Imperial Beach

Imperial Beach is a kiteboarding spot near San Diego in USA, with open ocean conditions and prevailing SW, NW wind, best ridden in January, February, March, April, November, December.

About Imperial Beach

This is a large wave location, with powerful, dumping surf. Usually larger here than anywhere else on the Southern California coast in winter due to more open exposure. Typically, it's chest to head high on any given day. Summer is usually chest high or smaller. Winter can have double overhead waves, and larger. The world famous big wave break, Cortes Bank, is just 90 miles off the coast. The water outside the surf zone is usually choppy. The water inside near the beach is usually flat and smooth due to whitewater washing over and smoothing the chop, so it makes for great butter riding with fun ramps.

When is the best time to kitesurf at Imperial Beach?

The best time to kite Imperial Beach is January, February, March, April, November, December, when the SW, NW wind is most reliable.

What are the wind and water conditions?

Imperial Beach offers open ocean conditions with SW, NW wind (Frontal wind), launching from ocean.

How do I get to Imperial Beach?

Direct route: from downtown San Diego, take I-5 South to Coronado Avenue (NOT the Coronado Bridge). Exit Coronado Avenue, and follow it all the way to the beach (about 2 miles), where it dead ends into a public parking lot right next to the beach. Park here.

Hazards at Imperial Beach

Swimmers, None.

Other kite spots near Imperial Beach

• J Street Bayside Park · 6 km · San Diego
• Coronado Island / Silver Strand State Beach · 6 km · San Diego
• Enchanted Cove · 23 km · San Diego
• Sail Bay · 25 km · San Diego
• Tourmaline Beach · 28 km · San Diego
• Lower Trestles · 99 km · Los Angeles

Spot data last updated 2026-07-20 · part of the KiteGlobe database of 6,633 kiteboarding spots.