Hi!
I want to take the family on holidays and fill up the van of Windsurfing stuff so we enjoy it: the kids are in learning stages so I want a place that I could get some good winds (20Knots is really enough for me) and also where kids can eventually learn (a bay, a place with calm waters, the like). I want to avoid Tarifa for example because strong wind all day means some non windsurfing family members could suffer some mood disturbances, specially worsening if I'm enjoying it too much sailing for too long.
Any advice???
Thanks!
Roquetas de mar (E).
Mar Menor (less windy than Roquetas).
Algarve, Martinhal and Sagres www.surfertoday.com/windsurfing/the-best-windsurfing-spots-in-portugal
Yep, I think Mar Menor will be perfect area for the conditions you're asking.
activitiesmurcia.com/windsurf-in-the-mar-menor/
www.windsurf.co.uk/portugal-freeride-spot-lagoon-of-obidos/
I've never been there but was thinking of a road trip my self to Portugal after seeing the PWS from Viana do Castelo and was looking at the map for other spots. I think it gets the same wind as the Canaries when there is high pressure over the Azores, but Portugal is NNW.
Select to expand quoteMadge said..
Tarifa, great winds, good vibes in the town, lots of other windsurfers.
Reading skills are essential.
Just a hint, did you notice the TO mentioned one specific spot, he does not consider, and even why he doesn't? 
This is an excellent trip report on the main spots on the Algarve.
In my opinion, ideally suited to TO requirements. Far better than Mar Menor, which is a bit overrun by tourists (in comparison to the Algarve spots, that is).
Although it's written in French, you can easily have it translated by putting the URL into google translate.
Original in French www.windsurfing33.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=113390
Google translated translate.google.com/translate?sl=fr&tl=en&u=https://www.windsurfing33.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f%3D11%26t%3D113390
Select to expand quotened321 said..
This is an excellent trip report on the main spots on the Algarve.
In my opinion, ideally suited to TO requirements. Far better than Mar Menor, which is a bit overrun by tourists (in comparison to the Algarve spots, that is).
Although it's written in French, you can easily have it translated by putting the URL into google translate.
Original in French www.windsurfing33.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=113390
Google translated translate.google.com/translate?sl=fr&tl=en&u=https://www.windsurfing33.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f%3D11%26t%3D113390
Looks like its offshore winds to me.
I will take a look! The videos are awesome, really nice place. I agree about Mar Menor... I personally hate the way the area has been invaded and ruined by construction just for tourism. It is a case of abuse. As I travel by van I like to go on camping grounds or seek places not too massive because we are free to roam anywhere. I will check winds with the Apps. Cheers! JP
Yes, offshore, but safety is not a problem.
Just take a look of this helmetcam video by Ben Profitt at Martinhal
Like Ben said, offshore winds, gusty, no wind behind the hotel. How many times does he say the word gust(y)?
If you have a safety boat then thats not a problem. If you dont have boat cover, good luck.
Select to expand quotePhilUK said..
Like Ben said, offshore winds, gusty, no wind behind the hotel. How many times does he say the word gust(y)?
If you have a safety boat then thats not a problem. If you dont have boat cover, good luck.
I've been watching that awesome video. I like it but it does not look like the place to take my kids to learn. I will spend my day going to get them back or maybe they will be run over by an hydrodynamic version of Cristiano Ronaldo.
I think the perfect place would be an ample bay with wind in certain regular hours.
they already know how to surf... any place with waves would also be nice.
What about the French Atlantic coast like Hossegor or that zone?
Select to expand quotePhilUK said..
Like Ben said, offshore winds, gusty, no wind behind the hotel. How many times does he say the word gust(y)?
If you have a safety boat then thats not a problem. If you dont have boat cover, good luck.
I've been watching that awesome video. I like it but it does not look like the place to take my kids to learn. I will spend my day going to get them back or maybe they will be run over by an hydrodynamic version of Cristiano Ronaldo.
I think the perfect place would be an ample bay with wind in certain regular hours.
they already know how to surf... any place with waves would also be nice.
What about the French Atlantic coast like Hossegor or that zone?
Sounds like you need to go to Southern France, but at the Mediterranean Coast.
While Etang de Leucate is best known for brutal Tramontana, it shows a different face in summer. There can be high winds in August, too, but chances are you'll have wind from different directions that are all sailable because in the salt lake you can't be driven offshore. Camp grounds and official space for vans are available and you'll find that there are quite a few kids windsurfing there. The Etang is not really a place you would like to swim in, but the sea is great and might even offer some surf on good days.
Have been there with the wife and kids in summer and enjoyed it. Around easter it can be a lot rogher.
When starting from Tarragona, at least 2 locations that are ideal for your requirements, are really nearby.
1. Rosas (E).
2. Argeles (F)
These 2 spots are maybe 1 hour apart by car, just south and north of the place where the eastern Pyrenees hit the sea.
I've been on holiday in this region at least 5-6 times and know it like my back pocket.
Rosas has got a VERY reliable thermal wind, so reliable they even gave it a name: Garbi.
Cross on shore wind 15-20 knots about 80% of the afternoons (13-18). As soon as it is sunny and clear in summer, this seabreeze will start. It is a seabreeze, but it is accelerated due to the form of the bay and the mountains in the hinterland. This only works for this particular bay, 5 km further south you don't have usable wind anymore. Rosas is also really close the unbelievably picturesque fishing village Cadaques, about 45 minutes by car from the Dali museum. Plus the nearby Alberes massif (between the big autoroute from France to Barcelona, and the Mediterranean) is one of the best place I know for mountainbiking. Obviously nice for mountain climbing and walking too.
Just north of the E-FR border is Argeles. In itself it is a really big and tourist laden resort. But there's lots of smaller villages surrounding it. I always go to Sorede, 10 km from the coast. A different world in 10 minutes time.
The bay of Argeles (and sometimes also Saint Cyprien) has a very local, very strong summer breeze. It is accelerated by the foot of the Pyrenees ending up in the sea. You can count on planing winds 15-25 knots for 75% of the time. When you go 5 km further north (Canet en Rousillion) the punch in the wind is gone. No orographic acceleration anymore.
Both villages are 5 km from the border, and 5 km from the foothills of the Pyrenees. From Tarragona, you can't get any better.
Leucate is good in Tramontana, but that wind is really seldom in summer.
If Tramontana is blowing, you need to go to La Franqui. For watching, because it is one of top-3 speedstrips in Europe. Better than Tarifa.
When Tramontana, you can count on seeing all the big names in speedsurfing (Jacques vd Hout etc)
Thanks Ned!
We where just planning to go to Rosas for the reasons you explain, also because is relatively close to home, and because this time we would try to avoid crossing borders just in case COVID restrictions make it harder. I didn't know that the area was good for MTB, we are takin the bikes with us also... and the border collie, the guitars... maybe the kayak... we will be busy "resting".
We are thinking about going to Camping Las Dunas or Camping La Ballena Alegre, is it OK to catch the wind you say? Or do you suggest other ones?
The Sorede idea... I think it is not good for us because we travel with the van, so moving to come and go to the sea is not practical. I will keep it in mind!
Thanks a lot!
