MapSpainMenorcaSon BouMenorca

Son Bou

Balearic Islands · Menorca (Alaior)

Part of Menorca →

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

not for beginnershigh crowds

On this page

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

Riding essentials

Season

Jan–Dec

Months riders and schools name

How windy

9–13 kt

Modelled monthly average; no knot figure publishedCharacter: mixed · cross-shore

See Month by month

Room to launch

huge

access rules on record, below

Water

mixed

25 °C in summerOpen south-coast beach: clear water, fine sand, a gentle entry, posidonia meadows offshore and rock showing in places

Hazards

Reported by riders

Level

Intermediate to advanced

With a caveat: see Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Crowds

high crowds · busy Jun Jul Aug Sep

Schools

none named here

From the airport

25 min

Menorca Airport (MAH)

When it fills in

The summer wind is a mild southerly thermal that comes up around midday and fades with the heat. West and north-west days are gradient wind and can blow at any hour, including through the night. No measured onset hour exists for the beach.

Nearbystraight-line distance

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

Sant Tomasno page yet
Fornells Bayno page yet
Son Xoriguerno page yet

The spot

Son Bou is the longest open sandy beach on Menorca's south coast, below Alaior, and it is a working local kite spot as well as a resort beach.

Wind and waves

W to NW is the setup: NW comes in cross-shore and the offshore sandbar makes waves worth jumping and riding short, while W/NW is the cleaner winter and spring direction. S and SE/SSE work too, thermal days included, but they are more onshore, and in summer the question is where you are allowed to launch rather than whether it blows.

Best season

It works more often in winter than in summer, and November-April gives much more space on land and in the water.

What to expect

The sand is wide, with rocks in places, protected dune and wetland behind the beach, and a sandbar shorebreak that turns powerful when the swell is up. There are no kitesurf centres, courses or rentals on Menorca, so arrive self-sufficient and treat this as an autonomous-rider beach. In season, ride only from the enabled launch and landing area or the marked nautical channel and follow the lifeguard flags.

The wind

Direction

cross-shore

Dominant direction

W to NW is the main wave and freeride setup, with NW cross-shore. SE and W come in side-on and are the two directions named most often for this beach. SW and NW work but run gusty. S to SSE is the summer thermal and the most onshore of them.

Character

mixed

When it fills in: see above ↑

Thermal or synoptic

synoptic

Strength

No knot figure is published for this spot.

Modelled monthly average: 9–13 kt — see Month by month

W/NW is the cleaner, more reliable setup, with NW cross-shore and W/NW producing the waves. SW/NW runs gustier, and S/SE turns onshore. Summer S-SSE thermal can work here and at nearby Sant Tomas, but in summer the limiting factor is beach space.

Season and conditions

September to May is the working season, with October and November the strongest stretch. Summer sits under anticyclones and is reduced to a mild southerly thermal around midday. The west fills in hard in spring and is what turns Son Bou into a proper session.

November to April gives far more room on land and in the water; in summer the constraint is the enabled launch and landing area rather than the wind.

Winter storms on the island can push 40-50 knots, but that is the north-coast wind, and Cala Tirant rather than Son Bou is the beach for it.

Forecast

Live forecast

Windguru Windfinder Windy

Month by month

Jan, riders' month47
Feb, riders' month39
Mar, riders' month44
Apr, riders' month23
May, riders' month31
Jun, riders' month17
Jul, riders' month11
Aug, riders' month18
Sep, riders' month22
Oct, riders' month24
Nov, riders' month38
Dec, riders' month27

windy days per month (3 h+ at 12 kn+)

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

47%Jan16°
39%Feb15°
44%Mar15°
23%Apr17°
31%May19°
17%Jun23°
11%Jul27°
18%Aug28°
22%Sep26°
24%Oct24°
38%Nov20°
27%Dec18°

windy days per month (3 h+ at 12 kn+) · water °C below · 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 · Water · Readings

Month	Windy days	Force 4+	12 kn or more	Knots	Wind from	Peaks at	Air	Water	Readings
Jan	47%	53%	50%	12.7 kt	N	13:00	11.9 °C	16 °C	62
Feb	39%	49%	46%	11.7 kt	N	15:00	12.2 °C	14.8 °C	57
Mar	44%	53%	48%	12.2 kt	SW	14:00	14 °C	15.1 °C	62
Apr	23%	45%	30%	10.9 kt	N	14:00	15.5 °C	16.5 °C	60
May	31%	39%	34%	10.9 kt	N	13:00	19.1 °C	19.3 °C	62
Jun	17%	32%	25%	9.6 kt	SSW	14:00	23.9 °C	23.1 °C	60
Jul	11%	21%	15%	9.2 kt	SSE	13:00	27 °C	26.6 °C	62
Aug	18%	29%	19%	9.6 kt	SSW	14:00	27.1 °C	27.8 °C	62
Sep	22%	33%	27%	9.9 kt	NE	13:00	23.8 °C	26 °C	60
Oct	24%	42%	34%	10.7 kt	SW	14:00	21.6 °C	23.8 °C	62
Nov	38%	42%	40%	11.7 kt	W	14:00	17.3 °C	20.2 °C	60
Dec	27%	40%	35%	11 kt	WNW	14:00	13.9 °C	17.9 °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

The entry is shallow and gently shelving for bathers, but no broad standing-depth training area for kiting is on record.

Tides

Microtidal Mediterranean beach: Son Bou tide tables show ranges on the order of decimetres, so tide is not a session-planning factor next to wind and swell.

Temperature

25 °C summer · 15 °C winter

Modelled monthly average: 15–28 °C

Wetsuit

Boardshorts/rash vest in peak summer; full suit in winter; spring and autumn thickness depends on wind chill.

Currents

No tidal-current problem is on record. Expect wind- and wave-driven drift and shorebreak on this open south-coast beach, more so in stronger W/NW or southerly conditions.

Conditions

Open south-coast beach: clear water, fine sand, a gentle entry, posidonia meadows offshore and rock showing in places. It is a wave spot, and it goes freeride in southerly-to-westerly wind without swell.

The waves break on an offshore sandbar and turn powerful in stronger conditions. Beach length is quoted two ways, about 3 km of practical rideable sand against an official 2.4-2.5 km, which is more likely a stricter cadastral measurement than a real conflict.

Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

not for beginners here

Treat it as an autonomous-rider beach rather than a lesson beach: it is a wave spot, summer launching is restricted, and there are no kitesurf centres, rentals or courses on Menorca. Intermediates get freeride, chop and small waves in moderate W or S setups; advanced riders will be happier with the powerful sandbar and winter wind.

The scene

What riders come here for

freeridewavesjumpingwinter sessions

Who it suitslearning

A busy tourist and family beach in season, with bathers packed near the serviced accesses. Outside the bathing season it empties out, and local kiters ride it year-round when the wind lines up.

Launch and rules

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

With a school or a boat

No school names this spot

Nobody has been recorded teaching or running a boat here.

On your own

Room to launch: huge

Read the access rules

Somewhere else

3 spots nearby

All 3 spots within 40 km are under Nearby

Rescue

VHF 16

Rescue — full text1 min read

In season the beach has lifeguards, a Red Cross first-aid post and rescue boats, but nothing kite-specific and no club rescue boat.

Follow the flags. There are no kitesurf centres on the island, so no school boat will come out for you either.

From the water 112 is the emergency number in Spain and VHF 16 (156.8 MHz) the distress channel.

Launch

Long sandy public beach, about three kilometres of it, wide enough that rigging space is only a problem where the bathers are.Outside the bathing season there is room anywhere.In summer use the enabled kite launch and landing area at the far end of the beach, beyond the rocks in the naturist zone.Keep off the dunes and use the wooden access paths where they exist.

Hazards riders report 10 reported

Crowds and zones

Summer bathers
Summer bathers and crowded beach sections
Seasonal bathing-zone navigation restrictions and enabled launch/landing area
No kitesurf centre, rental or rescue boat anywhere on the island; you are on your own kit and your own judgement

Bottom

Scattered rocks in places
Visible rocks/rocky patches in places, especially near beach ends

Waves and currents

Powerful shorebreak/sandbar waves in stronger wind or swell
Onshore southerly days stack the waves close together, which makes the way out messy

Protected areas and rules

Posidonia seagrass meadows and protected dune/wetland environment; avoid trampling dunes

Other

Open south-coast exposure with limited shelter

Rules & access

1 min read

2026: in summer, kitesurfing at Son Bou is only allowed from the enabled launch and landing area, while from November to April there is much more space and no stated local space problem. National beach-buoyage rules set a 200 m band along the shore: inside buoyed bathing zones sport and recreational navigation and any sail or motor craft are prohibited, on unbuoyed stretches the first 200 m is still treated as bathing zone with a 3-knot limit, launching and beaching must use marked channels where they exist, and craft must cross the band perpendicular to the shore.

Before launching

No 2026 Alaior municipal ordinance text was reachable online, so confirm the current zone and its dates with the town hall on 971 37 10 02 before you rig.

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

Rider tips

Watch the W/NW forecast for the classic Son Bou session; NW is cross-shore, S/SE is more onshore.
In summer, find the current enabled kite zone before you rig and stay out of the main bathing area.
If the impact zone gets too heavy, move along the coast to Sant Tomas.
Bring your own kit: there are no kitesurf courses or rentals on Menorca.
Use the wooden accesses and keep gear off the dunes and the wetland edge.
Do not plan around tide here; wind direction, swell and how full the beach is matter more.
October and November are the months to book. Summer is a midday southerly at best.
Ring the Alaior town hall on 971 37 10 02 for the current summer kite zone before you travel.
In summer, rig at the far end of the beach past the rocks; the serviced western end is where the bathers are.

Getting there

Airport

Menorca Airport (MAH), near Mahon/Mao

Route

Son Bou is about 20-21 km from Menorca Airport and around 7-8 km from Alaior. Car or taxi is the simple answer with kite gear; buses run via Mahon and the Alaior/Son Bou resort services depending on season.

Transfer

25 min

Staying

A large resort area: hotels, apartments, villas, supermarkets, bars and restaurants, with a campsite inland. The western serviced end is the busy one, and the beach ends away from the accesses are less developed.

No-wind days

Wing foil, windsurf and SUP over at Fornells, watersports on Son Bou beach, kayaking and boat trips, the paleochristian basilica at the east end, birdwatching in the El Prat de Son Bou wetland, and the Cami de Cavalls toward Atalis and Sant Tomas.

Photos

FAQ

When is the best time to kite Son Bou?

Local source WindFornells says Son Bou works more often in winter than in summer, with November to April giving much more space on land and water.

Is Son Bou suitable for beginners?

It is best treated as an autonomous-rider spot rather than a lesson beach. Local sources call it a wave spot, report summer launch restrictions, and note there are no kitesurf schools or rental operations on Menorca.

What is the wind like at Son Bou?

W to NW is the cleaner, more reliable setup, with NW cross-shore and producing waves for jumping and short rides. Southerly and SE/SSE winds can also work, including summer thermal sessions, but are more onshore.

Are there rules or restricted zones at Son Bou?

In summer, kitesurfing is only allowed from the enabled launch/landing area; from November to April there is much more space with no stated local restriction.

What hazards should riders watch for at Son Bou?

Scattered rocks in places, summer bathers, and powerful shorebreak or sandbar waves in stronger wind or swell are the main hazards.

The bigger pictureEverything about Menorca

Last updated: August 2026