Ventspils

About this spot

Ventspils has one of the best-kept city beaches in the Baltics — a wide, fine-sand Blue Flag beach running south-west from the Venta river mouth and the long port moles. The beach faces the open Baltic to the west, so westerly winds bring side-onshore conditions with waves breaking over a series of sandbars. Thanks to its position on the north-west corner of Kurzeme, the spot also catches wind that funnels around the coast when other places are light.

South-west to north-west winds are the best directions, with west giving the cleanest side-onshore angle. North winds run cross-shore along the beach and can work for experienced riders; anything easterly is offshore. Keep far away from the northern mole and the Ventspils port entrance — this is one of the busiest ports in Latvia, and the mole creates strong currents and reflected chop. Ride south of the main Blue Flag swimming area in summer.

Infrastructure is that of a well-run resort town: paid parking by the beach and the Seaside Open-Air Museum, toilets, showers, beach cafés, lifeguards and plenty of accommodation. There is no large kite school directly on the beach, so it suits self-sufficient intermediate and expert riders.