La Guajira, Colombia

About La Guajira

La Guajira is the northernmost point of South America — a desert peninsula of cactus, salt flats and Wayuu settlements, where the Caribbean meets the Andes' dry shadow. It also has the longest wind season in Colombia: ten months of the year, with only October and November falling away.

Mayapo, half an hour by car from Riohacha, is the accessible end. Wind averages 20 to 30 knots and strengthens through the afternoon, and there is a flat-water lagoon alongside the beach — the combination makes it a genuinely good and unusually cheap place to learn, best from December to April.

Cabo de la Vela is the other proposition entirely: three hours by jeep from Riohacha, consistently 25 to 35 knots, gusty around the middle of the day, and better suited to experienced riders than to beginners. Access turns muddy and difficult in October and November.

The water sits at 25 to 28°C, so no wetsuit. What you get in return for the journey is a landscape and a culture that exist nowhere else in the kitesurfing world.

When to go

Best months: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, December.

Kite areas

2 distinct riding areas documented within this destination.

• Cabo de la Vela

  Best months: December, January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September.

• Mayapo / Riohacha

  Best months: December, January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September.