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Sicilia · Agrigento coast · Agrigento

San Leone

also known as San Leone Beach, La Terza

beginner-friendlyhigh 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 Torre di Gaffe 26 km · straight-line distance

SeasonMay to Septhe months riders and schools name How windyno knot figure publishedmixed Launchsmallaccess rules on record, below Watersea23.9°C in summer · 12 things riders flag LevelBeginner to advancedwith a caveat, in the Level section Schools4named at this spot From the airport163 minPalermo (PMO)

When it fills in

No onset time is published for this spot.

San Leone is Agrigento's city beach and it does work as a kite spot: chop with small to medium waves, no tide to plan around, and a launch small enough that you notice it straight away. Riders set up around La Terza, where the beach volleyball is played, and ride mostly side-shore on starboard tack.

Spring and summer are the freeride months. Autumn and winter are when the waves arrive, and Mistral after several days of blowing is the setup to wait for, once the swell has built. A beginner can ride here, but not in July with bathers in the water and a rigging patch this tight.

Nobody has published wind averages for the beach, and rescue cover and the current summer launch corridor are both unconfirmed.

The wind

locals call it Ponente, Maestrale swell conditions

Direction

cross-shoreW

Character

mixed

What you get depends on the season: freeride water in spring and summer, waves in autumn and winter.

May to September gets named as the best window, and so does the other half of the year: spring, autumn, winter. The summer months carry the caution, because the beach fills with bathers.

Thermal or synoptic

both

Strength

No knot figure is published for this spot.

Direction to shore

Mostly side-shore on starboard tack.

Forecast

Month by month

Jan39
Feb38
Mar58
Apr52
May, riders' month35
Jun, riders' month24
Jul, riders' month32
Aug, riders' month25
Sep, riders' month33
Oct24
Nov37
Dec37

per cent of the month at force 4 or more

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

11Jan16°
11Feb15°
12Mar16°
12Apr17°
11May19°
9Jun22°
10Jul25°
10Aug26°
10Sep25°
9Oct23°
10Nov20°
10Dec17°

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

Month	Force 4+	Knots	From	Air	Water
Jan	39%	10.8 kt	NNE	11.4°C	15.9°C
Feb	38%	10.6 kt	NW	11.5°C	15.2°C
Mar	58%	12 kt	WNW	13°C	15.7°C
Apr	52%	11.6 kt	WNW	15.7°C	16.6°C
May	35%	10.7 kt	ESE	19.5°C	18.8°C
Jun	24%	9.2 kt	NW	24.9°C	22.4°C
Jul	32%	9.8 kt	WNW	28.1°C	25.3°C
Aug	25%	9.9 kt	WNW	27.2°C	26.1°C
Sep	33%	10.3 kt	WNW	24.4°C	24.6°C
Oct	24%	8.8 kt	ESE	21.2°C	22.6°C
Nov	37%	10.3 kt	WNW	16.7°C	20°C
Dec	37%	10.2 kt	NW	13.5°C	17.2°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

sea

Standing depth

The bottom off San Leone is sand and stays shallow near the beach, but how far standing depth reaches at the kite launch is unconfirmed.

Tides

Kitesurfing conditions at San Leone do not depend on tide.

Temperature

23.9°C summer · 15.8°C winter

Wetsuit

Summer is warm; winter water around 16 C points to a full wetsuit.

Currents

A coastal current is reported along this beach when the wind is strong. The bottom is sand, with no rock to catch a line.

15–26°C water

Sandy Agrigento seafront beach with chop and small to medium waves; sandy conditions with no particular hazards.

Your level

beginnerintermediateadvanced

Marked for every level and called good for beginners, though the summer crowd and the small launch mean a beginner wants someone watching.

The scene

What riders come here for

freeridewavesurf

City beach with locals and holidaymakers together, packed through the summer.

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: small

access rules on record

Somewhere else

Torre di Gaffe, 26 km

Torre di Gaffe

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

Rescue

+39 0922 535182VHF channel 16

No kite rescue and no rescue boat are arranged for the launch. Sea emergencies go to the Porto Empedocle Coast Guard operations room, staffed around the clock: 1530 free from any Italian phone, 112, +39 0922 535182, or VHF channel 16. Concession beaches must keep a lifeguard on duty for as long as they run beach services in bathing season, and every establishment must carry a defibrillator. A free stretch of sand carries none of that.

Launch

Sand on the Agrigento seafront, around La Terza and the beach-volleyball ground.

Space

small

Rules & access

2026 Porto Empedocle bathing-safety ordinance 17/2026, in force along the Agrigento coast, with its signals annex replaced by ordinance 18/2026. During the bathing season, from 08:00 to sunset and whenever people are in the water, kitesurf may not navigate or anchor in the sea reserved for bathing.

Where a kite corridor exists it must be 30 m wide at the beach, widen to 80 m by 100 m offshore and hold that width for a further 200 m, marked out to 300 m from the waterline by two lines of orange buoys no more than 20 m apart, the outermost buoys 80 cm across and carrying the holder's name and authorisation number.

Inside the corridor the first 100 m are done by body drag, one kite at a time, priority to the kite coming in; corridor use is free. Launching without a corridor is allowed only on free beaches and stretches of sea with no bathers, and landing on beach frontage held under concession is forbidden outright.

No kite may stop within 500 m of the mouth of Porto Empedocle harbour, and the mouth of the San Leone marina is itself partly closed under ordinance 02/2025.

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

Rider tips

Stay off the water in the middle of a summer day unless the sea in front of you is empty and a corridor is marked.
Ride freeride in the warm months and keep the wave sessions for autumn and winter.
Ask locally where to rig around La Terza: the usable strip is smaller than the beach looks.
With no marked corridor you may only launch from a free beach with nobody in the water in front of you, and you may not land on a concession frontage at all.
Save 1530 and the Porto Empedocle Coast Guard number before you rig; nobody here is watching the kites.

Getting there

Airport

Palermo (PMO), with Comiso (CIY) geographically closer but less commonly recommended

Route

Drive down from Agrigento to La Terza, the city beach, on the SS115. Parking runs along the San Leone seafront and is free out of season. There are train connections from Palermo airport toward the San Leone Mose area, and distances are also quoted from Palermo and Catania.

Transfer

163 min

Cost level

medium

Staying

San Leone is a beach resort area with many hotels and B&Bs; Albachiara advertises accommodation directly on the beach.

No-wind days

Valley of the Temples · Agrigento old town · San Leone seafront · Scala dei Turchi area

Photos

San Leone AG, Italy - panoramio — trolvag, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

FAQ

When is the best time to kitesurf at San Leone?

May to September is best for freeride, while autumn and winter bring wave conditions, especially after Mistral swell builds.

Is San Leone suitable for beginners?

Yes, it is marked for any level, though summer crowds and a small launch area require caution.

What is the wind like at San Leone?

West wind dominates and is mostly side-shore on starboard tack.

Are there rules or restricted zones at San Leone?

A 2026 Porto Empedocle bathing-safety ordinance regulates kitesurf launch and landing corridors, allowing launches without a corridor only on free beaches away from bathers.

What are the main hazards at San Leone?

Summer beach crowds and a small launching area are the main constraints.

Last updated: August 2026