Map › USA › Florida Keys - Islamorada › Whale Harbor Marina
Florida Gulf + Keys · Islamorada / Upper Keys · Monroe County · Islamorada, Florida
Whale Harbor Marina
also known as Islamorada / Whale Harbor Marina, Whale Harbor Sandbar
Nearby Anne's Beach 16 km · Grassy Flats Resort 40 km · straight-line distance
When it fills in
There is no fill-in hour to wait for. The east and northeast wind is trade and frontal, so when it is in it runs through the day and overnight, and a passing front sets the timing rather than the clock. What ends sessions here is the afternoon build of squalls over the flats.
The wind
locals call it Florida Keys easterlies and winter frontal/thermal pattern
Direction
Kite sizes
metres · typical quiver highlighted
Character
mixed
fills in: There is no fill-in hour to wait for. The east and northeast wind is trade and frontal, so when it is in it runs through the day and overnight, and a passing front sets the timing rather than the clock. What ends sessions here is the afternoon build of squalls over the flats.
Typical strength
15-20 kt, indicative. The direction and season pattern hold up, but no normal wind-speed table exists for the spot.
Thermal or synoptic
thermal and frontal
Also on record
The Islamorada / Plantation Key historical station gives an annual observed average of 6 kt from E with 12 kt gusts for 2008-2013, and notes the station is not currently reporting, so the figure is out of date.
The quiver, in words
These are the sizes riders use across the Keys generally, not a measurement at this launch. On the standard 15-20 knot day men are on 12, 14 and 15 m, women mostly on 10 and 12 m, with a 17 m kept for the light end.A 75-85 kg rider will fly a 12 m most days, a 14 m under 15 knots, and drop to 9-10 m on a strong post-frontal north or northeast blow. The big sizes work because the wind over the flats is smooth rather than punchy.
Direction to shore
E and NE are described as steady/useful; north is reported gusty through the bridge and offshore farther out.
Forecast
Month by month
- Jan, riders' month45
- Feb, riders' month33
- Mar, riders' month48
- Apr, riders' month63
- May31
- Jun32
- Jul24
- Aug32
- Sep25
- Oct, riders' month56
- Nov, riders' month52
- Dec, riders' month55
windy days per month (3 h+ at 12 kn+)
Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Oct, Nov, Dec.
- 45%Jan24°
- 33%Feb24°
- 48%Mar26°
- 63%Apr27°
- 31%May29°
- 32%Jun31°
- 24%Jul32°
- 32%Aug32°
- 25%Sep31°
- 56%Oct29°
- 52%Nov27°
- 55%Dec25°
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 | 45% | 71% | 56% | 13.8 kt | E | 13:00 | 22.1°C | 23.7°C | 62 |
| Feb | 33% | 74% | 54% | 13.7 kt | E | 11:00 | 22.7°C | 24.1°C | 57 |
| Mar | 48% | 74% | 66% | 14.7 kt | SE | 11:00 | 24.2°C | 26.2°C | 62 |
| Apr | 63% | 87% | 85% | 16 kt | E | 11:00 | 24.8°C | 26.7°C | 60 |
| May | 31% | 66% | 55% | 12.9 kt | E | 14:00 | 26.6°C | 29.4°C | 62 |
| Jun | 32% | 78% | 68% | 14.4 kt | S | 14:00 | 27.7°C | 30.6°C | 60 |
| Jul | 24% | 68% | 60% | 12.8 kt | ESE | 13:00 | 29.1°C | 31.9°C | 62 |
| Aug | 32% | 82% | 66% | 14.9 kt | ESE | 12:00 | 29.1°C | 31.6°C | 62 |
| Sep | 25% | 70% | 55% | 13.3 kt | E | 13:00 | 28.7°C | 31.1°C | 60 |
| Oct | 56% | 76% | 76% | 15.5 kt | NE | 14:00 | 26.6°C | 28.7°C | 62 |
| Nov | 52% | 85% | 73% | 15.5 kt | N | 10:00 | 25.5°C | 27°C | 60 |
| Dec | 55% | 74% | 69% | 15.5 kt | NNW | 10:00 | 22.8°C | 24.6°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
flat
Standing depth
Keys flats: ankle to waist deep for hundreds of yards, walkable a long way out from shore. That is the regional pattern rather than a survey of the water off this marina, and the tide decides how much of it is usable. Get the tide wrong on flats this shallow and you end up grounded rather than swimming.
Tides
Keys flats, so tide matters, but no best-tide window is documented for this spot.
Temperature
31°C summer · 22°C winter
Wetsuit
Shorts most of the year. A shorty or a bit more neoprene on a cold winter northerly. Keys water sits in the low 70s F in winter and the upper 80s F in summer.
Currents
No current data is published for the flats or the sandbar. It is a working marina with boat channels, so check the flow and the traffic locally.
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
6 schools name this spot
On your own
Room to launch: Small/tight grassy marina-side launch with nearby palm trees and very limited beach.
Somewhere else
Anne's Beach, 16 km
Every spot within 40 km is on the map at the top of this page, with its distance under it.
Rescue
Launch
A grassy rigging area at Whale Harbor Marina, 83413 Overseas Highway in Islamorada. There is very little room to launch or land and palm trees sit close, so riders walk their lines into the shallow water and launch from there.
Space
Small/tight grassy marina-side launch with nearby palm trees and very limited beach.
Rules & access
Access rules drift faster than anything else we hold — check locally, and propose an edit if this has changed.
Rider tips
- Call the marina before you drive down; current kite access, fee and waiver terms are unconfirmed.
- Do not treat this as a beginner spot, however shallow and inviting the flats look.
- Walk your lines out into the water and launch clear of the palm trees and the marina structures.
- Stay out of the boat channel and off the sandbar access routes.
- Sit out north wind unless a local rider talks you through a plan: gusty at the bridge, offshore farther out.
- Keep watching the sky. Thunderstorms and squalls build fast over these flats.
- Call the marina on (305) 664-4511 before you drive down. Nothing about kite access, fees or waivers is published anywhere, and the property is private.
- Stay out of the boat channel and off the sandbar access routes; charter boats and rental jet skis run in and out all day.
- Map the session to the tide. On flats this shallow the wrong tide leaves you grounded rather than riding.
- Keep watching the sky. Thunderstorms and squalls build fast over these flats in the afternoon.
Getting there
Airport
Miami International Airport (MIA) is the main practical major-airport gateway for Islamorada; Key West International Airport (EYW) is the other Keys scheduled-service airport farther southwest.
Route
US-1 down the Overseas Highway to 83413 Overseas Highway in Islamorada. From Miami or Fort Lauderdale the route runs south to Florida City, then along US-1 through Key Largo.
Cost level
high
Staying
Islamorada has resorts, hotels, vacation rentals and marina lodging. Whale Harbor itself is a marina and fishing-charter base, not a place to stay.
No-wind days
Fishing charters, sandbar and boat trips, snorkeling and diving, paddling, the Islamorada restaurants, Theater of the Sea, the History of Diving Museum, Robbie's, and a day up into the Upper Keys.
Photos
Last updated: August 2026