Where to Go in July: Best Watersports Bases
by Yannick SchrothAug 5, 20267 min read
Photo: Susanne Jutzeler, suju-foto via Pexels (free license).
This is a summary; the guides hold the verified figures.
What July gives you on the water
July is the month with the most options and the least value, so the useful question is not where works but where is worth the peak-season price. July is peak season in two hemispheres at once. It is the most expensive month on this list and the most reliable, with Indonesia, the Mediterranean and northern Europe all working together. Every base here is included because its own guide names July as part of its working window, not because the weather is generally nice, and where a place is marginal we say so rather than padding the list to a round number.
Prea
The trade winds blow almost daily at 20 to 35 knots from roughly July to January.
Wind season startsRead the guide → 3°37′S 38°44′W · KitesurfingCumbuco
The wind season runs broadly July to December, with warm water year-round.
Trades fill inRead the guide → 2°47′S 40°31′W · KitesurfingJericoacoara
The reliable window is roughly July to January, with the sweet spot September to November.
Season opensRead the guide → 37°44′N 25°40′W · Diving & adventureThe Azores
Best conditions run roughly mid-July to mid-October, when water peaks near 23C and the pelagic sites open.
Short window opensRead the guide → 8°44′S 115°33′E · DivingNusa Penida
Mola mola season runs roughly July to October, on cold, deep dives; mantas are there all year.
Mola mola seasonRead the guide → 3°54′N 73°21′E · DivingMaldives local islands
Manta season peaks July to October, and the wet southwest monsoon is the best time for the big filter-feeders.
Manta peakRead the guide → 63°00′N 150°00′W · PackraftingAlaska
July and August are the warmest and most predictable months, which is why most first-timers book then.
Safest windowRead the guide → 34°23′S 72°00′W · SurfPichilemu
July is often the most consistent and the most serious month at Punta de Lobos.
Most consistentRead the guide →Also good in July
- Essaouira, where July is the windiest and gustiest month.
- Arugam Bay, most consistent July to August.
- El Gouna, in its June to September core wind season.
July is the month the tropical Pacific gets busy, and the Atlantic still has not
Two basins, two different Julys. In the western North Pacific the Japan Meteorological Agency's 1991–2020 normal for July is 3.7 tropical storms or stronger, six times April's 0.6, and the point at which the basin stops being quiet. That is the number behind the advice to treat Southeast Asia's July as a working month with an eye on the forecast rather than a season to avoid.
In the Atlantic and eastern Pacific, July is still early. The National Hurricane Center records that eastern Pacific activity is “spread out over a longer portion of the season” than the Atlantic's, with most tropical cyclones occurring “between late June and early October” and a peak in late August. For Brazil's northeast, which is outside both basins entirely, July is simply the middle of the trade-wind season.
And the Azores get their long evenings: sunrise 06:25 and sunset 21:08 on 1 July, which is 14 hours 43 minutes, already shortening to 14 h 12 by the 28th. Mid-Atlantic, mid-summer, and the light is going before the month is out: worth knowing if you are planning two dives and a drive.
FAQ: Watersports Destinations in July
Where can I see mola mola or mantas in July?
Nusa Penida has its mola mola window roughly July to October, on cold, deep dives that suit confident divers, plus mantas year-round at Manta Point. In the Maldives, manta season peaks July to October and the southwest monsoon draws in the big filter-feeders.
Is July the start of the Brazil kite season?
Yes. Prea and Cumbuco start around July, and Jericoacoara's reliable window runs roughly July to January. The strongest weeks come later: Prea peaks August to November and Jeri's sweet spot is September to November.
Sources
- Where July sits in the typhoon year. RSMC Tokyo – Typhoon Center, Japan Meteorological Agency, monthly tropical cyclone numbers since 1951. Normals 1991–2020: July 3.7, against 1.7 in June and 5.7 in August. jma.go.jp. Read 12 September 2026.
- How the eastern Pacific season is shaped. NOAA National Hurricane Center, tropical cyclone climatology: “A peak in activity is noted in late August, but this peak is less pronounced than the peak in Atlantic activity. Relatively high levels of activity in the eastern Pacific tend to be spread out over a longer portion of the season than in the Atlantic, with most tropical cyclones occurring between late June and early October.” nhc.noaa.gov. Read 12 September 2026.
- The Azores evening. US Naval Observatory, Astronomical Applications Department, table of sunrise and sunset for an entire year. Ponta Delgada, 1 July 2027: rise 06:25, set 21:08 (14 h 43 min); 28 July: rise 06:43, set 20:55 (14 h 12 min). aa.usno.navy.mil. Table for Ponta Delgada, Azores (N37 44, W025 40), 2027, zone UTC+0. Read 12 September 2026.
- Each entry links to our full guide for that place, and those guides carry the external sources and read dates behind the claims summarised here. They are where the readings are recorded, not the evidence for them: Prea, Cumbuco, Jericoacoara, The Azores, Nusa Penida, Maldives local islands, Alaska, Pichilemu.