The report · Emerald Sea · Kite · January · 6 pages

WindChaserSpot report

Diego Suarez, Madagascar

Emerald Sea

KiteJanuary

39% of January days clear 12 kt for three daylight hours or more.

January sits outside the best months here. This report carries the record for January as it is, and no direction or session norm, because there is none to quote. Section 02 shows the year-by-year spread; section 06 shows which months to come instead.

01Hour-by-hour & month-by-month windrecord only02The month's own records03Full stays, schools & day trips04Per-launch tide notesno data05The reef, the shallows & boat access06Getting there, packing & best months07Sources, and their limits
Guide
Compiled by WindChaser
27 Sep 2026Record
2017 to 2026, hourly
Open-Meteo, ECMWF IFS HRES 9 kmNormals
2017 to 2026
Ten Januaries
Emerald Sea · Kite · January · Generated 22 Oct 2026 from the 2017 to 2026 record1 of 6
01

Hour-by-hour & month-by-month wind

Rideable-day share by month, all three sports

Share of days with three or more daylight hours over each sport's threshold, counted from the record at 12 kt, Windsurf 13 kt and Wing 12 kt.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecKite3930528695969910099938060Windsurf3123418393959810099917555Wing3930528695969910099938060

Blue fill scales with the share. Selected month outlined. Threshold per row: Kite 12 kt · Windsurf 13 kt · Wing 12 kt.

Where the wind sits, January

Share of daylight hours in each speed band, blue above the threshold.

4–7
8–11
12–15
16–19
20–23
24–27
28–31

Not drawn: 10% of daylight hours under 4 kt.

When in the day, January

Share of days over 12 kt at each daylight hour.

8am
9
10
11
12pm
1pm
2
3
4
5
6pm

Rideable hours, not all hours. Every wind figure in this report is the mean over hours above the threshold.

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02

January's own records

The month's own figures from ten Januaries in the record, 2017 to 2026. Not the year's average.

Rideable days12 of 31Ten Januaries in the record
Wind, rideable hours15 ktMean over daylight hours at 12 kt+
Air30.2°CMaximum
Hours over 12 kt3.8 a dayDaylight, all days averaged
BeforeDecember60%19 rideable days in 31
Your monthJanuary39%12 rideable days in 31
AfterFebruary30%8 rideable days in 28

What the percentage hides. A month at 80% can be twenty-four steady days or three windy weeks broken by a dead front.

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03

Full stays, schools & day trips

Stays

Babaomby Island Lodge$$·Lodge · Full boardSea-view and garden bungalows with full board on the lagoon. Open 17 March to 1 December in 2026.
Mazava Loha ResortResort · Faces La PiscineWooden bungalows and suites facing La Piscine, with a kite and windsurf school.

Lessons

Babaomby Island LodgeSchool · Kite · Wing · WindsurfFour IKO kite instructors, beginner to expert. Cover from a jet ski and a boat.
Mazava Loha ResortSchool · Kite · WindsurfKite and windsurf school at the resort, facing La Piscine.
Kitesurf MadagascarDay trips · Kite · From RamenaFull-day trips to the lagoon from Ramena, four to six kiters a trip, with car, boat and lunch.

Kit

Babaomby Island LodgeRental · Kite · Wing · WindsurfKite, wing and windsurf hire by the hour, day or week, with storage and jet ski cover. Non-guests pay 20 per cent more.

Price band $ to $$$ only where sourced; none shown means none held. Contact details and brands stocked join this table when the operator directory is connected.

04

Per-launch tide notes

Babaomby lodge front
Low—Mid—High—

Standing depth in front of the lodge, per its school. Hours per tide state unknown until tide data arrives.

La Piscine
Low—Mid—High—

About 40 cm deep over sand, per the lodge’s guide. KiteParadise tells its guests to ride it at low tide.

Nosy Toreky
Low—Mid—High—

Works at low tide, per Babaomby.

Nosy Suarez
Low—Mid—High—

No tide information found for this wave.

Tide data not yet available for this spot. The record holds wind, air and waves, not tide. Until a tide source is connected, the tables above stay empty rather than estimated. What the guide says about tide is on the next page, in words.

Emerald Sea · Kite · January · Generated 22 Oct 2026 from the 2017 to 2026 record4 of 6
05

The reef, the shallows & boat access

Every hazard on the spot page, repeated here in full. Read this before you get wet.

Conditions change. Check local rules and conditions before you ride.

Remote, boat accessThe lagoon is reached by boat. No public rescue service or lifeguard is named by any source. Babaomby’s school covers its riders with a jet ski and a boat.
Coral reef wavesThe waves break on the coral reef: 1 to 2 m at Nosy Toreky and 1 to 3 m at Nosy Suarez. Babaomby keeps them for confirmed riders.
Shallow water at low tideLa Piscine is about 40 cm deep over sand, per the lodge’s guide. Nosy Toreky works at low tide over the reef. Check the tide before every session.
EmergenciesFor an ambulance or the police, call 117 from a mobile or 17 from a landline. For the fire service, call 118 from a mobile or 18 from a landline. No sea rescue service is named for the lagoon: ride where your lodge’s boat can reach you.
The coral reef and the shallows

The two waves break on the coral reef: Nosy Toreky at 1 to 2 m, working at low tide, and Nosy Suarez at 1 to 3 m. Babaomby keeps them for confirmed riders. La Piscine is a flat zone about 500 m long and 40 cm deep over white sand, per the lodge’s guide. Check the tide before choosing a spot.

Boat access and rescue cover

The lagoon is reached by boat. No public rescue service or lifeguard is named by any source. Babaomby’s school covers its riders with a jet ski and a boat. Babaomby says the wind and the current always run into the lagoon; that is the lodge’s description, not a measurement. The UK Foreign Office’s travel advice gives 117 from a mobile, or 17 from a landline, for an ambulance or the police. No sea rescue service was found.

06

Getting there, packing & best months

Nearest airportDiego Suarez (DIE)Arrachart airport, about 23 km by road to Ramena, around half an hour, then a boat to the lagoon.
SeasonApril to NovemberThe months the record shows the most rideable days. August is the pick, July and September a point behind.
Getting aroundBoatFrom Ramena, Sakalava Bay or Diego Suarez, or on the lodges’ transfers. Babaomby puts the trip from the airport at 30 minutes by car and 1 hour 30 by boat; the lodge’s IKSURFMAG guide gives 45 minutes by boat from Ramena. Ask the lodge.
What to pack
BottomSand and coral. White sand at La Piscine, coral on the reef where the waves break.WaterFlat to waves. Flat and very shallow at La Piscine, waves of 1 to 3 m on the reef.Water temperature26 to 28°C. From the lodge’s guide on IKSURFMAG, not measured. Bring a lycra.AccessBy boat. From Ramena, Sakalava Bay or Diego Suarez, or on the lodges’ own transfers.KitAt the lodge. Babaomby’s school provides the kit. Bring a lycra and sun cream.
Kite sizes for January

January has no session mean to size from, so no sizes are given.

JFMAMJJASOND

Best months, Kite. Record.

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07

Sources, and their limits

Where each section of this report comes from. Record is measured. Modelled is computed by a formula because no measurement exists yet; it looks like data and is not. Written is WindChaser's editorial copy, compiled from the sources below.

§WhatSourceLimit
01Kite month sharesRecordCounted at 12 kt for three daylight hours from ecmwf_ifs (ECMWF IFS HRES) at 9 km, cell 4.59 km from the spot, January 2017 to September 2026, 9 to 10 years a month, no station correction.
01Windsurf and Wing month sharesRecordCounted at 13 kt (Windsurf) and 12 kt (Wing) from the same series, by the same rule as the Kite share.
01Direction, strength, when it blowsWrittenCompass direction, south-east, from two spot guides (Fun and Fly, Let’s Kite); the wind angle at each wave in Babaomby’s words. Strength and time of day read from the record.
02The month’s recordsRecordA 9 km global model, not a station. Not checked against a weather station or a second model: treat the shares as a guide.
03Stays, schools and day tripsWrittenConfirmed on each business’s own website. One price band, from Babaomby’s published full-board price; Babaomby also publishes its hire and lesson prices.
04Tide windowsMissingNo tide source in the pipeline. The section renders its empty state.
05Hazards, reef, shallows and rescueWrittenFrom the lodges’ own pages and the lodge’s guide on IKSURFMAG, not surveyed. Emergency numbers from the UK Foreign Office’s travel advice. No rule for the lagoon and no sea rescue service was found.
06Airports, access, packing, kite sizesWrittenRoad distance from OSRM routing. Boat times differ between the lodge’s own pages. Water temperature from the lodge’s guide, not measured. Sizes derived from the session mean.
MapsMissingNo drawn maps for this spot. No surveyed coordinates for the launches.

The record

Hourly wind, 2017 to 2026, from ECMWF IFS HRES via Open-Meteo: a 9 km grid, read at the cell 4.6 km from the spot. It knows the wind over the cell, not the gust on the sand in front of you, and it knows the bearing, not the coastline: "side-onshore" is a rider's reading of the bearing. Each month is counted over nine to ten years.

What we could not source for Emerald Sea

Any rule for riding in the lagoon, and a sea rescue service. Crowds by month. A water quality classification, and a first-hand reading of the local vibe. Tide tables and per-launch tide windows. A station check on the wind record. Surveyed launch coordinates. Any source that is not a lodge or a school. A licensed photograph. Where any of these is missing above, the section says so rather than filling itself.

Conditions change. Check local rules and conditions before you ride.

Compiled by WindChaser, 27 Sep 2026. Hero photograph on the spot page by Babaomby Island Lodge Kitesurf Wingfoil & Windsurf Madagascar, Google Maps. Report generated 22 Oct 2026 from record version 2026.10; a report and its spot page are rendered from the same data and cannot disagree.

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