Velmonda

El Médano

Spot guide

About riding El Médano

El Médano is Tenerife's wind town: a bay open to the trade wind under the red cone of Montaña Roja, with the kite zone by La Jaquita, windsurfing off Playa Sur and the World Cup wave at El Cabezo, all inside a few hundred metres of buoyed coast. Local guides speak of some 300 windy days a year, and every August the world's windsurfing elite competes here.

The winds, by name

Alisios. The NE trade is the spot's engine: steady flow off the Azores high, accelerated through the Tenerife-Gran Canaria channel and funnelled again between Montaña Roja and the shore. That is why the water usually gives more than the model. It keeps its own clock: light before dawn, filling in mid-morning and pressing on after midday, measured on the airport's own anemometer 2.4 km from the beach.

Viento del sur. The viento del sur is the off switch: when the trade gives way and Saharan air moves in, it often arrives with calima, the dust veil that shortens the view and dirties the sky. It is an unstable wind, gustier than forecast, funnelling along the south coast exactly at El Médano and Granadilla. For most riders, a rest day.

When to come

It is a year-round spot: winter runs 10-25 knots and summer 15-30, with the trades firmest and best aligned from May to September. July and August carry the best wind guarantee according to the schools, August brings the World Cup to El Cabezo, and the water only moves between about 19 °C in February-March and 23 °C in late summer.

What to watch

El Cabezo has a rocky entry, rocks downwind and almost no sand at high tide: expert ground. The coast is buoyed into sectors and La Jaquita is also a bathing beach, with entry and exit only through the marked corridors. On a strong trade day the water gives more than the forecast: rig smaller than you read.

Getting there

El Médano sits about five minutes from Tenerife South airport; park by the boardwalk and everything is walkable, Playa Sur, the La Jaquita kite zone and El Cabezo.

Questions riders ask

  1. What are the Alisios and when do they blow?

    The Alisios are the islands' steady NE trade wind, the flow off the Azores high. They blow all year and firmest from May to September, on a clear daily clock: light before dawn, filling in mid-morning and pressing on after midday.

  2. Where do I kite and where do I windsurf at El Médano?

    The coast is buoyed into sectors: kiting has its zone by La Jaquita, windsurfing rides the Playa Sur bay, and El Cabezo is the wave windsurfing zone, kept that way by an unwritten local rule. Every sector is signed on the beach.

  3. Is El Cabezo for my level?

    If you have to ask, probably not yet: a partly rocky entry, rocks downwind and almost no beach at high tide. It is the World Cup stage. The Playa Sur bay and the kite zone are the place for every other level.

  4. What happens on a south wind or calima day?

    The trade switches off and Saharan air moves in, often with calima: short visibility, ragged gusts and more wind than forecast funnelled along the south coast. For most riders the spot is closed that day; local guides mention flat bay water for freestyle, but that is ground for people who know the place.

  5. What kite size and what wetsuit do I bring?

    The most used kite here is a 9 m according to the schools, with the local warning that the water gives more than the forecast on the trades: rig smaller than you read. Water runs from about 19 °C in February-March to 23 °C in late summer: shorty or lycra in summer, a 3/2 in winter.