Kite Area guide
Ponta Preta, Sal Island
One of the Atlantic's great wave spots, and one of its least forgiving: big glassy swell peeling close to a rocky shore, with the wind blowing away from land.
When to kite
Best months: December, January, February, March, April.
About this Kite Area
Ponta Preta is the reason a certain kind of rider comes to Sal. Atlantic swell wraps onto the point and peels in big, glassy walls that sources put at three to six metres, breaking close to shore — one source describes the waves standing up around fifty metres out.
Everything that makes it spectacular also makes it dangerous. The shoreline is rocky, the shore break pounds, and the wind is cross-offshore, which means a mistake carries you away from land rather than toward it. There is no meaningful rescue cover. The sources are unanimous that this is a spot for experts, and that everyone else should watch from the cliff.
The swell window is December to April, at the heart of the Cape Verde season.