Is it worth the trip?
34Poor out of 100 for your dates
Best on Wed 4: 15 kn gusting 20, onshore, Water: waves 0.9 m
Mon 2 · 0 out of 100
- Wind
- WSW 11 kn
- Gusts
- 14kn
- Shore
- offnot safe
- Water
- 1.0 mwaves
- Air
- 19°C
Tue 3 · 0 out of 100
- Wind
- WSW 1 kn
- Gusts
- 6kn
- Shore
- offnot safe
- Water
- 0.8 mwaves
- Air
- 20°C
Wed 4 · 93 out of 100
- Wind
- E 15 kn
- Gusts
- 20kn
- Shore
- on
- Water
- 0.9 mwaves
- Air
- 20°C
Thu 5 · 0 out of 100
- Wind
- W 22 kn
- Gusts
- 28kn
- Shore
- offnot safe
- Water
- 1.0 mwaves
- Air
- 20°C
Fri 6 · 0 out of 100
- Wind
- W 15 kn
- Gusts
- 20kn
- Shore
- offnot safe
- Water
- 1.3 mwaves
- Air
- 19°C
Sat 7 · 0 out of 100
- Wind
- WSW 21 kn
- Gusts
- 27kn
- Shore
- offnot safe
- Water
- 1.2 mwaves
- Air
- 18°C
Sun 8 · 81 out of 100
- Wind
- ESE 15 kn
- Gusts
- 22kn
- Shore
- on
- Water
- 1.4 mwaves
- Air
- 17°C
Tap a day for wind, gusts, shore and air. Full forecast
Forecast: next 10 days
Full forecast- Sun 122, poor
- Mon 20, poor
- Tue 30, poor
- Wed 493, good
- Thu 50, poor
- Fri 60, poor
- Sat 70, poor
- Sun 881, good
- Mon 978, good
- Tue 100, poor
The spot in six facts
- Faces Eopen to the E
- Best wind: S or Nalong the shore
- Avoid: Wblows out to sea
- Shelteredto the swell
- Water 18 °C2 mm shorty
- Best Oct, Dec–Feb2 good days in 7
Full forecast
every day, every number
The score doesn't know gusts, offshore wind, tides or your skill.
| Day | Score | Wind | Gusts | Shore | Water | Air |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun 1Nov | 22, poor | wind from the south, 12 knots | 17kn | side | 0.9 mwaves | 20°C |
| Mon 2Nov | 0, poor | wind from the west-south-west, 11 knots | 14kn | offnot safe | 1.0 mwaves | 19°C |
| Tue 3Nov | 0, poor | wind from the west-south-west, 1 knot | 6kn | offnot safe | 0.8 mwaves | 20°C |
| Wed 4Nov | 93, good | wind from the east, 15 knots | 20kn | on | 0.9 mwaves | 20°C |
| Thu 5Nov | 0, poor | wind from the west, 22 knots | 28kn | offnot safe | 1.0 mwaves | 20°C |
| Fri 6Nov | 0, poor | wind from the west, 15 knots | 20kn | offnot safe | 1.3 mwaves | 19°C |
| Sat 7Nov | 0, poor | wind from the west-south-west, 21 knots | 27kn | offnot safe | 1.2 mwaves | 18°C |
| Sun 8Nov | 81, good | wind from the east-south-east, 15 knots | 22kn | on | 1.4 mwaves | 17°C |
| Mon 9Nov | 78, good | wind from the east, 16 knots | 26kn | on | 1.1 mwaves | 19°C |
| Tue 10Nov | 0, poor | wind from the west-south-west, 4 knots | 11kn | offnot safe | 1.0 mwaves | 20°C |
Wind is the day's best reading, mean and gusts, in knots; the arrow points where it blows to. Shore "off" blows out to sea. More
Tide
- Sun 1 NovLow 01:25 −0.5 mHigh 07:59 +0.4 mLow 14:14 −0.3 mHigh 20:30 +0.3 m
- Mon 2 NovLow 02:52 −0.3 mHigh 09:43 +0.4 mLow 16:15 −0.3 mHigh 22:26 +0.3 m
- Tue 3 NovLow 04:40 −0.3 mHigh 11:21 +0.5 mLow 17:55 −0.4 mHigh 23:58 +0.3 m
Local clock times; heights about mean sea level. On open coasts the times are usually within a quarter of an hour; in bays, estuaries and on the Gulf of Mexico they can be an hour or more out. Tide: EOT20 global ocean tide model, Hart-Davis et al. 2021, DGFI-TUM (doi:10.17882/79489), CC BY 4.0. Times and heights computed by us. A model, not a tide table: check a local table before you go.
Forecast updated . It refreshes every three hours. Forecast data: ECMWF, DWD, Météo-France and NOAA, served by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0). Changed by us. Generated using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information.
Best time to go
best Oct, Dec–Feb
Good kitesurf days in a typical week, each month, from 2016 on (ERA5 history scored the same way).
- Jan2of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Jan
- Feb2of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Feb
- Mar1of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Mar
- Apr1of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Apr
- May0of 7: a trip from Sat 1 May
- Jun0of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Jun
- Jul0of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Jul
- Aug0of 7: a trip from Sat 7 Aug
- Sep1of 7: a trip from Sat 4 Sept
- Oct2of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Oct
- Nov1of 7: a trip from Mon 2 Nov
- Dec2of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Dec
Tap a month to see this spot for a trip then.
Typical, not a forecast. Reanalysis wind misses some local thermal winds, so a spot known for an afternoon breeze may do better than this.
Map
the spot and its town
St Francis Bay on Google Maps · Directions
Each place wears its best day on these dates: green good, amber fair, pale red poor, as the key says.
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One finger scrolls the page; two fingers move the map. Pins are our own positions. Map OpenFreeMap, © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors.
About
the place in full, sources, credits
About St Francis Bay
Known for kitesurfing and windsurfing, by the OpenStreetMap map of the area. The shore faces E, so wind from the W blows out to sea (our estimate from the coastline).
Water about 18°C: 2 mm shorty. Typical sea temperature for the time of year, not a forecast.
A spot for kitesurfing and windsurfing, as OpenStreetMap maps it, on a shore facing E. Wind from the E blows onshore, wind from the W blows out to sea, and wind from the S or N runs along the shore. It is sheltered to the open sea. The sea floor shelves gently: 10 m deep about 700 m out (1 in 68). The sea is about 17°C in August, its coldest month (3/2 wetsuit), and 20°C in January, its warmest (2 mm shorty). For kitesurfing at beginner level the best months are usually January, February, October and December, with about 2 good days in 7. From the weather of past years. The town to stay in is St. Francis Bay. Within 5 km we also list 14 surf spots.
The score is the conditions only: the journey, the price and the partners never change it (how we score, how we earn).
Rough cost (estimate): about US$1,260–US$2,500 each
about US$1,260–US$2,500 each · 6 nights, 2 sharing: flights, hire car, stay, food.
Our estimate from typical public prices, not a quote: check the real prices before you book (where they come from). Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.
How we worked it out
| What | How we worked it out | Each |
|---|---|---|
| Flights | return MDW to PLZ, estimated from distance and season, changing at ATL and CPT, full-service airlines, with a hold bag | about US$884–US$1,840 |
| Hire car | 6 days, shared | about US$67–US$114 |
| Stay | 6 nights, a mid-range double, shared | about US$161–US$275 |
| Food | 7 days eating out | about US$147–US$268 |
| Total | about US$1,260–US$2,500 |
Kit hire is not priced yet: we have no sourced price, so it is not in it. Prices from public sources, checked in 2026.
Where to stay: St. Francis Bay
1 min by car · 20 places to stay
about US$60/nightcountry average
About St. Francis Bay its beds, food and every spot near it
About US$60 a night is our estimate of the country's average 2-star double room that month: not each town's price, and not a quote. Drives are estimates. Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.
Getting there: about 31h 30m
About 31h 30m door to door from Chicago
Fly MDW → PLZ, changing at Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) and Cape Town International Airport (CPT), then 1h 35m by road
Flights MDW → PLZ on your dates · Skyscanner
An estimate, one way; the journey never changes the score.