Santa Marianita is also known by some locals as Playa Bonita (the beautiful beach). It is a small fishing village about 20 minutes south of the city of Manta. The beach is 300 meters wide and 4 km long. A sandy beach, it is a perfect location with plenty of space for learning, launching and landing, and there is often a surf-able shore break with waves from 1 to 1.5-2 meters high for intermediate and expert riders. There is also a couple of restaurants near the launching area where riders gather. The amazing thing about Santa Marianita is that it is never crowed!
The best time
for kiting is
June to December
with over 80% of
the days
excellent kiting
conditions.
Kiting is still
available
January to May,
but the good
kite-able days
drops to about
50%.
February/March
are normally the
worst months.
The very long
windy season,
from May to
January, has an
average speed
between 18 and
25 knots.
Santa Marianita is excellent for all levels of Kiting. You will see kiters doing freestyle, wave and bump and jumps. It is a sandy bottom, with a great along shore consistent breeze, that makes kiting a pleasure almost every day for its 6 month season. The predominant wind is a south-westerly (i.e. along/side shore). There are no hazards on the beach. The wind strength is 5-6 (Bf), and is consistent all day, picking up early afternoon (the best time for Kiting). There is no tide dependency, and waves on the bigger days can pick up to about 2 meters (especially on the south of the beach).
The weather is warm and dry. The average air temperatures is 25-30°C (77-86°F) and water temperatures is 25-28°C (77-82°F). There is no need for a wetsuit here!
