Tarifa Wind

Find out how the wind blows in Tarifa

The Kite Mecca, @doystra

Tarifa wind: Blow up your kite skills with the Spanish Levante and Poniente

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Explora Watersports 24 Jan, 2017

Tarifa wind is unique due to Tarifa´s privileged location where the cool Atlantic and the warm Mediterranean meet each other. Here is where the distance between Africa and Europe is the shortest, both continents are divided by only 14 km of water! This explains why Tarifa is the wind mecca of Europe. 

Tarifa wind chart

The wind bundles up in the Strait of Gibraltar with a huge Venturi effect. Kitesurfers and windsurfers from all over the world come to enjoy that awesome tunnel of wind!

Poniente

There are two main winds in Tarifa. When the wind comes from the Atlantic, it´s called the Poniente (Spanish for “west”). The Poniente is your chilled out wind for finetuning your riding and tricks. It’s usually a calm, steady wind of around 5-6 bft, so no excuse not to head straight out on the water.

Levante

The wind from the east is called the Levante (Spanish for “east”) and this is the naughty, tricky one, which means you are in some serious fun. Don’t mess with the Levante or you will find your ass ending up in Philadelphia, USA! That is correct, the Levante results in a (more or less) offshore wind in Tarifa. The Valdevaqueros beach is the place to kite from when the Levante is blowing as the shape of the bay means you will be safe and not end up in America! The Levante wind tends to be stronger and can be gusty but it can also bring flat water condition so great for tricks or the perfect barrelling waves.

In case you are a beginner – don’t worry at all about the Levante, because our kite instructors in Tarifa know very well how to handle it after many years of Levante-experience! The Levante is the dominating wind in Tarifa in June and July.

Tarifa offers every type of wind, mixing perfect, easy training conditions with the rough and tough challenging conditions of the Mediterranean winds which can help you progress and build your confidence. Wherever the wind is coming from, due to thermal effects it increases during the day. Whether it is Poniente or Levante, windless days in Tarifa are the exception. Tarifa is year-round windy, especially in summer. Expect 80 % or more kiteable days all year !

Tip: bring all your kite sizes!