Riumar

Catalonia · Ebro Delta · Baix Ebre · Riumar / Deltebre

also known as Playa de Riumar, Platja de Riumar, Riomar

Part of Ebro Delta →

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

beginner-friendlymedium crowds

On this page

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

Riding essentials

Season

Sep–Apr

Months riders and schools name

How windy

20-40 kt

Character: mixed

Room to launch

huge

access rules on record, below

Water

mixed

24.8 °C in summerMain beach: sand, shallow, chop to small waves, with larger small-to-medium wind waves when Mestral is strong

Hazards

Reported by riders

Level

Beginner to advanced

With a caveat: see Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Crowds

medium crowds · busy Jul Aug Jun

Schools

named at this spot

From the airport

65 min

Reus (REU)

On the clock

15:30 · 16:00

Mestral is usually a morning and early-day wind and can ease as the land heats. The local pattern is the doblete: riders leave Riumar after the morning north wind and pick the SW Garbi up around 15:30-16:00, usually at Trabucador rather than here.

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.

Nearbystraight-line distance

Trabucador11 km

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

Platja de la Marquesano page yet
Platja de la Bassa de l'Arenano page yet
La Rapita / Badia dels Alfacsno page yet

The spot

Location

Riumar is the Ebro Delta's north-bank beach, by the Riumar urbanization and a short way from the Ebro river mouth and the Garxal lagoon.

Season

The season runs the opposite way to most Mediterranean spots: autumn through spring, when N/NW Mestral turns up almost daily and blows 20-40 kt. The main beach is broad sand, shallow a long way out, with chop and small wind waves once the Mestral is properly on, and there are two or three flat lagoons by the river mouth about a metre deep in places.

Lessons

Schools finish courses in those lagoons.

Beginners

Beginners should stay off strong Mestral days, off the offshore S/SW summer wind, and away from the river-mouth end, where the Mestral turns offshore and a broken line becomes a long swim.

Services

Services beat most Delta beaches: wooden walkways, beach bars, showers that work all year.

Protected areas

The south end borders protected Garxal bird habitat, and the nesting closures that have run April to around mid-August decide where you can go as much as the forecast does.

The wind

locals call it Mestral / Tramuntana-family north and northwest winds; Garbi southwest sea breeze on some afternoons

Direction

cross-on

Direction to shore

cross-on

Dominant direction

N to NW in the main season; S to SW/Garbi can appear in warmer months or afternoons

Kite sizes

4567891011121314

metres · typical quiver highlighted

The quiver, in words

Around 9 m is the everyday size on the north-wind days Riumar is used for.The general Delta working range is 6-12 m, and a 75-85 kg rider will spend most of a proper Mestral day on 6-9 m; windsurfers on the same beach rig about 4.5 sqm in winter and 7 sqm in summer, which is a fair proxy for how much wind arrives.

Character

mixed

When it fills in: see above ↑

Typical strength

Mestral/NW is commonly reported around 20-40 kt; broader ranges of 15-50 kt or 18-30 kt are also given for north-wind winter sessions. Summer/Garbi conditions are commonly lighter, around 12-20 kt, but this is better for Trabucador than Riumar.

Usually rideable and fairly regular in the winter Mestral season, but land-origin N/NW can be gusty and strong. Garbi is warmer and more constant locally, but it is not the preferred wind for Riumar since S/SW is offshore here.

The strongest probability is mid-September to April, with north-component wind almost daily in winter; October to March is often given as the best period. Summer can still work occasionally, but south-sector summer winds are offshore or less suitable at Riumar and are better matched to Trabucador.

Forecast

Live forecast

Windguru Windfinder Windy

Month by month

10 ktJan13°
10 ktFeb13°
10 ktMar13°
9 ktApr15°
8 ktMay18°
8 ktJun21°
8 ktJul24°
8 ktAug26°
8 ktSep24°
9 ktOct21°
10 ktNov18°
10 ktDec15°

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

Modelled monthly averages. Highlighted: the months riders and schools name (Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr).

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

Every figure, month by monthKnots · Wind from · Air · Water

Month	Knots	Wind from	Air	Water
Jan	10.3 kt	NW	10 °C	13.3 °C
Feb	10.3 kt	NW	10.6 °C	12.8 °C
Mar	9.6 kt	NW	12.8 °C	13.3 °C
Apr	9.2 kt	S	14.4 °C	15 °C
May	8.1 kt	S	17.8 °C	17.8 °C
Jun	7.6 kt	S	21.7 °C	21.1 °C
Jul	7.6 kt	S	24.4 °C	24.4 °C
Aug	7.5 kt	S	25 °C	25.6 °C
Sep	8 kt	S	22.2 °C	24.4 °C
Oct	8.7 kt	S	18.3 °C	21.1 °C
Nov	10 kt	NW	13.9 °C	17.8 °C
Dec	10.3 kt	NW	10.6 °C	15 °C

How this is modelledmodelled

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.

Deltebre · Weatherspark (MERRA-2 reanalysis model)

The water

Type

mixed

Standing depth

The main beach shelves gently and shallow sandy water runs a long way out, which is why schools finish courses here.The two or three flat lagoons by the river mouth are about a metre deep in places and less in others - walkable, but shallow enough to catch a fin or a foil, so look before you commit a mast to them.

Tides

Tide independent in practice. No official tide limitation for kitesurfing was found.

Temperature

24.8 °C summer · 14 °C winter

Modelled monthly average: 13–26 °C

Wetsuit

Summer: often shorts or shorty depending on wind; winter: full wetsuit, with 5 mm reported in winter and 5/4 mm recommended for cold mornings.

Conditions

Main beach: sand, shallow, chop to small waves, with larger small-to-medium wind waves when Mestral is strong.

River-mouth/Garxal side: flat lagoons occur there, but riders should avoid protected or signposted bird areas and take special care near the Ebro mouth.

The 10-year August average is 26.5 °C, summer seasonal average 24.8 °C, winter seasonal average 14 °C, and salinity 37.58 ppt. No reliable current-speed data was found.

Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Schools use Riumar because the beach is wide and the water stays shallow a long way out. Beginners want supervision and should skip the gusty strong-Mestral days, the Ebro mouth and the offshore S/SW days. Intermediates and better ride it independently without much thought.

The scene

What riders come here for

wavesfreerideflat watersmall wavessurfkitewinter windflat water nearbylearning with a school

Who it suitsbeginner

Generally quieter than famous Mediterranean kite hubs, with low beach occupancy and few beach users outside summer. In summer it becomes a family/service beach with bathers, lifeguard/Red Cross presence, beach bars, paid or regulated parking in some areas, and more non-kiters to manage.

Launch and rules

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

With a school or a boat

4 schools name this spot

See who they are

On your own

Room to launch: huge

Read the access rules

Somewhere else

1 spot nearby

Trabucador11 km

The one spot within 40 km is under Nearby

Rescue

Treat rescue as private and arranged, not public. Boat support can be organised through the vessels moored at Club Nautic Riumar, a short distance from the beach and the river mouth, or through a local school. The town hall is required to staff lifeguard posts on its beaches in season and Riumar has held Blue Flag since the late 1990s, so a summer lifeguard presence exists for bathers, but no boat is on standby for kiters and no standing rescue service is advertised.

Motorised access

Rescue craft are the only motorised exception to the 3-knot inshore limit, and they are not sitting there waiting for you.

Launch

Wide sandy beach in front of the Riumar urbanization, with wooden dune walkways, nearby beach bars/services, and road access along the seafront. Access is very good with large launch/landing space; secure the kite carefully in strong Mestral.

Hazards riders report 11 reported

Wind

Strong Mestral/NW can be gusty and overpowered, with reports from 20-40 kt and occasional broader 15-50 kt ranges.
S/SW summer and Garbi wind is offshore at Riumar. Use Trabucador on those days unless you are experienced and supported.
Near or past the Ebro river mouth the Mestral can turn offshore, which raises the stakes on gear breakage or a lost board.
Near or past the Ebro river mouth the Mestral turns offshore, which turns a broken line or a lost board into a serious problem.

Crowds and zones

Summer beach users and swimmers, especially June to August.

Bottom

The flat lagoons by the river mouth are only about a metre deep in places; foils and fins find the bottom.

Protected areas and rules

seabird nesting areas (April through early August) are off-limits - riding near concentrations of nesting birds can result in fines
protected natural park - respect posted restrictions
Protected Delta/Garxal bird habitat borders the south end of Riumar; obey fencing and signs, especially during nesting season.
Dunes are protected by wooden walkways; do not rig, walk, or drive through dune vegetation.
Riding inside a buoyed bathing zone is prohibited outright, and elsewhere bathers have priority - the ordinance carries fines for practising outside enabled areas.

Rules & access

1 min read

2025: Deltebre's beach ordinance number 10, on the use, safety and conservation of the municipal beaches and coastline, is what governs Riumar. Surf, windsurf, kitesurf and similar sports may only be practised at the places, in the hours and under the conditions set by the seasonal Pla d'Usos i Serveis; outside that season they are allowed provided the rest of the municipal ordinances are met.

Riding rules

Riding is always subordinate to bathers: where people are in the water in a bathing zone, the sport stops. Anyone practising outside the enabled areas, or not properly identified, can be sanctioned, and schools need an allocated beach-surface reservation plus a register of every person they take out.

Navigation and flags

Navigation is banned inside buoyed bathing zones and craft must enter and leave through the marked channels; on unbuoyed stretches the bathing zone counts as the strip of sea 200 m off a beach, where the speed limit is 3 knots. Flags follow the standard scale - green calm, yellow waves to 1.5 m or moderate currents, red waves over 2 m or strong currents and no bathing.

Protected area

Riumar sits inside the Parc Natural del Delta de l'Ebre beside the Garxal, so dune walkways, access fencing and bird-nesting signage apply on top; temporary nesting closures around the Garxal have run from April to around mid-August. No kite-specific corridor or permit for Riumar was published for 2026.

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

Check Riumar for the morning Mestral. When a SW Garbi fills in around 15:30-16:00, the doblete moves to Trabucador.
Bring small kites for winter Mestral, around 6-9 m, and be ready to sit out the gusty 30 kt-plus days.
Ask a local school where the current launch and the Garxal boundaries sit before you rig near the river-mouth end.
Stay out of marked bird-nesting zones from April to early August, and keep gear on the wooden walkways rather than the dune vegetation.
Read the beach signage in high summer: the seasonal municipal use plan, not the forecast, sets where you can rig.
Use the showers after a cold Mestral session. Riumar has them all year and the Trabucador side does not.

Getting there

Airport

Reus (REU) is the closest major airport, about 80 km from the Delta; Barcelona (BCN) and Valencia (VLC) are the farther options.

Route

Getting thereA car is the practical choice with gear. Off the AP-7, take exit l'Ampolla (39A), l'Aldea/Tortosa (40) or Amposta/la Rapita (41), with the N-340 as the alternative.By rail the nearest stations are l'Ampolla-El Perello-Deltebre, l'Aldea-Amposta and Camarles-Deltebre, with HIFE buses onward.A weekend bus runs from Tortosa bus station to Riumar via l'Aldea railway station, Deltebre and Sant Jaume d'Enveja, calling at the Riumar campsite and three seafront stops; the Tortosa leg takes about 1h20 and the published timetable has two runs each way, so check it still runs before you count on it.

Transfer

65 min

Cost level

medium

Staying

Riumar has local chalets, apartments, campings and aparthotels directly by the beach area; Deltebre and La Rapita add more options within driving distance.

No-wind days

Birdwatching and the walking or cycling routes around the Garxal and the Ebro mouth, SUP and canoe rentals, river cruises, the beaches at Bassa de l'Arena and Marquesa, the Delta rice-field routes, seafood and rice restaurants, and a drive to Trabucador when the direction suits that side better.

FAQ

Is it suitable for beginners?

Yes, schools teach here on the wide, shallow beach, though beginners should avoid strong Mestral days and the river-mouth end.

What is the wind like?

North to northwest Mestral dominates the main season, commonly 20-40 knots, with a southwest Garbi sea breeze on some afternoons.

When is the best time?

Mid-September to April is the strongest period, with north-component wind blowing almost daily in winter.

Are there rules or restricted zones?

The Garxal bird habitat bordering the beach has seasonal access restrictions, roughly April through early August.

Are there kite schools or rental?

Yes, including Ebre Surfers, La Central del Kite, Ezy Fly and Deltakitesup.

The bigger pictureEverything about Ebro Delta

Last updated: August 2026