Plum Island / New Jersey / United States

Plum Island is on the south end of Sandy hook and is a popular spot for kiters and windsurfers. Beginners often head for this spot as it is fairly sheltered and provides fairly consistent conditions without too many distractions.

The beach is sandy and clean but, as with a few other sites round here, it is only a decent size at low tide – at high tide, it shrinks drastically and the kite launching area gets close to the rocks. Beginners would therefore better either waiting for low tide or launching and landing in the water itself.

The conditions here are quite consistent, with useable winds blowing from the north, south or southwest at anytime from March to September. They are thermal winds for the most part and tend to come in at about 15-20 knots, though they will be a little less powerful in August when the weather goes very calm and quiet. The water is shallow and generally flat, although it can be a little choppy if the wind is blowing harder than usual. There aren’t ever any crowds here, so beginners will have plenty of room to get the hang of things.

Parking is available within a couple of minutes walk from the beach, or you can catch the ferry over from Manhattan. There aren’t any other proper facilities on site though, so take everything you are likely to need.

The current is strong on the ocean side, though not in the lagoon, so anyone on the ocean needs to be able to handle this. Aside from that, watch out for the other traffic, mainly boats, which can come through the area.