Sotavento Beach Windsurfing
Sotavento Beach is a 1km long sandy beach and one of the world’s most iconic windsurfing locations. It is effectively a windsurfing resort, as not only does it possess excellent wind and water conditions, but the world’s largest windsurfing centre attached to two very well equipped hotels, the Hotel Melia Gorriones, and the Sol Beach House Melia.
A key feature that enhances the allure of Sotavento beach is its protected 4km long and 200m wide training lagoon. This is a tidal lagoon that fills up with enough water to windsurf for approximately half the days in every month. Each cycle is about six days long, Therefore the lagoon is usable for six days before it becomes dry for six days before refilling again. The lagoon provides the ideal training ground for beginners and improvers, while the more experienced use the open sea on the other side of the protective sand bar.
On the open sea side the huge 1km long white sandy beach has plenty of room for windsurfers and kiting. There are separate zones for both sports as well as for swimming, so as to ensue order and safety. The windsurfing centre is ideally located on the beach, where it has direct access to the open sea as well as the lagoon. The centre is only 200m from the hotels resort.
The sailing conditions are excellent. The prevailing north-east trade wind receives a double acceleration effect from the hills making the wind substantially stronger and therefore creating a superb freestyle, speed and slalom spot. Generally the winds are lighter in the morning before picking up midday or early in the afternoon.
The water in the open sea is flat at low tide with a small chop at high tide. There can be a small shore break, and occasionally waves up to 2m depending on the sea swell, with the water surface in between the waves smooth. The training lagoon is always flat.
Annually the PWA slalom racing World Cup comes to Sotovento Beach in July where the world’s best racers compete at the very highest level and provide a terrific spectacle.
1 Review on “Sotavento Beach (Fuerteventura)”
I went to Sotavento with very high expectations and whilst it didn’t disappoint there were a few things that weren’t up-to-scratch.
THE WIND
The wind was a typical cross off-shore and whilst it was reasonably strong I was surprised how gusty it was. I found that I was off-the-plane about 50% of the time as the wind dropped intermittently. The land mass has a bit of height to it blocking the clean wind.
THE WATER
The water was a lovely turquoise & deep blue colour and perfectly clean. The water temp was around 22 deg C making it very bearable in a rash top. The shore break certainly sorted out some of the Euro sailors not used to sailing in the ocean.
One of the disappointments to me was that the water was quite choppy the further you away from the land. Unfortunately that was where the cleanest wind was and closer to shore where the water was relatively flat the wind speed was quite variable.
I was also under the impression that the lagoon would be a great place for speed sailing however it was really just a great spot for people learning to sail.
ACCOMMODATION
If you like resort-style accommodation; you will love this place. The Melia Fuerteventura is fabulous and located right on the beach just a few minutes walk to the Windsurfing & Kitesurfing sailing spots.
SERVICES
There is no doubt that Rene Igli has a well-oiled machine with both its Windsurfing & Kitesurfing centres. Apart from high-performance race gear, these centres pretty much have every other type of device you could dream of. The prices were definitely up there compared to other centres around the Canaries particularly if you wanted quality gear.
BEACH
The launch area to the ocean and the lagoon in front of the Rene Igli Windsurfing Centre gets pretty busy so don’t expect and serenity here; it’s elbows out at the launch area to get started.
The beach immediately in front of the Windsurfing Centre had some chairs and a bit of shade and had a pretty good vibe.
Overall it was quite the pinnacle of windsurfing I was expecting but some of the best windsurfing I had ever done in my life to date.