MapSwedenVarbergVarberg / ApelvikenVarberg

Varberg / Apelviken

Halland County · Varberg

also known as Apelviken, Apple Bay Beach, Apelvikens strand, Apelvikens badstrand, Apelviken Badplats, A-Bay

Part of Varberg →

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

beginner-friendlyhigh crowds

On this page

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

Riding essentials

Season

Aug–Oct

Months riders and schools name

How windy

7-16

Character: mixed

Room to launch

access rules on record, below

Water

mixed

18.7 °C in summer

Hazards

Reported by riders

Level

Beginner to advanced

With a caveat: see Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Crowds

high crowds · busy Jul Aug Jun

Schools

named at this spot

From the airport

69 min

Landvetter Airport (GOT)

When it fills in

No onset time is published for this spot.

Nearbystraight-line distance

Torkelstorp39 km

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

Lilla Apelviken / Kasano page yet
Traslovslage / Lajetno page yet
Bjorkangno page yet
Norra Nasno page yet
Getteronno page yet

The spot

Apelviken is a horseshoe bay on the west side of Varberg, facing the open Kattegat, and it is a surf beach as much as a kite beach. Apelviken 1 is registered as an EU bathing beach: about 1 km of sand, dunes behind it, a big grass area in the west and rocks at the north end.

It is not a flat-water lagoon. Shallow patches, chop and small to medium waves are the normal state, and a W-NW day turns it into a wave spot with current to match.

South side

The south side is the shallower, gentler half and where the Surfers Center sits, so that is where you start.

Seasonal patterns

Summer is convenient and crowded with bathers, surfers and windsurfers, and the assigned launch and entry zone sits in the south of the bay; autumn is when the wind actually shows up, and the water is cold soon after.

The rip

What people underrate is the rip: the municipality names Apelviken as one of its two worst beaches for current when it blows, and a pure onshore wind stacks the current and the waves together.

The wind

Direction

cross-onSW

Direction to shore

cross-on. The bay faces roughly west-southwest into the open Kattegat, so the usual SW-W-NW quadrant arrives cross-onshore to onshore; a pure onshore W-NW puts wind straight into the beach and stacks up wave and current together.

Dominant direction

SW, WSW, W, WNW and NW are the usual directions here. No long-term statistics are published for the bay itself, so the spread is field reporting rather than a station record.

Character

mixed

Average strength

7-16

Typical strength

Monthly mean wind is reportedly around 16 kt in January and February and falls to about 7 kt in July and August, with roughly 240 days a year reaching at least 12 kt. The nearest open-Kattegat station averages 14 kt with gusts near 18 kt across the year. In practice the bay is a frontal spot: autumn and winter lows deliver the usable strength, and high summer often needs the biggest kite in the bag or a foil.

Open Kattegat exposure gives usable frontal wind plus a summer NW sea breeze. Quality swings from a forgiving shallow chop session to onshore days with real current and waves.

Two readings of the calendar exist and both are useful. The kite season is commonly given as May to October with August, September and October the best months, and as a wider April to November window with the best conditions in the autumn storms.

Wind analysis

The wind record points the other way, rating January to March and November to December as the strongest stretch and putting the July-August minimum at about 7 kt. Either way, summer is the crowded, light-wind end of the year and the cold half is when it actually blows.

Summer season

In June, July and August the bay fills with bathers, surfers and windsurfers, so check the signs and a short-range forecast before you rig.

Forecast

Live forecast

Windguru Windfinder Windy

Month by month

5 ktJan
5 ktFeb
5 ktMar
5 ktApr
4 ktMay
4 ktJun
4 ktJul
4 ktAug
4 ktSep
4 ktOct
4 ktNov
5 ktDec

avg knots per month · season highlighted

Monthly averages. Highlighted: the months riders and schools name (Aug, Sep, Oct).

Measured at Varberg, ~NaN km from the spot (~8 (9/2011–8/2019, station since delisted as active)).

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

Month	Knots	Gusts	Wind from	Air
Jan	5 kt	11 kt	S	1 °C
Feb	5 kt	10 kt	S	2 °C
Mar	5 kt	10 kt	SSW	5 °C
Apr	5 kt	11 kt	WSW	9 °C
May	4 kt	10 kt	SSW	15 °C
Jun	4 kt	10 kt	SW	17 °C
Jul	4 kt	9 kt	SW	20 °C
Aug	4 kt	9 kt	SSW	19 °C
Sep	4 kt	10 kt	SW	16 °C
Oct	4 kt	9 kt	SSW	11 °C
Nov	4 kt	10 kt	SSW	6 °C
Dec	5 kt	11 kt	SSW	4 °C

How this was measuredmeasured · ~8 (9/2011–8/2019, station since delisted as active)

A ground station recorded this, at the distance the page names.

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.

Varberg · Windfinder (observed station) · ~8 (9/2011–8/2019, station since delisted as active)

The water

Type

mixed

Standing depth

Partly. The south side of the bay is shallow enough to be forgiving for beginners, but the beach is about 1 km long and the rest of it is not waist-deep.

Tides

Kitesurfing conditions are reported as not depending on tide at Apelviken; no detailed tidal range was found in municipal sources.

Temperature

18.7 °C summer · 2.1 °C winter

Wetsuit

Wetsuit water most of the year. Summer sea runs 15–23 °C and a shorty covers high summer; the Varberg August average is 18.7 °C and February 2.1 °C, so a full suit outside high summer and winter neoprene in the cold months.

Currents

Rip currents are the headline hazard here. The municipality names Apelviken and neighbouring Kasa as its two most popular beaches that can run treacherous currents when it blows, and publishes short films of the specific rips at southern Apelviken, at the ladder in the south, and at northern Apelviken.Pure onshore wind is the worst combination: strong current, larger waves, and a swim back that gets long fast. Check the bottom before you go in, because it shifts.

Conditions

Apelviken 1 is an EU bathing beach in a bay with about 1 km of sand, dunes behind it, a large grass area in the west and rocks at the north end.

Shallow water with chop to small and medium waves; a W-NW wind turns it into a wave spot. The southern part holds the Surfers Center facilities and is the area most courses and rentals work from.

Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Beginners use the shallower south-side area and the local schools work out of Varberg and Apelviken, but a beginner has no business here on a pure onshore day with current running. Intermediate and advanced riders get the chop and the W-NW wave days. Everyone has to keep clear of bathers, windsurfers, the rocks and the current zones.

The scene

What riders come here for

freeridebeginner lessonswave ridingwindswellwingfoilwindsurfing crossover

Who it suitsbeginner

A Swedish surf, windsurf and kite hub sitting on top of a busy family beach: campgrounds, restaurants, shops, toilets and showers, with bathers, windsurfers, kiters and surfers sharing the same kilometre through summer.

Launch and rules

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

With a school or a boat

5 schools name this spot

See who they are

On your own

Room to launch: ok

Read the access rules

Somewhere else

1 spot nearby

Torkelstorp39 km

The one spot within 40 km is under Nearby

Rescue

No lifeguard service and no kite-specific rescue boat is documented for Apelviken. Sea rescue is volunteer-run and the nearest stations are Bua just north of Varberg and Falkenberg to the south, so response is measured in tens of minutes, not seconds; 112 is the emergency number. The municipal rescue service lends life jackets in sizes from newborn to 100+ kg (010-219 30 00), and red flags are raised at the beach when conditions warrant caution.

Riding safety

Ride with someone who can see you, and treat self-rescue as the primary plan on an onshore day.

Launch

Rigging is on the long sand beach, with a large grass area behind it and several car parks with toilets and showers.Launch and landing are easy and the beach is about a kilometre long, but usable space shrinks fast in summer when bathers, windsurfers and surfers spread across it. The Surfers Center sits at the southern end, which is also the shallower, more forgiving side of the bay.HazardsWatch for barbed wire near the grass rigging area, and for rocks at the north end and the jetty and ladder in the south.

Hazards riders report 16 reported

Wind

Red flags go up at the beach when the wind and sea warrant caution; treat them as binding
Red warning flags are raised at the beach when wind and sea warrant caution - heed the flags

Crowds and zones

Heavy summer bather, surfer and windsurfer traffic, especially June-August.
Heavy summer traffic of bathers, surfers and windsurfers, especially June to August

Bottom

Rocks at the north end of the beach and a jetty/ladder area to the south; avoid hard edges and swim infrastructure.
Rocks at the north end of the beach and a jetty and ladder area to the south
The sand bottom shifts, so depth and gullies are not the same from visit to visit

Waves and currents

Rocky headlands at both ends of the cove with underwater currents that can pull swimmers/riders out to sea
Wind-driven dangerous currents at Apelviken and Kåsa; heed red flags and municipal warnings.
Pure onshore wind can combine strong current and large waves and be demanding.
Rip currents at both ends of the cove that can pull swimmers and riders out to sea; the municipality films them at southern Apelviken, the southern ladder and northern Apelviken
Pure onshore W-NW days combine strong current with larger waves and are the hardest conditions here

Other

Barbed wire is reported near the grass rigging area; check exactly where it runs on site
Water is cold outside high summer; February average sea temperature near Varberg is about 2.1 C.
Barbed wire reported near the grass rigging area; check the exact line on site
Cold water outside high summer; the February mean near Varberg is about 2 C and there is no lifeguard cover

Rules & access

1 min read

Local rules

2026: Municipal beach rules apply. No driving on the beach; dogs and horses are not allowed between 1 May and 31 August; camping is not allowed on public places or on and beside the beaches; grilling only on a brought grill or a municipal grill place, never directly on the ground.

Safety and launch

There is no published municipal kite zoning. The standing instruction on this shared beach is that it is up to each kiteboarder, windsurfer and surfer to keep a safe distance from bathers. A summer launch and entry area in the south of the bay is reported, marked by metal signs on site, so read the signs before rigging. Red warning flags go up when wind and sea warrant caution and should be treated as binding.

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

Read the metal signs in the south of the bay before you rig; no municipal kite zoning is published online, so the signage is the only zoning you get.
Skip pure onshore days unless you are confident in waves and current, because that combination is what the rip warnings are about.
In June to August keep a wide buffer from bathers and windsurfers, and expect the usable launch strip to be far narrower than the beach looks.
Start on the south side, which is the shallower half; the rocks are at the north end and there is a jetty and ladder to the south.
If you are learning, expect to end up at Traslovslage south of Varberg, which is where the local school normally runs its kite courses rather than in the bay.
Ride within sight of someone and know your self-rescue: there is no lifeguard and no rescue boat on this bay.

Getting there

Airport

Gothenburg Landvetter Airport (GOT)

Route

Drive the E6/E20 toward Varberg and exit for Sodra Nas and Apelviken. By public transport, take the airport bus to Gothenburg Central and Nils Ericson Terminalen, then the train to Varberg, then a taxi, bus, bike or a walk out to Apelviken.

Transfer

69 min

Cost level

medium

Staying

Destination Apelviken sits directly by the bay with camping, hotel rooms, apartments and cabins, two restaurants, a pool and year-round opening, listed for 2026 as 2026-01-01 to 2026-12-31. More hotels are in Varberg, about 1.5-3 km away.

No-wind days

Walk or bike the seafront into Varberg, use the restaurants/mini-golf/beach facilities around Apelviken, visit Kallbadhuset for cold bath/sauna, explore Varberg Fortress and town/harbour, or go to Gekas Ullared about half an hour away.

Photos

FAQ

When is the best time to kite at Apelviken?

The season runs May to October, with August to October considered the best months and strongest autumn conditions.

Is Apelviken suitable for beginners?

Beginners can use the shallower south side of the bay, where a local surf center runs courses, but should avoid pure onshore windy days when current and waves build.

What is the wind like?

Wind comes mostly from SW through NW under open Kattegat exposure, ranging from beginner-friendly chop to demanding onshore wave conditions.

What are the hazards?

Treacherous currents are reported when it is windy, along with rocky headlands at both ends of the cove and heavy summer bather traffic.

Are there rules to know about?

Varberg municipal beach rules ban driving on the beach, dogs 1 May-31 August, and camping; riders are guided to launch in the assigned south-bay zone.

The bigger pictureEverything about Varberg

Last updated: August 2026