Velmonda

Karpathos

Afiartis · Gun Bay

Marginal
“Go”: a rideable window long enough to count. “Marginal”: it might work, not for long enough to promise. “No wind”: nothing rideable today. “Not yet”: too far out, or the models still disagree. Drawn as an outline, never a colour. The small line underneath says where the number comes from: which models, whether they are corrected against wind measured at this spot, and whether what you see was measured or forecast.

Meltemi reaches 12 kn, but not for long enough. It might work.

Model ensemble · not calibrated here yet · forecast, not measured what that means

11–12kn 09:00–20:00

Meltemi · N/NNW · Offshore 167°

Hour by hourYour line 13 kn · windsurf
Each bar is one hour's forecast. The dashed line is YOUR minimum, not a fixed scale. The strip colours by your range: solid inside it, amber just short or gusty, muted outside. On a day nothing crosses your line, nothing takes a colour: there is data, and it is honestly short. Gusty hours are demoted: when the jump between mean and gust is big, an in-range hour shows amber. Here the spread, not the average, decides the day.

09:0015:0020:00

Peak 12 kn at 10:00. The dashed line is your 13 kn, not a fixed scale.

Water
27°
Air
25°
Suit
Boardshorts or shorty

Wind angle

Offshore

Blowing off the beach. It will take you out to sea. Do not go without cover.

wave 1.0 m

Wave

Wave
1.0 m
Period
5 s
From
NW
Why not
Two questions, answered separately: is the thermal setting up (the label), and does it build far enough for your minimum (the fill)? It can honestly set up and still stop short; then the gauge turns amber and the sentence names the gap.
Setting up

698 W/m² · Sets up, but stops at 12 kn; you need 13 kn

Local knowledge

The wind blows side-offshore from the left in all the bays: if gear fails, it pushes you out to sea. Stay inside your bay's limits, ride in front of a centre with a rescue boat, and never go further out than you can fight back upwind from.

In the island's lee the wind comes down gusty off the land: sudden, violent gusts near the shore, rotor at the bay edges, rocks at both ends. It gets stronger still the further out you go.

Week09:00–21:00

Tue Meltemi 11–12 09:00–20:00
Wed Meltemi 12–13 09:00–20:00
Thu Meltemi 14–15 09:00–20:00
Fri Meltemi 17–19 09:00–20:00
Sat Meltemi 14–14 20:00–20:00
Beyond 5 days we don't know yet: outline, not colour
Sun Meltemi — —
Mon Meltemi — —
Tue Meltemi — —
Wed Meltemi — —
Thu WNW thermal — —

About riding Karpathos

Afiartis is the flat southern tip of Karpathos, where the Meltemi, squeezed by the island's mountains, comes off the land at its hardest. Three bays in a row beside the airport serve the same wind at three levels: shallows for learning, an open bay for slalom, and the notorious Devil's Bay for the very strong. Speed world championships have been sailed here.

The winds, by name

Meltemi. The one wind that defines the spot: synoptic northerly Aegean flow which, crossing an island 11 km wide with 1215 m peaks, accelerates as through a funnel. In a real outbreak it blows day and night, builds through midday and peaks in the afternoon. July and August afternoons reach 35–40 kn, with gusts beyond 45 in Devil's Bay.

WNW thermal. In Meltemi pauses a WNW thermal sets up, usually enough for an afternoon on bigger sails.

When to come

The season runs May to October, the centres open throughout. July and August are its heart, with the strongest and steadiest wind; May-June and September-October are gentler and emptier. The water is warm all season, the wind chill is not.

What to watch

The wind is side-offshore everywhere at Afiartis: any failure takes you seaward, and it blows harder the further out you are. Near the land the gusts are sudden and violent, with rocks at the ends of the bays. Stay in the bay that matches your level, in front of a centre with a rescue boat, and when the wind climbs, change bay rather than push your limit.

Getting there

Afiartis sits beside Karpathos airport, a ten-minute transfer; in summer direct charters fly in from many central European cities.

Questions riders ask

When does it blow at Karpathos?
May to October, peaking July-August. The Meltemi blows all day and builds into the afternoon; high-summer afternoons reach 35–40 kn.
Which bay is right for my level?
Chicken Bay for beginners and freestyle (shallow, sheltered); Gun Bay for intermediates and up (slalom, bump-and-jump, chop to a metre); Devil's Bay for experts only, with the strongest wind on the island.
Is the side-offshore wind dangerous?
It is why the water is flat, and why the place demands respect: a breakdown means drifting seaward. The centres run rescue boats and bay limits; stay inside them.
Can I kitesurf at Afiartis?
Not during centre opening hours (roughly 09:00–19:00), in any of the three bays. The island's kite beach is Agrilaopotamos, a few kilometres south.
What sails should I bring?
Small ones. In summer the standard here is 3.3–5.0 m2 and a 75–85 l board; the centres rent full modern kit if you would rather not carry.

About this forecast

No openly available high-resolution weather model covers this spot (some commercial sites run private local models). The forecast runs on continental and global models, which resolve the coastline more coarsely; expect a wider margin than at a spot with a local model.

No live wind sensor here yet. The number above is forecast, not measured.