On Saturday, May 16, 2026, La Coudouliere (Six Fours Les Plages, France) hosted a perfect day of windsurfing that will live long in our memories. Strong northwest winds all day and a crescendo of quality waves. Not to be missed!

 

Windsurfing, report: La Coudouliere (Six Fours Les Plages, France), 16 May 2026

 

His majesty the mistral has made a great return. I love this wind, often strong, which gives us magnificent blue skies and sunny days!

Saturday at La Coudouliere was the perfect day, one of those epic days you have to be there for, and absolutely can't miss.

I definitely needed it, after the last few windsurfing sessions with uncertain winds.

Windsurfing is a terrible sport.... If you don't live by the sea, it forces you to spend a lot of time studying wind forecasts, which can change a thousand times, to invest time and money in traveling to the spots, and, sometimes, to waste time and energy spending frustrating days at the spots. Sometimes you think you could use your time much better...

But then it gives you magnificent days like Saturday's, which sweep everything away, which keep you entertained for hours, which rekindle your passion, which recharge you and strengthen the illness....

I came to France on Friday the 15th, and, after a good training session at La Madrague in Hyères (always a pleasant place), in the late afternoon, I set up camp with my camper van at Six Fours to make the most of the excellent forecast for Saturday the 16th at La Coudouliere. But I didn't imagine it would be the best windsurfing day of my life, at this spot. La Coudou has given me many great sessions, but last Saturday was probably the one where I enjoyed the spot the most.

 

 

Click here for the slide gallery of my photos

 

I arrived at the parking lot near the spot beach around 8:40, but it was already full. The excellent forecast attracted many enthusiasts. Moreover, La Coudouliere often offers ideal conditions early in the morning and is less crowded (and in fact, some were already in the water at that time), despite the still rather cool temperature (12 degrees Celsius!).

Anyway, no big issue. I parked comfortably in the parking lot across from the entrance to the Parc de la Méditerranée, sheltered from the wind, so I could change and relax, enjoying the pleasant warmth of the sun, and where I could calmly prepare my windsurfing gear, without the chaos around me. Shortly after, Marco and Alberto joined me.

A check at the harbor reef, during which I measured 34 knots, immediately convinced me to choose the Ezzy Elite 3.7 as my sail. And the best part is that it was the right sail all day! Only at the end did it get a little overpowered.

I paired the sail with the Tabou Da Curve 88 2025, set up as a Thruster, with the standard K4 fins (but in the afternoon, a Quad setup would have been ideal): this board proved to be amazing. It suits me perfectly: it's fast, goes upwind very well, handles well in jumps, turns tight, and allows me to position myself on the wave wherever I like. I am in love!

 

 

 

In short, Saturday will be memorable because it provided perfect conditions all day: winds around 30 knots, perfectly oriented from the northwest, blowing side-on over the spot, and plenty of quality, increasingly large waves. I did five sessions, for a total of over three hours in the water! Three sessions in the morning and two in the afternoon, interspersed with a sandwich for lunch and some relaxation in the van, as well as a short nap, after which I returned to the water, awakened by a good coffee. How wonderful it is not to have to chase the wind, because there's plenty of it! And if I'd still had the energy, I would have stayed out in the water even in the late afternoon, because the conditions, and especially the waves, were still amazing!

In the morning, the wind was a bit more unstable, and the surfable waves were around 1.5 meters high, not too frequent. Approaching Cap Negre, you needed a bit of luck to find the right set. When the wind blows from the northwest, rather than the west, at La Coudou, it's normal for the wind to be a little more unstable, as it has to overcome the hills inland and, finally, the promontory of Cap Negre. Sometimes, in the inside, and in the wave-riding area, the sail was a little underpowered. However, already in the morning we had a chance to have fun, and I immediately caught some pretty nice waves. I'll remember this day at La Coudou because, although I'm quite bad at surfing in side-on/onshore conditions, on Saturday I finally managed to get out of the bottom staying in contact with the lip, and landing some decent cutbacks without getting the sail in my face. In fact, already in the morning I almost landed three cutbacks on the same wave. In front of the harbor cliff, some nice ramps to jump started to appear, getting higher and higher.

 

 

 

In the afternoon, the consistent wind, which maintained the same direction and intensity (with a slight strengthening in mid-afternoon), raised fantastic waves that became increasingly frequent: almost mast-high in front of the harbor cliffs, and even 3 meters below Cap Negre. And, above all, the best part was that, every time we returned to Cap Negre, we were guaranteed to find one or more great waves to catch and surf with great pleasure. The surfable waves became bigger, but also smoother, generating further and further out to sea. Delightful.

On Saturday, the Coudouliere proved challenging, let's be clear, but never truly bad.

The northwest wind direction also made it relatively safe to head out to sea, staying away from the harbor cliffs. Furthermore, the waves, near the exit beach, but also where we ended up after a few good wipeouts..., arrived having already broken offshore, and therefore with moderate power.

In short, it was a day of pure pleasure, as we commented with the others present at the spot, both Italian friends (Ezio, Eddy, Alessandro, ...) and French locals. A true windsurfing party.

 

 

But overall, it was a very enjoyable trip for me, truly relaxing and mentally fulfilling, thanks in part to the pleasant moments of camping life in the van and the beautiful views of Six Fours. On Sunday morning, I took a pleasant walk to the Ile de Gau, with a wonderful view of the surrounding cliffs and the lagoon. In the afternoon, the westerly wind predicted by Arome no longer reached Le Brusc, and I began my return journey to Italy earlier. But perhaps it was better this way, because I would have had little energy left to spend.

In addition to my photos and videos, I am pleased to also publish the magnificent photos of Luc Pitel, a French photographer with whom I have been in contact for some time, and whom I had the pleasure of meeting again that morning.

A day like Saturday's will leave you feeling happy and fulfilled for a few days... Then, of course, the desire to get back in the water and experience another perfect day of waves and wind like this one will get you once again.

See you next time. Fabio

 

Click here for the slide gallery of my photos

Click here for the slideshow of Luc Pitel's photos

 

 

The video of the day