Tarifa is the European Kite surf mecca and this makes it the best place to learn to kiteboard, safe, easy and fast.
Tarifa offers more than 300 windy days a year and an average temperature of 20ºC. Situated at de Costa de la Luz (Coast of Light), Tarifa has the most sunny days of Europe. The special color of the sunlight reflecting and the breathtaking sunsets make everything amazingly beautiful. The sky and water are extremely clean and the long stretched beaches are part of a big nature reserve. All birds that migrate to the south pass here! As the crossroad of the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, Europe and Africa, Tarifa is a mystical place.
Tarifa has it all, to relax and to be active! You can do all possible watersports, kite surf, wave surf, windsurf, wingfoil, stand up paddle, dive, climb, whale watch, hike and mountainbike. The old white colored town has an ancient history and is really beautiful. The restaurants and bars are both amazing and cheap! And dancing all night is possible at legendary parties and in clubs like Café Del Mar.
And as a (future) kiter, surfer, wingfoiler or wind surfer you’ll dive right into the relaxed surf lifestyle that people live here!
Tarifa is situated in between Sevilla and Malaga. Gibraltar is also near. So daytrips and very low cost flights are just in reach!
In Tarifa there are two prevailing winds, Levante (E) and Poniente (W). Levante blows 24h/day and can last for weeks! It blows from the land so is warmer and does not generally make waves, perfect for practicing your water start and body drag. Normally it’s a strong wind, but nothing you cannot easily handle with our help (and if it’s really too strong we know alternatives). Poniente blows from the sea, it is a clean, constant wind and generally a little lighter than Levante. Both winds blow year round with Levante being the dominant wind in the summer and Poniente in the winter. Whatever the weather, Tarifa is the kite surf Mecca of Europe for a very good reason… it’s windier and more consistent than anywhere else!
It never get’s very hot! And at night it cools down to comfortable sleeping temperatures and during the day it’s normally below 30 degrees. So no ‘oven like’ temperatures like in the rest of Spain.
There are so many reasons why we live here, maybe you’ll also never want to leave!
A little bit of history
In this little fishing town the Moorish invasion of Southern Spain started. In the year 711 BC Tarif Ibn Maelik, a Berber leader, landed from Ceuta with four boats with 400 foot soldiers and 100 horsemen. It is suspected that the town got its name from this same ‘Tarif´. This in turn can be the origin of the word ´tariff´, as Tarifa was the first port in history to charge merchants for the use of its docks.
In 1292 Sancho El Bravo reconquered this area, then in 1295 Guzman El Bueno defended the town against the re-invading Moors. According to the local legend, the Moors captured his son and threatened to kill him if Guzman didn’t surrender the town. He refused and even threw down his sword from the castle tower with which they killed his son. The narrow cobbled streets make Tarifa old town a charming place for a stroll. The original city walls of this ancient town are tightly woven into the fabric of the whitewashed houses. Although much of what we see today was actually constructed in the 18th century, the Moorish influence on the town´s architecture and labyrinthine layout is still apparent. This is best seen at the Puerta de Jerez, the main entrance to the old town.
Local fishermen still use the Almadraba method of fishing, using a circle of boats and nets, a practice which has not changed since Phoenician times, over 2000 years ago. The bluefin tuna fishing season generally starts at the end of March and runs for about three months.
Since the 1990s by the windsurfing and kitesurfing industry is apparent everywhere and at night the walled area transforms into a network of buzzing bars and clubs The old and the new are blended with effortless taste in what is one of Andalucia´s hippest destinations.