Spots

Water

Flat water

Best season

May–Sep

Tyrol's largest lake, between the Karwendel and Rofan mountains, gets a thermal wind on summer afternoons and hosts an annual wing foil test festival. The…

Water

Flat water

Best season

Mar–May · Sep–Nov

Austria's steppe lake east of Vienna is nowhere deeper than about a metre, so Podersdorf offers standing-depth flat water across the whole spot, with 28 °C…

Water

Flat water

A deep lake in the Salzkammergut where the wing schools teach mostly from Rindbach near Ebensee. Short beginner courses teach the basics in a few hours, and…

Water

Chop

Best season

May–Sep

Croatia's most famous beach, the Golden Horn spit next to the town of Bol on the south coast of Brač, doubles as its most popular windsurf and kite spot. On…

Water

Flat water

Best season

May–Sep

Where the Neretva river reaches the coast at Ploče, its delta gives warm, shallow water, a sandy beach and a constant north-westerly wind looking across to the…

Water

Flat water

Best season

May–Sep

Ždrijac beach at the historic town of Nin near Zadar is Croatia's learning spot: a small, shallow, sandy bay protected from the waves, with a large flat lagoon…

Water

Chop

Best season

May–Sep

A small village of pebble coves on the Pelješac peninsula opposite Korčula, and Croatia's best-known wind spot: the thermal Maestral blows from the north-west…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

Apr–Oct

A kilometre of fine sand on the south coast of Cyprus, 20 minutes from Larnaca airport, where four breakwaters about 100 m out enclose a 500 by 100 m…

Water

Flat water

A bay on Cyprus's south coast between Limassol and Paphos, with a soft sandy beach, steady wind and flat water for beginners and experienced riders. The…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

May–Sep

A harbour town on the Holmsland dune strip between the North Sea and the Ringkøbing Fjord, with two very different spots a few hundred metres apart: the huge…

Water

Waves

Known as Cold Hawaii, the North Sea coast at Klitmøller is one of Europe's best-known windsurf and wave spots. Surf schools in Klitmøller and Hanstholm now…

Water

Chop

A large sheltered roadstead at the western tip of Brittany and one of the country's wing foil centres. Specialist wing schools teach inside the bay, at spots…

Water

Chop

Best season

Apr–Oct

A large lagoon behind Sète, launched from the south end at Marseillan by a small lighthouse. The Tramontana crosses the water from the north-west almost as…

Water

Flat water

Best season

Apr–Oct

The home of the Défi Wind, launched from the Plage des Chalets on the spit between the Mediterranean and the Étang du Grazel. In a strong Tramontana the wind is…

Water

Chop

Best season

May–Oct

A 5 km sandy beach on the tombolo west of the Giens peninsula near Hyères, usually counted among the best wind spots in France. It works on winds from east…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

Apr–Oct

The island off La Rochelle has a mild, sunny Atlantic climate, regular wind and big tides, and a spot for every taste: Rivedoux Nord at the entrance to the…

Water

Waves

A legendary Atlantic wave spot in Brittany's Pays Bigouden, with demanding conditions for experienced riders. The area's first school teaching only wing foiling…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

Apr–Oct

The bay that closes the long beach of La Grande-Motte, unusual in Occitanie because the Tramontana arrives side-shore or even side-onshore here instead of…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

Apr–Oct

The Tramontane blows hard and often across this stretch of Mediterranean coast, host to the Mondial du Vent event. The Leucate lagoon offers shallow flat water…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

Mar–Nov

The Quiberon peninsula and the neighbouring beaches of Carnac, Plouharnel and Étel are among the places where wing foiling first caught on in France: one school…

Water

Chop

Best season

May–Sep

Bavaria's largest lake is a pleasant place to learn in summer, and its size lets the wind develop freely over the flat surface, an advantage over the many…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

May–Sep

Germany's windiest island, with launches on every side so there is a working beach for each wind direction: shallow flat water at Gold and Orth, chop and small…

Water

Chop

The Baltic Sea at the mouth of the Kiel Fjord, where a VDWS school teaches wing foiling from the beach at Laboe, next to the U-boat memorial. Other courses…

Water

Flat water

Best season

May–Oct

Germany's largest lake has no reliable thermal wind like Lake Garda, so the wing schools on its shores work with the passing fronts and easterlies and fill calm…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

May–Oct

What Fehmarn is to the western Baltic, Rügen is to the east: Germany's largest island has a spot for every wind direction and every level close together, from…

Water

Waves

Best season

May–Oct

The kilometre-wide beach on the North Sea coast of Eiderstedt, home of the German kite and windsurf tour stops, works on any westerly wind. The tide decides its…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

May–Oct

Germany's windsurf island has some of the most selective conditions in the world on its west coast, where strong current meets an unsorted North Sea shore…

Water

Chop

Best season

May–Oct

Kouremenos bay near Palekastro on Crete's east coast is a high-wind freeride and freestyle spot: local thermals and a jet through the hills push the wind to 6–7…

Water

Flat water

Best season

Apr–Jul · Sep–Oct

A spit near the Rio bridge on the Gulf of Corinth where a venturi effect gives some of the steadiest, least gusty wind and the flattest water on the Greek…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

Jun–Sep

Afiartis bay sits directly in the path of the Meltemi and gets some of the strongest, most reliable summer wind in the Aegean, routinely 25–35 knots in July and…

Water

Chop

Best season

May–Sep

A long golden beach in a wide bay at the quiet western end of Kos, 15 km from the airport, with the islet of Agios Nikolaos in the middle. The Meltemi blows all…

Water

Chop

Best season

May–Oct

The only spot on Kos with fine sand both on the beach and underwater, and the island's most reliable wind: from May to October a north to north-westerly of 5–6…

Water

Chop

Best season

May–Sep

A sheltered bay on the north coast of Kos with a fine sandy beach and a standing area reaching 60 m out. The Meltemi and local thermals give side-onshore…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

May–Oct

The windiest corner of Kos: the Meltemi is squeezed through the channel between the island's east end and the Turkish coast and arrives side-shore to slightly…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

May–Oct

A wide bay of fine sand on an unspoilt island in the northern Aegean, a few degrees cooler than the southern islands, with steady north-north-easterlies of 4–6…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

May–Oct

Mykonos sits in the middle of the Meltemi zone and is ventilated from May to October, with the wind building to full strength during the morning. Kalafati in…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

Jun–Sep

The Meltemi accelerates through the strait between Naxos and Paros and hits Mikri Vigla side-shore, with a flat-water bay on one side of the headland and waves…

Water

Flat water

Best season

Jun–Sep

The 1.5 km channel between Paros and Antiparos accelerates the Meltemi like the one between Paros and Naxos, so Pounda gets reliable, steady side-shore wind…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

Jun–Sep

A sand spit at the southern tip of Rhodes with the flat, shallow bay on one side and open sea with waves on the other, both worked by the Meltemi at 20–35 knots…

Water

Chop

Best season

May–Oct

The classic Rhodes spot in front of the Ialyssos (Trianda) hotels, at the island's second-narrowest point to Turkey, where the Meltemi and the thermals off…

Water

Chop

Best season

Apr–Oct

A combined wing, windsurf and kite beach on the north-west coast of Rhodes, where the Meltemi is compressed between the island and the Turkish mainland and…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

Jun–Sep

A pebble bay on the green north coast of Samos where the Meltemi from June to September is topped up by a strong local thermal that forecasts often miss, giving…

Water

Flat water

Best season

Jun–Sep

A deep bay on Lefkada where a thermal wind, nicknamed Eric, funnels down the valley most summer afternoons at 18–25 knots after light, glassy mornings. The…

Water

Chop

Cagliari's long city beach has fairly flat water and winds that suit wing foil beginners. Several schools teach here, including Sardinia's first wing foil…

Water

Chop

Best season

Apr–Sep

A white sandy beach on the Tyrrhenian coast of Calabria only 8 km from Lamezia Terme airport, ruled by thermal winds from spring to the end of summer that blow…

Water

Flat water

Best season

May–Sep

The northern end of the lake around Colico and Domaso gets a dependable afternoon thermal, the Breva, over flat to lightly choppy water. It is quieter and less…

Water

Chop

Best season

Apr–Oct

Two thermal winds run like clockwork on the northern lake: the Pelér from the north in the early morning and the Ora from the south from around noon. The water…

Water

Flat water

Best season

Apr–Oct

One of Europe's largest shallow lagoons, about 7 by 3 km between Trapani and Marsala, standing depth almost everywhere and usable at any tide. Thermally boosted…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

Jun–Sep

Puglia's top spot on the Salento coast, golden sand meeting water of almost Caribbean colour. From June to September a steady south-westerly thermal blows at…

Water

Flat water

Best season

Apr–Oct

Two almost enclosed bays of white sand and turquoise water in the north of Sardinia, where the strait to Corsica accelerates whichever wind is blowing: a gusty…

Water

Flat water

Best season

Apr–Oct

A 600 m stretch of sand near San Giovanni Suergiu in south-west Sardinia that runs into a lagoon of crystal clear, mirror-flat water with barely any current…

Water

Flat water

Best season

May–Oct

A sheltered lagoon around Sant'Antioco in the south-west of Sardinia, with sandy, shallow, controllable flat water and large standing areas. Mistral and…

Water

Flat water

Best season

Apr–Oct

A picturesque bay on the Maremma coast 15 km south of Grosseto and a short drive from Rome, whose riders make it their favourite for its steady winds and calm…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

Apr–Oct

An open North Sea beach north of Alkmaar with a mix of chop and waves and a friendly local scene of freeriders, wave riders and freestylers. At low tide a…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

Apr–Oct

A dam between the North Sea and the Grevelingenmeer that works in almost any wind direction: flat water on the inside lake, waves and chop on the sea side. It…

Water

Flat water

Best season

Apr–Oct

A wide, shallow stretch of the IJsselmeer with knee- to waist-deep water for hundreds of metres, so falls are harmless and relaunches easy. Wind is frequent in…

Water

Waves

Best season

May–Sep

An exposed Atlantic beach near Lisbon where the summer Nortada blows strong and gusty side-offshore over sizeable swell and cold water. It is a demanding wave…

Water

Flat water

Best season

May–Sep

A shallow coastal lagoon an hour north of Lisbon where the same Nortada that makes Guincho gnarly arrives as a steady breeze over flat, waist-deep water. Ocean…

Water

Flat water

Best season

May–Sep

The western Algarve has reliable afternoon thermal winds from May to September and two contrasting spots. The shallow, flat Ria de Alvor lagoon between Lagos…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

May–Sep

A long crescent of fine sand south of the river mouth in northern Portugal, where the summer north-westerly, squeezed by the hills behind, blows 20–30 knots…

Water

Flat water

Best season

Apr–Sep

One of the best-known wing foil spots in Spain: the lagoons and beaches of the Ebro Delta nature park, with lots of space, large flat-water areas and mostly…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

May–Sep

Trade winds sweep the island nearly every day, so there is always a beach facing the right way. Sotavento's shallow lagoon fills at high tide for flat-water…

Water

Chop

Best season

Mar–Oct

A wide bay on the Costa Brava with a long sandy beach at Sant Pere Pescador and Empuriabrava, fed by the Tramontana from the north and afternoon sea breezes in…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

May–Sep

The east coast of Gran Canaria is where the north-east trade wind is squeezed along the island in summer, building through the day and dying towards evening…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

Apr–Sep

The beaches of Las Cucharas and Los Charcos on Lanzarote's east coast, where the trade wind blows side to side-offshore from the left at 4–6 Bft, most reliably…

Water

Flat water

Best season

Apr–Oct

The Bay of Pollença in the north of Mallorca is known for its mild, steady thermal wind from April to October, ideal for learning to wing foil. A cluster of…

Water

Flat water

Best season

Apr–Oct

A large, sheltered saltwater lagoon on the Murcia coast with very calm water, and around Los Narejos easy entries and steady conditions. Wind is thermal rather…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

Apr–Oct

Europe's wind capital, where the Strait of Gibraltar funnels two winds: the strong, gusty easterly Levante and the steadier, gentler westerly Poniente. Los…

Water

Waves

Best season

May–Sep

The Canaries' wave classic on the south coast of Tenerife, where the Alisios trade wind blows 12–30 knots side-onshore from the left, most reliably from May to…

Water

Flat water

Best season

May–Sep

The peninsula at Sweden's south-western tip offers lagoon-style flat water and white-sand beaches, the country's choice for flat-water lovers. The Baltic wind…

Water

Chop

Best season

May–Sep

Sweden's best-known kite beach, a long sandy strand on the Öresund just north of Malmö, with reliable wind, shallow water close to shore and conditions for…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

May–Sep

Widely regarded as Sweden's kitesurfing capital, Varberg on the Kattegat coast has several beaches within reach, Apelviken and Kärradal among them, with…

Water

Flat water

Lake Geneva's winds change a lot with the season, from light breezes to strong downwind days when the bise blows. At Nyon, on the Swiss shore, a school teaches…

Water

Flat water

Best season

Jun–Sep

At 1,800 m in the Engadin valley, the Maloja wind builds almost every summer afternoon and gives clear, flat, cold water in front of glaciated peaks. It has…

Water

Flat water

The southern arm of Lake Lucerne between Flüelen and Sisikon is one of Switzerland's busiest wing foil lakes. Several schools teach here in small groups with…

Water

Flat water

Best season

May–Oct

A U-shaped bay 2 km deep on the Çeşme peninsula, with a 500 by 300 m standing area on its west shore and even glassier flat water on the east shore, where the…

Water

Flat water

Best season

May–Oct

A 3 km wide bay at the head of the Gulf of Gökova in south-west Turkey where the summer thermal blows in from the west almost every day, from May to November…

Water

Flat and waves

Best season

May–Sep

A kite beach near Urla on the Çeşme peninsula that has taken up wing foiling, with side-shore wind from the left and a thermal Meltemi that starts early and…

Water

Flat and waves

Long known as the windsurfing capital of England's south coast, with conditions from flat water in the harbour to waves off the beach. There is wing foil…

Water

Flat water

Best season

All year

A huge natural harbour on England's south coast where you can wade out almost 200 m and still stand, giving flat water with only a little chop and a safe place…

Estonia · Lääne County

Water

Flat water

Best season

May–Sep

The north bay of the resort town of Haapsalu, one of the closest places to Tallinn that catches the open-sea wind, has a small sand-lined lagoon and a shallow…

Ireland · Dublin

Water

Chop

Wing foiling in reach of Ireland's capital: schools teach on Dublin Bay from Clontarf and Dún Laoghaire, which is easy to reach from the city centre by DART…

Montenegro · Ulcinj

Water

Chop

Best season

May–Sep

A 14 km strip of fine sand south of Ulcinj, the premier spot on the Adriatic coast, where a light thermal Maestral kicks in around 2–3 pm and blows…

Poland · Pomerania

Water

Flat water

Best season

May–Sep

The 35 km Hel peninsula in northern Poland has the open Baltic on one side and the shallow Bay of Puck on the other, so the bay-side spots at Chałupy work on…