Map›Spain›Golf de Roses, Costa Brava›Sant Pere PescadorGolf de Roses, Costa Brava
Sant Pere Pescador
Catalonia · Costa Brava - Golf de Roses · Upper Empordà
also known as Golf de Roses, Bay of Roses, Platja del Cortal de la Vila, Platja de la Cagarra
Part of Golf de Roses, Costa Brava →
Riding essentials
Season
Apr–Sep
Months riders and schools name
How windy
12-22 knots
Character: mixed
Room to launch
huge
access rules on record, below
Water
mixed
24 °C in summerWide sandy beach on the Bay of Roses with mostly flat-to-choppy water in sea-breeze conditions
Hazards
10
Reported by riders
Level
Beginner to advanced
With a caveat: see Your level
Crowds
high crowds · busy Jun Jul Aug
Schools
9
named at this spot
From the airport
Girona-Costa Brava Airport is the closest major airport
Transfer times under Getting there
On the clock
13:00
Mornings are light. The Garbi thermal builds through late morning into the early afternoon and holds until evening, most reliably from about 13:00 onward. Tramuntana has no daily rhythm at all: it arrives with a synoptic pattern, can be blowing at dawn, and often runs for two or three days.
The mark is the clock time the record names, laid on a 24-hour day. The fade after it is not an end time, and not a promise of wind.
Nearbystraight-line distance
Backup spotsWhere riders go when the wind doesn't work here.
- Empuriabrava
- Rosesno page yet
- La Rubinano page yet
- Palsno page yet
- Leucateno page yet
The spot
Location and wind seasons
Zones and water
Infrastructure and crowds
The wind
locals call it Garbí / Marinada thermal; Tramuntana
Direction
Direction to shore
mixed
Dominant direction
SE for the summer thermal, arriving side-onshore from the left as you look at the sea; N to NW during Tramuntana episodes.
Kite sizes
metres · typical quiver highlighted
The quiver, in words
For a 75-85 kg rider: 11-12 m early in the day or on a soft Garbi, 8-9 m once the afternoon thermal settles at 20-25 knots, and 6-7 m in a working Tramuntana, smaller again when it really blows. A 12 m and a 9 m cover most of a summer week.
Character
Average strength
Summer afternoons run about 20-25 knots once the thermal is established; mornings are usually light or glassy. Tramuntana episodes sit around 25-30 knots and go higher.Ignore annual averages for this beach: the nearest long-term automatic station, which stopped reporting in 2022, returned a mean of roughly 6 knots from the north-east, a figure that reflects where the sensor sat rather than what the water does.
Typical strength
12-22 knots for the summer thermal; 20-40+ knots possible in Tramuntana episodes
Forecast
Live forecast
Month by month
- Jan45
- Feb42
- Mar55
- Apr, riders' month75
- May, riders' month68
- Jun, riders' month67
- Jul, riders' month90
- Aug, riders' month85
- Sep, riders' month65
- Oct58
- Nov45
- Dec32
windy days per month (3 h+ at 12 kn+)
Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep.
- 45%Jan
- 42%Feb
- 55%Mar
- 75%Apr
- 68%May
- 67%Jun
- 90%Jul
- 85%Aug
- 65%Sep
- 58%Oct
- 45%Nov
- 32%Dec
windy days per month (3 h+ at 12 kn+) · season highlighted
Modelled from the operational forecast archive at 1.5–7 km (2023-2024), daylight hours only, not a ground station: it resolves thermal, lake and valley winds far better than coarse reanalysis but still tends to understate a strong local thermal.
Every figure, month by monthWindy days · Force 4+ · 12 kn or more · Knots · Wind from · Peaks at · Air · Readings
| Month | Windy days | Force 4+ | 12 kn or more | Knots | Wind from | Peaks at | Air | Readings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 45% | 63% | 60% | 16.3 kt | NNW | 15:00 | 8.3 °C | 62 |
| Feb | 42% | 74% | 68% | 17.3 kt | NNW | 17:00 | 8.9 °C | 57 |
| Mar | 55% | 90% | 87% | 17.2 kt | SE | 16:00 | 11.1 °C | 62 |
| Apr | 75% | 95% | 90% | 20 kt | SE | 15:00 | 13.9 °C | 60 |
| May | 68% | 95% | 95% | 18.2 kt | SE | 15:00 | 17.2 °C | 62 |
| Jun | 67% | 98% | 95% | 17 kt | SE | 15:00 | 21.1 °C | 60 |
| Jul | 90% | 98% | 98% | 18.6 kt | SE | 15:00 | 23.9 °C | 62 |
| Aug | 85% | 98% | 97% | 17.8 kt | SE | 15:00 | 23.9 °C | 62 |
| Sep | 65% | 92% | 88% | 16.8 kt | E | 16:00 | 20.6 °C | 60 |
| Oct | 58% | 92% | 87% | 16.3 kt | SE | 16:00 | 16.7 °C | 62 |
| Nov | 45% | 65% | 53% | 15.3 kt | N | 15:00 | 12.2 °C | 60 |
| Dec | 32% | 52% | 47% | 15.2 kt | NNW | 13:00 | 8.9 °C | 62 |
How this is modelledmodelled · 2023-2024
A weather model's cell over this place, not a station on it. Good for comparing places, weaker for one beach.
A windy day has at least three consecutive daylight hours at 12 knots or more. 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.
High-resolution weather model (modelled) · Open-Meteo historical forecast archive — best-match operational model (ICON-D2 / AROME / ICON-EU / GFS by region), not a ground station · 2023-2024
The water
Type
mixed
Standing depth
Fine sand shelving gently, with several sandbanks offshore that hold shallow water a long way out.In the school zones you are waist-deep or less well past the shorebreak, and the banks give further standing patches beyond that.It is still open sea rather than a lagoon: between the banks it goes over your head, and the sand moves after winter storms, so the shallow line shifts from year to year.
Tides
No meaningful Atlantic-style tide information was found in local sources; practical beach setup is driven more by wind, surf and seasonal zoning than tidal range.
Temperature
24 °C summer · 13 °C winter
Wetsuit
Boardshorts or shorty in high summer for many riders; spring/autumn usually shorty to 3/2; winter needs a full wetsuit around 4/3 or warmer.
Currents
No persistent kite-specific current warning is published; treat river mouths, storm surf and strong Tramuntana days cautiously.
Conditions
Your level
The scene
What riders come here for
Launch and rules
three ways on to the water, and what each one asks of you
With a school or a boat
9 schools name this spot
On your own
Room to launch: huge
Somewhere else
3 spots nearby
Rescue
Launch
Long sandy beach with designated kitesurf areas near the established school/camping zones, especially around Cortal de la Vila and Cagarra/La Ballena Alegre. Rigging is normally on sand; in high season stay inside the posted nautical/kite channels and away from bathers.
Rules & access
1 min read
Two zones
Bathing zone
Peak season signals
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
- Camp right on the beach at one of the kite-oriented campsites for direct beach access.
- Do not judge the day at 10:00. Light mornings are normal and the Garbí thermal usually arrives around midday and holds through the afternoon.
- The two kite areas are 200 m wide each. Walk to one rather than rigging where you happened to park.
- For a first visit, check the current 2026 kite-zone layout with a local school before you rig.
- Big Tramuntana days pull freestyle and big-air riders here from across Europe: go smaller and expect gusty offshore-feeling bay chop near the northern end. Treat the forecast as advanced conditions until you have seen the beach and the direction in person.
- In July and August, arrive early enough to park and rig calmly before the beach and the channels fill up.
- Leave the booties at home. The riding bottom is sandy, not reef, and beach footwear is only worth it for hot sand.
Getting there
Airport
Girona-Costa Brava Airport is the closest major airport; Barcelona-El Prat is the larger international option.
Route
By car, drive to Sant Pere Pescador and continue to the beach/camping strip. Public transport is possible via Figueres or Girona plus regional bus/taxi, but a car is the practical option for moving between kite zones, campsites and no-wind activities.
Transfer
Girona Airport about 45-60 minutes by car; Barcelona Airport about 105-130 minutes by car, depending on traffic and exact beach/campsite.
Cost level
medium
Staying
The signature setup is beachside camping or bungalow accommodation at large campsites such as La Ballena Alegre, Las Palmeras, Aquarius, La Gaviota, Nautic Almata and L'Amfora, plus hotels and apartments in Sant Pere Pescador, Roses and Empuriabrava.
No-wind days
Aiguamolls de l'Emporda nature park, cycling, SUP/kayak on the Fluvia, sailing/windsurfing, Cadaques/Cap de Creus day trips, Roses and Empuriabrava beaches, and Girona/Figueres culture trips.
Photos
FAQ
When is the best time to kite Sant Pere Pescador?
April through September is the main window, with the Garbí/Marinada thermal building from late morning into the afternoon. The Tramuntana from the Pyrenees is stronger, colder and can also arrive outside summer.
Is Sant Pere Pescador suitable for beginners?
Yes, beginner suitability is tied to school-supervised zones, shallow near-shore water and the moderate summer thermal, rather than to every wind direction.
What is the wind like at Sant Pere Pescador?
The summer Garbí/Marinada thermal runs about 12-22 knots from the SE-S. The Tramuntana from the N-NW can reach 20-40+ knots and is mainly for confident riders.
Are there kite schools near Sant Pere Pescador?
Several operate locally, including ION Club Golf de Roses/Sant Pere Pescador, Kite Experience, La Wind Watersports Center, Impulse Activities and Fase Wind.
Are there rules or designated kite zones at Sant Pere Pescador?
The municipal tourism page lists kitesurfing areas at Cortal de la Vila and Cagarra, with a 2026 temporary move of the Cortal de la Vila zone toward Camping Las Palmeras due to coastline changes.
The bigger pictureEverything about Costa Brava - Golf de Roses
Last updated: August 2026