Fuerteventura — Sotavento21h · 17 kt
72GOKitesurfing atSotavento
SpainPick your slot
Min. level
Beginner
Optimal wind
14-32 kts
Season
May to October
Live · now
What to check
Discover the spot
The spot
Discover Sotavento
Sotavento is the lagoon every flatwater rider dreams about: a long arm of turquoise water trapped behind a sandbar on the Jandía peninsula, filling on the rising tide into a shallow mirror you can stand in — one of Europe's finest flat spots. Then the tide pulls back and it simply vanishes. Here you don't read a forecast, you read a tide table: the high water is your riding window, and stepping out of the lagoon means stepping into the open ocean.
Strip away the World Cups it hosts — PWA windsurf, GKA kite — and what's left is one strange, magical piece of water. A shallow arm about 4 km long and 200 m wide, walled off from the ocean by a sandbar, that exists only on the tide's terms. At high water it becomes a salt-water mirror you can stand in (~50–60 cm), enclosed and reassuring, where schools teach and freestylers grind. On the drop the water pulls back, the sandbar surfaces, the bottom falls away — and a few days a month, by the moon, the lagoon doesn't fill at all. So you read it in a tide table before a forecast. The wind is the thermal north-to-north-east trade, sharpened and made gusty by a Venturi between the mountains, up to 40 knots in high summer — and it blows offshore. That's the whole bargain: the lagoon's calm comes from its geography, not the wind. Step past the sandbar and the ocean takes over, with the trade at your back pushing you out. Sotavento is gentle in its full lagoon and serious everywhere else.
Who & when
Level and best time
Who it's for
A spot with two faces. In the lagoon at high tide the water is flat and shallow (~50–60 cm, you can stand), closed off by the sandbar: a learning and freestyle playground, widely described as suitable for all levels and ideal to start. The moment you leave the lagoon for the open ocean (chop, waves, cross-offshore wind, rescue advised), or the tide pulls back, it turns into terrain for intermediates and advanced riders. May and September, milder (15–22 knots), are the best months to learn.
source : max-haase.com ↗Best time
The kite season runs from April/May to September, peaking in July–August, the windiest months (gusts up to 40 knots); the northerly thermal can set in as early as February. Average strength 20–30 knots in season, milder in May and September (15–22 knots). But the real dial is the tide: the lagoon only fills at high water, so you plan your session around the rising tide and high water. At low tide it drains and gets too shallow to ride; a few days each month, depending on the moon, it doesn’t fill at all. Check the tide tables before you come. Water 18–23 °C: 3/2 shorty or lycra in season, thicker off-season.
source : kitesurftheworld.com ↗On site
Arrival guide
Access & two centres
Puerto del Rosario airport (FUE) about 74 km away; taxi, car hire or shuttles via the kite centres. Free car park right by the beach, quickly packed in summer — arrive before 11 a.m. Two hubs along the lagoon: the northern centre, in front of the Hotel Meliá Gorriones (René-Egli, historically windsurf and kite), and the southern one at Risco del Paso (ION CLUB). When the lagoon is full, expect roughly a 2-minute walk along the beach to the north, behind the ION CLUB building.
source : locations.thekitespot.com ↗Before you go
Safety
Cross-offshore wind (N/NE)
Out on the open ocean, the wind is the number-one hazard. The dominant north-to-north-east trade blows from the land out to sea: most of the time it’s cross-offshore, sometimes up to 40 knots and gusty because of the mountains. In case of a mistake, breakage or a lull beyond the sandbar, you drift out to sea — hence the jet-ski rescue service most centres recommend. The lagoon’s safety comes from its sandbar and shallow bottom, not from the wind direction: never assume you’re sheltered from offshore risk once you’ve left the lagoon.
source : locations.thekitespot.com ↗Dropping tide: don't head out to sea
On the dropping tide the lagoon water pulls back and the bottom gets too shallow to ride: you drive your board into the sand and hurt yourself. The sandbar reappears, and on the ocean side you then have to cross sandbars to reach open water. Combined with the cross-offshore wind pushing you out, heading for the ocean as the tide retreats is a trap. Simple rule: don’t head out to sea on a dropping tide, stay in the lagoon while it still holds water.
source : kitesurftheworld.com ↗No-lagoon days & gusts
A few days each month, depending on the moon, the lagoon doesn’t fill at all: without a favourable tide there’s no flat water — check the tide tables before planning your session. The wind is also accelerated and gusty through a Venturi effect between the mountains (up to 40 knots at peak summer): it’s easy to be overpowered, so leave a margin on kite size. Very busy in summer (windsurf, kite, schools, competitions): respect the zones and right-of-way strictly.
source : surfersisland.net ↗Community
Soon, by the riders
These spaces will fill up with the community’s feedback.
Session reports (lagoon full or drained, tide time, wind state)
Is the lagoon filling today, and at what time?