Potrerillos - Bahía Príncipe

About this spot

• air10-22 kt
• exploreTérmico del sudeste · Este · Zonda
• wavesChoppy
• signal_cellular_altIntermediate
• calendar_monthBest: Feb–Dec

Bahía Príncipe is one of the two kite spots at the Potrerillos dam, about 50 minutes from Mendoza via Ruta Provincial 82. It is on the south coast, at the first roundabout of Parador A, next to the Asociación Mendocina de Windsurf; the Asociación Mendocina de Kite has held national kite and wing championships here. You set up on the point that enters the lake north of the club and ride towards the northeast, through the middle of the lake. In the morning the lake is calm. After midday a thermal wind enters from the southeast, from the dam wall, at 10 to 20 kt and roughly from 12:30 to 17:00. It arrives gusty due to the hills and almost always requires large kites, from 12 to 18 m; there is also a lot of foil and wing riding. The best times are spring (October to December) and autumn. Do not go out with Zonda. The water is cold all year round: use a full wetsuit. The lake level changes significantly between years and seasons, and with the lake low, sandbanks and islets appear. From 13 December to 8 March, the Bahía Príncipe public beach, next to the parador, has about 900 m buoyed off for swimmers with lifeguards from 11:00 to 18:00: kite from the point and stay far from that area and the club's sailing boat anchorage. From 2025 the south coast is under concession for a tourist development, and in October of that year the Asociación Mendocina de Kite agreed to move its headquarters to the La Tosca peninsula: access points may change with the works. The association recommends not learning alone: there are schools in Potrerillos. Photos: "Embalse Potrerillos, sobre el río Mendoza 01" by BiblioJu (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons; "Embalse Potrerillos, sobre el río Mendoza 02" by BiblioJu (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons; "Embalse Potrerillos, sobre el río Mendoza 03" by BiblioJu (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons.

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