with stops, a day at the point, a day back - because there is no direct public transport, no paved road on the last stretch and only intermittent GPS.A 4x4 with a driver who knows the tracks is effectively mandatory; a 2026 three-day tour from Riohacha ran at 900,000 COP per person.

Transfer

About 300 minutes from Mayapo to Punta Gallinas. Kiteboarding Colombia schedules Riohacha-Mayapo-Punta Gallinas transfers over the first two trip days.

Cost level

high for Colombia because trips are multi-day expeditions; Kiteboarding Colombia listed 2026 packages from 800-1090 USD

Staying

Shared cabins, rancherias, rooms or chinchorro/hammock-style lodging depending on operator and itinerary.

No-wind days

Dunas de Taroa, El Faro, Wayuu cultural visits, flamingo/bird watching, seafood and desert sightseeing.

Photos

FAQ

When is the best time to kite at Punta Gallinas?

The season runs December to August, with trade wind typically 20-30 knots.

Is Punta Gallinas suitable for beginners?

Independent riding is best treated as intermediate to advanced, since access is remote and downwind routes can include offshore wind and open water; some operators offer fully supported beginner courses in flat-water areas.

What is the wind like at Punta Gallinas?

Strong, consistent Caribbean trade wind runs 20-30 knots and can exceed 35 knots on demanding downwind legs.

What hazards should riders know about?

Remoteness with no rescue infrastructure, offshore wind on some downwind sections, and 2-3 m waves on exposed areas are reported.

Are there kite schools nearby?

Guided trips are run by operators such as Kiteboarding Colombia and a kite school at Rancheria Luz Mila.

Last updated: August 2026