France: spots windsurf and kitesurf

One of the best places to sail in Europe is France, offers different spots of windsurf and kitesurf, either in lakes or open sea, where you can adapt any level, from beginner to expert, to take advantage of wind conditions to enjoy.

Spots: France wave & wind conditions

Leucate, this village has numerous spots around. It is suitable for all kinds of levels, including to start because it has numerous lakes that besides being flat water spots, always seem to be a couple of knots unless at full sea. The prevailing winds are usually:

• The famous Tramuntana which comes from the Catalan Pyrenees, in the northwest, in some cases can exceed 40 knots, is usually quite cold and being offshore tends to flatten the water.
• The winds from the southeast that being warmer conditions make pleasanter, besides bringing waves for surf lovers.

Flat water spots:
Although the whole area there are multiple we will comment the most frequented spots according to the conditions we find.
Le Goulet: This spot is located near the village of Leucate (where camping is not allowed), being allowed to stay vans and caravans, we can do in the night. The Tramontana works better than anywhere else but the South East being smack behind the village, is a bit gusting to so with this wind recommend move to La Franqui (home of the Mondial du Vent) where we can sail with all winds, Tramuntana or southeast wind.

For those who want flat water kitesurfing recommend the Palme spot, a little further from Leucate, where we can stand around the lake and are clearly differentiated designated areas for windsurfing and kitesurfing, to either side of the spot.
Sea Spots:
La Franqui (home of the Mondial du Vent) as already mentioned above, and Saint-Cyprien is a spot a little south of Leucate quite frequented where we found a couple of knots less when the Tramuntana is very strong and good waves. Additionally it also works with southeast wind.

Leucate spots Map