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Kite-surf San Francisco Bay Area

Weather Statistics San Francisco Bay Area

Prime Kitesurfing Seasons and Resources

The best time to kitesurf in the Bay Area spans from spring through fall. For accurate wind forecasts, resources like Spots Guru are invaluable, offering detailed insights to help you make the most of your sessions. Although October to late March marks the off-season, the adventurous can still find good wind on the coast when storms appear.

Beginner-Friendly Locations

For those new to kitesurfing, Alameda is renowned as an ideal starting point due to its gentle conditions. Nearby, Oakland and Richmond offer spots whose names might escape memory, yet they promise equally promising conditions for beginners. Another notable spot is the 3rd Avenue near San Francisco International Airport, perfect for both beginners and intermediates.

Challenges for the Experienced

For more experienced surfers, Crissy, Sherman Island, and Ocean Beach (OB) present more formidable challenges:

• Sherman Island is accessible for beginners but demands caution due to its choppy waters.
• Ocean Beach requires adept skills in handling significant waves and side-on winds.
• Crissy is perhaps the most challenging spot in the area. It is vital to be equipped with a radio and consult with locals before venturing out. The south tower near Fort Point offers a flat water area ideal for freestyle on an ebb tide, though it is tricky to access and crowded with wingfoilers.

Exploration and Adventure

The coast also features a string of less frequented spots from Waddell to Stinson, worthy of exploration. Bodega Bay and Dillon Beach, although further afield, provide spectacular kitesurfing conditions when the weather aligns. Dillon Beach, in particular, offers easy access from the main parking lot and a secluded area behind a sand spit for flat water kitesurfing. However, these areas are treasured for their pristine conditions and should be treated with respect to avoid overcrowding.

Local Insights

The Bay Area is not only a prime location for kitesurfing but also a fantastic place to live, if within one's budget. The community is welcoming, and the opportunity to make friends and explore new spots enriches the experience. Just remember to bring a warm wetsuit—San Francisco's waters are notoriously chilly!

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The best spots of Kite-surf | San Francisco Bay Area

Alameda Beach

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Tide point: alameda_beach

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Popularity: 434 Views

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Crissy Field

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Tide point: crissy_field

Crissy Field is a world-class sailing, windsurfing and kitesurfing area for experienced riders. Gusty winds and strong currents can make kiting here both challenging and dangerous. The wind is often side-offshore and the launch can be tricky, with winds fluky/light on the inside. and often VERY windy out in the channel. A full wetsuit year-round is a must. Thank you for familiarizing yourself with Crissy kiting protocols so that we can all be safe and have a great time. At Crissy we count on each other to be responsible and support one-another. If unsure of something, ask for assistance or advice from other riders; your actions are important to everyone, especially if they have to put themselves at risk to rescue you or help retrieve your gear! for security concern: https://sfba.org/ more info: https://www.bayareakiteboarding.com/sites/crissy-field/ https://www.bayareakiteboarding.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=844

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Popularity: 354 Views

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Marina Bay

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Tide point: richmond_tradewinds-sailing

Located in Richmond, Marina Bay can be a great place to kite when conditions are good. Generally speaking, Summer to Fall provide the best conditions with winds ranging from 10-30 knots mostly onshore. It is not a suitable location for beginners as a confined launch surrounded by rocks and turbulent winds create hazardous situations during launching and landing. Depending on the tides, water starts can be a bit tricky as your ability to get out in the water to start may be limited and starting requires sending the kite down over the rocks. As with many sites, if you for any reason doubt your confidence in safely launching and landing in a confined rocky area, handling your kite precisely, getting out on the water fast and staying upwind, don’t kite here! In addition, fisherman do frequent the small beach, so give them the right-of-way and all due courtesy. Above and along the small beach is a section the Bay Trail which is frequented by joggers, walkers, families and children. Ensure that your activity does not inadvertently involve them in any way. https://www.bayareakiteboarding.com/marina-bay/

Popularity: 350 Views

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3rd Ave Upper Launch

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Tide point: 3rd_ave

Park for FREE, If you are parking in the golf course parking lot make sure to park at the vary end of the parking lot to leave the other spots for the golfers, besides its closer to where we launch.

Popularity: 275 Views

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Race Track

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Tide point: point_isabel

Racetrack is a location for intermediate and advanced kiters only. It is NOT a beginner beach. Wind conditions can be unpredictable near the beach, as the cove can create many wind holes, and the small beach is bordered by rocks with razor-sharp barnacles that will slice any kites and feet they touch. Furthermore, a high level of skill to self launch and land is required to kite here and you absolutely must be entirely comfortable with upwind kiting skills. It is also helpful to have very quick self rescue skills, as a fallen kite in the cove often requires quick recovery to avoid lapping against the rocks. more info https://www.bayareakiteboarding.com/sites/racetrack/

Popularity: 267 Views

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Half Moon Bay

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Tide point: half_moon_bay_beach

On NW windy days you'll see kites in the north end of the bay by Miramar. These are usually a small group of very knowledgeable and experienced locals who know the area well, expertly handle their equipment, and are careful around other beach-goers. If you don't fit that profile: skip that spot. There are better areas to kite.    HMB has miles of beach. The north end of the bay has the smallest beaches and the most people. When you see a local kiting there, it's likely they chose it merely because that launch happens to be closest to their home. If you're visiting you may as well launch somewhere better for you and safer for everyone else. When NW winds blow here they're equally good across the bay. In fact, the wider beaches to the south don't have the sketchy wind eddies you find near the cliffs. The surf is better too, because of the way Pillar Point shadows swell the waves get gradually better the more south you go. HMB waves take shape from shifting sand bars and they have a tendency to form up more often and with better quality at the river mouths by Dunes and Venice. https://www.bayareakiteboarding.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=834

Popularity: 264 Views

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Stinson Beach

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Tide point: stinson-beach_seadrift

 Stinson is an intermediate Kiting spot. You should be proficient at jibing if you want to kite Stinson as the more time you spend bobbing in the water, the more time "Whitey" has to spot you. Spring wind is best when a.m. buoys are 25+ at Bodega, wind is steady from 11am-2pm 15-20,   afternoon wind is usually too gusty. Summer is great when there is N.W. wind and fog 10-20.  https://www.bayareakiteboarding.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=846

Popularity: 247 Views

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Redwood City

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Tide point: westpoint-harbor

Two things to consider. wind direction and tides. The slough is more like 800 feet at high tide in one particular spot. The best tide is at high tide and it is just going out. Tide coming in produces a flow going down wind a little. Wind is not that good due to the silos, cement factory and trees. If the wind is more north and coming from the bay it is better. Even on a strong WNW wind it doesn't really fill in to that launch spot. I could see it working on a strong NW wind, but thats not very common. On a W wind it will be very strong just 200yds upwind of the launch and nearly nothing in that grassy area. There are lots of other spot in and around the redwood city harbor that would work, but there's no launch. https://www.bayareakiteboarding.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=7781

Popularity: 234 Views

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Berkeley

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Tide point: berkeley_marina

NOT for beginners https://www.bayareakiteboarding.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=842

Popularity: 233 Views

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Ocean Beach

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Tide point: ocean_beach_fulton_street

Free parking, miles of sand, and waves. Watch the wind direction Hawaii is a long way away and newbies will have a hard time with direct onshore winds and waves.

Popularity: 230 Views

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Blackie's Pasture

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Tide point: kappas-marina-east-pier_sausalito

ride at high tide. Be mud friendly. Embrace mud walks when you can’t get going or the breeze dies. It is called Blackies pasture or bay front park, I may be mistaken and listed as No kiteboarding by the coastal conservancy Association of bay area government Bay water Trail. https://sfbaywatertrail.org/.../BayfrontPark... BUT people infrequently could kiteboard there in the correct meteorological conditions. You would need a huge fog bank on the coast snaking into the bay or winter south east winds before a storm front moves through. Definitely not an everyday accurance. Stay away from the Seaplane water landing/ takeoff area or you will be in big trouble with the FAA

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Popularity: 217 Views

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Radio Beach

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Tide point: oakland_harbor_berth_34

The site is known as ‘Radio Beach’ (due to the radio towers surrounding the area),‘Royce Beach’ (due to the discovery of the beach as a kitesurfing site by the late Royce Vaughn) and ‘Toll Plaza’ (due to it’s location next to the toll booths for the Bay Bridge). more info https://www.bayareakiteboarding.com/sites/toll-plaza/ https://sfba.org/index.php/news/91-toll-plaza-a-launch-site-in-jeopardy

Popularity: 216 Views

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Pillar Point

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Tide point: pillar_point_harbor

Butter Flat water

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Popularity: 216 Views

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Larkspur

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Tide point: larkspur

https://www.bayareakiteboarding.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=835

Popularity: 206 Views

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3rd Ave Lower Launch

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Tide point: 3rd_ave

Flat water beginner spot. Don't forget the golf coarse net is a fatty windbreaker so rig accordingly.

Popularity: 198 Views

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Pt Reyes

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Kite-boarding is not allowed off Limantour Beach, Drakes Beach, and the Great Beach due to snowy  plover habitat.  This closure is necessary as kite-boarding interferes with wildlife behavior.

Popularity: 193 Views

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