Spots

Water

Waves

Best season

Dec–May

Sal's quieter neighbour sits in the same winter trade-wind belt, averaging a good 5 Bft from December well into May with wind statistics almost identical to…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

Nov–Apr

The Atlantic trade wind blows from November to April onto Kite Beach's choppy, open bay, while Ponta Preta on the west side is one of the world's best-known…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

Nov–May

At São Pedro a gap between two mountains funnels the north-east trade wind onto the water about 2 Bft stronger than anywhere else in Cape Verde, 6–9 Bft or…

Water

Flat water

Best season

Mar–Oct

A laid-back Sinai town where a thermal wind funnels between desert mountains onto a shallow, sheltered lagoon with deep, flat water just outside. Cheaper and…

Water

Flat water

Best season

All year

A purpose-built resort town on the Red Sea with thermal wind on most days year-round, shallow flat lagoons for learning and open bump-and-jump water further…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

Mar–Nov

A natural spit closes off Moses Bay on the west coast of Sinai and keeps the Red Sea swell out, leaving flat water in the bay with a gently shelving sandy beach…

Water

Flat water

Best season

All year

A 2 by 3 km sand-bottom lagoon among mangroves in the far south of the Egyptian Red Sea, possibly the largest standing area in the country, with knee to…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

Mar–Oct

A freeride area straight off the beach south of Hurghada, with small wind chop running out into the open sea and, 700 m upwind, the Magawish sandbanks: at low…

Water

Flat water

Best season

All year

A huge lagoon in the far south of the Egyptian Red Sea, near Berenice, closed off by a 2 km house reef, so the water stays flat even with the side-offshore wind…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

Mar–Nov

A 2 by 2 km hotel bay between Hurghada and Safaga with beginner, freeride and wave conditions side by side: inside the bay the buildings upwind make the…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

All year

A sandy bay 30 km south of Marsa Alam airport that works twelve months a year: as reliable as the far south of Egypt in winter and as windy as Hurghada in…

Water

Flat water

Best season

Mar–Nov

Kilometres of fine white sand on the Gulf of Suez two hours from Cairo, with a sandy bottom and no reef, both rare on the Red Sea. A 1 km sandbank upwind…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

Mar–Nov

A wide beach in front of the Shams hotels south of Hurghada, standing depth for 80–120 m depending on the tide, with pieces of coral underfoot, so shoes are a…

Water

Flat water

Best season

All year

A peninsula south of Hurghada with a large, shallow, standing-depth lagoon and wind on most days, worked by a few large centres. The water is warm and the…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

Jan–Feb · Jul–Aug

A straight, reef-fringed beach 1.5 hours south of Mombasa with two seasons: the Kaskazi from mid-December to mid-March, side to side-onshore from the left, and…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

Jan–Mar · Jul–Sep

A 7 km bay north of Mombasa that runs from the Tiny Beach at Temple Point over Small Beach to Long Beach, with a sandy bottom and rounded rocks that show near…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

May–Oct

A multi-spot on the south coast of Mauritius in front of the Heritage resorts, east of Le Morne: a standing area and a freeride strip inside the reef, a gentle…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

May–Nov

A huge turquoise lagoon under the Le Morne mountain, with steady south-east trade winds in the southern winter, and world-class reef breaks (One Eye, Manawa) on…

Water

Flat water

Best season

All year

A 40 km lagoon on the Atlantic coast of the Sahara with wind almost every day of the year and flat, shallow, warm water at spots like the Speed Spot and the…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

Apr–Sep

The Alizé trade wind blows strong and steady onto a wide town beach, with chop inside the bay and proper waves at the north end and at Moulay Bouzerktoun up the…

Water

Waves

Best season

Apr–Oct

A fishing village 25–30 km north of Essaouira whose beach is one of the world's great windsurf wave spots, with the north-east trade wind blowing side-shore…

Water

Waves

Best season

Nov–Mar

The south-easter, nicknamed the Cape Doctor, blows 25–40 knots on many summer days along the Table Bay beaches, with cold Atlantic water and waves, and Table…

Water

Flat water

Best season

Oct–Mar

A long, shallow lagoon an hour north of Cape Town with warmer, flatter water than the city beaches and the same summer south-easter, typically 20–30 knots…

Madagascar · Diego Suarez

Water

Flat water

Best season

Apr–Nov

A remote bay on Madagascar's northern tip where the Varatraza trade wind blows nearly every day from April to November, 20–30 knots, over a flat, shallow…

Tanzania · Zanzibar

Water

Flat water

Best season

Jun–Oct · Dec–Mar

A reef-protected lagoon on Zanzibar's east coast with two windy seasons: the north-east Kaskazi from December to March at 14–20 knots and the stronger…

Tunisia · Medenine

Water

Flat water

Best season

Apr–Oct

Behind the hotel zone in the south-east of the island a spit cuts off a lagoon of roughly 5 by 8 km, about 40 km² of standing-depth, glassy water with a soft…