Siouville-Hague has no other spot on this map within 40 km of it. straight-line distance
When it fills in
Frontal wind, so nothing switches on at a set hour: it blows when the system is over the Cotentin, at any time of day or night, and it is the tide rather than the clock that decides when you get in. The one exception is the summer north-westerly thermal, which builds through the afternoon. No onset hour has been measured here.
The wind
Direction
Kite sizes
metres · typical quiver highlighted
Character
mixed
fills in: Frontal wind, so nothing switches on at a set hour: it blows when the system is over the Cotentin, at any time of day or night, and it is the tide rather than the clock that decides when you get in. The one exception is the summer north-westerly thermal, which builds through the afternoon. No onset hour has been measured here.
Typical strength
South-west starts working at about 15 knots. The sessions people bother to write up sit at 20-25 knots with swell behind them. For scale, the long-record station on Cap de la Hague, 20 km north, averages 13 knots from the south-west with 21-knot gusts across 2002-2026, so treat the higher numbers as ride-day figures rather than a daily average.
Also on record
25.7
The quiver, in words
No published local sizes. Against a spot that needs 15 knots to start and is usually ridden at 20-25, a 75-85 kg rider on a directional or wave board runs 9 m at the bottom end, 7 m for the standard autumn session and 5-6 m when a front puts 30-plus knots into the swell.Winter rubber adds a couple of kilos and the shorebreak eats power, so size for the day rather than for your usual number. Indicative, derived from the wind thresholds, not from what riders here actually rig.
Direction to shore
On the west-southwest-facing beach, W is onshore, SW and NW are side-onshore, S to SE are side-offshore and E is offshore.
Dominant direction
SW to NW for wave kiting; W to SW is ideal and S to SE is side-offshore.
Forecast
Month by month
- Jan, riders' month68
- Feb, riders' month58
- Mar, riders' month66
- Apr55
- May47
- Jun35
- Jul47
- Aug47
- Sep42
- Oct, riders' month47
- Nov, riders' month63
- Dec, riders' month71
windy days per month (3 h+ at 12 kn+)
Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: Jan, Feb, Mar, Oct, Nov, Dec.
- 68%Jan10°
- 58%Feb9°
- 66%Mar9°
- 55%Apr11°
- 47%May14°
- 35%Jun17°
- 47%Jul18°
- 47%Aug19°
- 42%Sep19°
- 47%Oct17°
- 63%Nov13°
- 71%Dec11°
windy days per month (3 h+ at 12 kn+) · water °C below · season highlighted
| Month | Windy days | Force 4+ | 12 kn or more | Knots | From | Peaks at | Air | Water | Readings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 68% | 81% | 77% | 18 kt | S | 12:00 | 7.2°C | 9.5°C | 62 |
| Feb | 58% | 79% | 75% | 15.6 kt | S | 14:00 | 8.6°C | 9.1°C | 57 |
| Mar | 66% | 87% | 81% | 17.5 kt | S | 13:00 | 9.1°C | 9.3°C | 62 |
| Apr | 55% | 73% | 60% | 15.2 kt | S | 13:00 | 10.2°C | 11.1°C | 60 |
| May | 47% | 68% | 56% | 13.4 kt | W | 14:00 | 13.2°C | 13.8°C | 62 |
| Jun | 35% | 48% | 45% | 12.2 kt | ENE | 13:00 | 16°C | 16.6°C | 60 |
| Jul | 47% | 73% | 60% | 13.5 kt | SW | 13:00 | 17.7°C | 18.4°C | 62 |
| Aug | 47% | 71% | 61% | 13.5 kt | WSW | 14:00 | 18.2°C | 19.3°C | 62 |
| Sep | 42% | 68% | 58% | 13.9 kt | NW | 13:00 | 16.8°C | 18.9°C | 60 |
| Oct | 47% | 71% | 63% | 13.9 kt | S | 12:00 | 14.8°C | 16.5°C | 62 |
| Nov | 63% | 73% | 70% | 18.5 kt | W | 13:00 | 11.3°C | 13.3°C | 60 |
| Dec | 71% | 85% | 74% | 18.9 kt | NW | 15:00 | 8.7°C | 10.7°C | 62 |
modelled
A weather model's cell over this place, not a station on it. Good for comparing places, weaker for one beach.
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. 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
sea
Standing depth
Standable at low tide; partial standing depth at high tide.
Tides
Big tidal range. The beach gets tight at high water, the falling tide rides best, and on high coefficients the waves break close to shore at high tide.
Temperature
17.6°C summer · 10.3°C winter
Wetsuit
4/3 in summer, often with boots below 16 C; 5/4 to 6/5 winter suit with boots, gloves and hood in colder/windier sessions.
Currents
The Raz Blanchard, the strongest tidal race in Europe, runs off Cap de la Hague about 20 km north and turns violent on big coefficients. It is not on this beach, but it is why tide coefficients are the first thing anyone here looks at.Along Siouville itself the set is tidal and has never been mapped precisely, so plan the entry and the exit around the falling tide and do not let yourself drift north unchecked.
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
1 school names this spot
On your own
Room to launch: large except tighter at high tide
Somewhere else
No neighbour on record
No other spot in the atlas sits within reach of this one.
Rescue
Launch
Long fine-sand beach on the exposed west coast, between the Biville dune massif and the Plate headland at Flamanville. There is a short cliff step down to the sand. The rescue post sits on the cale John-Hunter, with parking and showers within 150 m of the main beach, and the descent is fitted out for reduced mobility.Plage du Plate at the south end is walkable from Siouville beach at low tide and reached by road at high tide.
Space
large except tighter at high tide
Rules & access
Access rules drift faster than anything else we hold — check locally, and propose an edit if this has changed.
Rider tips
- Ride the falling tide; on big coefficients the high-tide shorebreak sits right on the sand.
- When high water squeezes the beach, walk north for rigging space.
- Stay out of the supervised bathing zone, where kite is forbidden under the standing beach order, and off the main surfer peak.
- Watch for the metallic obstacle reported north of Cap Marine at mid tide; its current position is unconfirmed.
- Pack a 4/3 with boots in summer and a 5/4 or 6/5 with boots, gloves and hood from October to March.
- Without a car, take the direct bus from Cherbourg to Place des Tamaris, about 54 minutes.
- It wants about 1 m of swell at a 10-second period to be worth the drive. Below that the wave is flat.
- South-west needs 15 knots minimum. In WSW, shift left towards the rocks and take the second half of the ebb, where the wave is smaller and lets you ride frontside.
- The beach is lifeguarded in July and August only, 09:00 to 19:00. Ride the autumn and winter season on the assumption that nobody is watching.
Getting there
Airport
Cherbourg-Manche Airport for local access; Caen-Carpiquet or Paris airports for broader connections
Route
Siouville is on the Cotentin west coast near Les Pieux and Cherbourg. A direct bus runs from Cherbourg to Place des Tamaris in about 54 minutes; from Les Pieux it is a short drive.
Transfer
25 min
Staying
Les Pieux and Siouville-Hague area hotels, campsites and rentals; no kite-oriented lodging is listed.
No-wind days
Surf lessons with Cotentin Surf Club, coastal walking on the GR223/Sentier des Douaniers, Biville dunes, Flamanville/Dielette coast, land sailing, cycling, horse riding and Cherbourg visits.
Photos
FAQ
When is the best time to go?
October to March is listed as the best season, with autumn giving the best wave quality and frequency.
Is it suitable for beginners?
The spot is generally treated as unsuitable for independent beginners, since it is an exposed wave beach shared with many surfers and windsurfers.
What is the wind like?
Southwest to northwest wind is used for wave riding, with west to southwest rated ideal and south to southeast side-offshore.
Are there rules, permits or restricted zones?
A standing municipal order forbids kitesurf and other nautical activities inside the supervised bathing zone, and motorized craft are banned on municipal beaches from 1 July to 15 September 2026.
Last updated: August 2026