Best time to kitesurf Middleton

The best time to kitesurf at Middleton is May–February, with about 9 windy days a month (15+ knots) and water around 17°C.

Middleton, South Australia, Australia

Sports: Kitesurfing, Windsurfing, Surfing

Best time to go: May–February

Middleton wind & wave forecast

Middleton is a small town on the south coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula, between Port Elliot and Goolwa on Encounter Bay, about 80 km south of Adelaide. Its long sandy beach faces south into the Southern Ocean and runs from the rocks of Middleton Point in the west for many kilometres east towards Goolwa and the Murray Mouth. Car parks off the Esplanade lead down to the beach at Day Street, Chapman Street and Rose Street, and swimming flags often go up at Day Street and Chapman Street in summer.

For surfers it is one of the best-known learner beaches near Adelaide: a beach break that picks up southerly swell on most days of the year, with long, rolling white water, and surf schools teach there all year. Winter brings the most swell and the most clean days, when northerly winds blow offshore. Middleton Point at the western end has rocks and stronger waves for experienced surfers and gets crowded when it is good. Rips form along the beach, so learners should stay close to the schools.

Kiters usually ride at Rose Street, launching from the eastern of its two car parks, between the surfers at the Point and the surfers and schools at Day Street. It works in winds from west to south-east, best in a south-westerly. The summer sea breeze alone is often too light; it works when a weather pattern pushes a south-westerly to south-easterly in and the sea breeze adds to it in the afternoon, and in the strong south-easterlies that blow the surf out, when kiters have the waves to themselves. Windsurfers sail it in winter, in north-westerlies off Day Street and in big westerlies at the Point; the wind often drops in a band 50 to 100 m off the beach, right in the shore break. North-north-westerlies are too offshore, and riders go to Goolwa instead. The waves are solid, so this is a spot for riders who can already ride upwind. Keep clear of surfers and of families in the shallows, and never ride through swimming flags or surf life saving events. The water is about 14 °C in August and 20 °C in February: a 5/4 with boots in mid-winter, a 4/3 in spring and autumn, a 3/2 or a spring suit in summer.

Month by month at Middleton

January: 9 windy days (15+ knots), average wind 11 knots, waves 0.8 m, water 20°C, air 25°C (nights 16°C), sun (6+ hours) on about 28 days, rain (1+ mm) on about 6; a day can have both
February: 7 windy days (15+ knots), average wind 10 knots, waves 0.7 m, water 20°C, air 25°C (nights 15°C), sun (6+ hours) on about 26 days, rain (1+ mm) on about 4; a day can have both
March: 5 windy days (15+ knots), average wind 9 knots, waves 0.8 m, water 20°C, air 23°C (nights 15°C), sun (6+ hours) on about 27 days, rain (1+ mm) on about 8; a day can have both
April: 3 windy days (15+ knots), average wind 9 knots, waves 0.9 m, water 19°C, air 21°C (nights 13°C), sun (6+ hours) on about 25 days, rain (1+ mm) on about 8; a day can have both
May: 5 windy days (15+ knots), average wind 9 knots, waves 1.3 m, water 17°C, air 18°C (nights 11°C), sun (6+ hours) on about 25 days, rain (1+ mm) on about 9; a day can have both
June: 9 windy days (15+ knots), average wind 10 knots, waves 1.5 m, water 15°C, air 15°C (nights 9°C), sun (6+ hours) on about 22 days, rain (1+ mm) on about 13; a day can have both
July: 10 windy days (15+ knots), average wind 10 knots, waves 1.5 m, water 14°C, air 14°C (nights 8°C), sun (6+ hours) on about 26 days, rain (1+ mm) on about 11; a day can have both
August: 9 windy days (15+ knots), average wind 10 knots, waves 1.5 m, water 14°C, air 16°C (nights 9°C), sun (6+ hours) on about 27 days, rain (1+ mm) on about 13; a day can have both
September: 10 windy days (15+ knots), average wind 11 knots, waves 1.5 m, water 15°C, air 18°C (nights 10°C), sun (6+ hours) on about 27 days, rain (1+ mm) on about 10; a day can have both
October: 10 windy days (15+ knots), average wind 11 knots, waves 1.3 m, water 16°C, air 20°C (nights 11°C), sun (6+ hours) on about 27 days, rain (1+ mm) on about 10; a day can have both
November: 7 windy days (15+ knots), average wind 11 knots, waves 0.9 m, water 17°C, air 21°C (nights 12°C), sun (6+ hours) on about 27 days, rain (1+ mm) on about 13; a day can have both
December: 9 windy days (15+ knots), average wind 11 knots, waves 0.7 m, water 19°C, air 24°C (nights 14°C), sun (6+ hours) on about 30 days, rain (1+ mm) on about 8; a day can have both