Windsurfing

Being a windsurf enthusiast myself since many years I've seen my share of windsurf locations: USA (Maui), Egypt (Dahab, Lahami Bay), Spain (various Canary islands, Costa Brava), Venezuela (Adicora, Isla Margarita), Greece (Rhodes), Italy (Lake Garda), France (Piantarella/Corse), Switzerland (Urnersee), etc.

These are all great locations, but I immediately fell in love with the bay here at the Presqu'île de Giens. First there is the lovely diversity of the scenery: Gently rolling hills covered with greenery give way to rocky mountain tops. Nearby islands which partially block the view on the open sea and which make the bay almost look like a big lake. And then of course the sandy beach and the azur color of the sea..

Contrary to many other windsurf locations, this is not a remote spot on some desolate stretch of desert... but this is a premium spot right here on the bustling Côte d'Azur.

When the Mistral kicks in, the 4 km beach between L'Almanarre and La Madrague turn into one hell of a windsurf/kite spot! But the strong westerly wind does not blow every day and it pays off to closely watch the wind forecasts. Luckily the action is right on our doorstep (i.e. a mere 25 min drive away). Which makes it easy to spontaneously ride the waves in the afternoon just when the conditions are right.. :-)


Wind forecast

 France - Almanarre (GFS 13 km 31.05. 00 UTC)
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03h 04h 05h 06h 07h 08h 09h 10h 11h 12h 13h 14h 15h 16h 17h 18h 19h 20h 21h 22h 03h 04h 05h 06h
Wind speed (m/s) 5 5 4 3 3 3 3 4 5 8 9 10 11 11 11 11 9 2 4 3 3 4 4 3
Wind gusts 7 7 5 4 4 4 4 4 6 8 9 10 11 13 14 15 13 8 2 4 8 8 8 7
Wind direction W W W W WSW WSW WSW WSW WSW WSW WSW WSW WSW WSW W W W N ESE S WNW WNW WNW NW
Temperature (°C) 23 22 22 22 22 22 23 23 23 23 24 24 24 24 24 25 25 25 22 21 23 23 22 22
Windguru rating                   1 2 3 3 3 3 3 2              
 Lat: 43.0538, Lon: 6.124 Timezone: CEST (UTC+2) sun06:03 - 21:03 [Archive]

Sporting activities

Others

In the above sections we show those activities that we indulge in ourselves. But of course there are plenty of other things to do: You can explore the coastline kayaking. There are places to do rock climbing and you'll also find a golf course nearby. At the coast there are opportunities for sailing, snorkling, scuba diving, etc. You can even learn to fly a plane at the local airstip.