Levante, poniente and terral: when to go out in a small boat in the Mediterranean
In a small boat "it is a nice day" is not enough. What decides the trip is where the wind blows from, how hard, when it changes and what the sea does with it. This guide gives a five-minute method to decide with official data.
The three winds you need to know
In the Alborán Sea and along the Andalusian Mediterranean coast people talk about three winds. The first two are named for the compass point they come from:
- Levante: an easterly wind. It is the one that triggers the most warnings in the Strait of Gibraltar: AEMET (Spain's weather agency) has issued orange coastal warnings for force 8 levante with gusts of 100 km/h, with direct effect on ferry traffic. The Strait is only about 14 km wide at its narrowest and mountains on both shores funnel the wind and speed it up. It tends to bring humidity, low cloud and swell.
- Poniente: a westerly wind. It can also blow hard in the Strait. It usually leaves clearer skies and better visibility, but raises wind-driven sea as soon as it settles.
- Terral: a land wind, dry, hot and gusty, that comes down from the mountains toward the coast. In Málaga the word is used for any wind blowing from land to sea. It is treacherous for a small boat: close to shore the water is flat, and the further out you go, the more sea and wind you find. When the terral shifts to levante, fishermen talk of "viento sucio" ("dirty wind"): two crossing seas that unsettle small boats.
For you, the practical question is not the wind's name but three things: where it comes from relative to your coast, how fast and gusty it is, and when it changes.
A five-minute method before you go
- Check the official marine forecast for your area. AEMET publishes the coastal forecast by sections (for the Axarquía, "Costa de Andalucía Oriental y Melilla"), with wind, sea state and warnings. Salvamento Marítimo notes it is also broadcast on VHF, NAVTEX and in the high-seas bulletin on Radio 5.
- Mean wind and gusts. Look at both figures. A 25-knot gust with a 12-knot mean changes the whole day in an inflatable.
- Swell height and direction. Levante swell can arrive even if the local wind is calm. A metre of wave is a lot for a boat of three and a half metres.
- Time of change. In summer, once the sun heats the land, the sea breeze usually comes in during the afternoon and the sea builds. Leave early and be back before it sets in.
- Margin. Ask yourself: if the engine fails here, where does the wind take me? With an offshore wind, out to open sea; with an onshore wind, toward the coast or the shoals.
A simple decision rule
There is no legal wind-speed rule for you. This is prudent guidance, not a prescription, and you should adjust it to your boat, engine and experience:
| Forecast mean wind | What it usually means in a small boat |
|---|---|
| Under 10 knots (force 3 or less) | A comfortable day. Good for anchoring and diving. |
| 10 to 16 knots (force 4) | Choppy sea, spray, anchoring gets harder. Only with experience and close to shelter. |
| Over 16 knots (force 5 or more) | Do not go out in a small inflatable. If you are out, head back now. |
And two rules that do not depend on the number: do not go out in a strong offshore wind even if the shore looks flat, and if the AEMET warning for your area is yellow or higher, stay home.
When you are already out and it changes
Salvamento Marítimo advises, on a bad-weather forecast: prepare the boat to withstand it, lash down anything that moves, put on lifejackets and make everyone wear one, reduce the number of people on deck, adjust course and speed and warn everyone of bigger waves. On an inflatable that boils down to: head back now, lifejacket on, at moderate speed. Telling someone your return time is what helps most if something goes wrong.
How Embarca helps
Embarca shows today's forecast at any point and, with Pro, the seven-day forecast with the good-weather windows for going out. It uses open weather models (Open-Meteo, with data from ECMWF, DWD and NOAA). They are global models: good for deciding which days are worth it, but the official AEMET warning and your own eyes at the harbour always come first.
A case: the Saturday you could go out
Example scenario.
On Thursday Marta checks Embarca's seven-day forecast. Saturday shows a good window: light wind in the morning, from about 8 to 1, and poniente picking up in the afternoon. Friday is already worse and Sunday is worse still. She decides to go out on Saturday at 8, do her usual trip and be back before lunch.
An inflatable does not allow improvising: what changes between a flat-sea day and a choppy one is how long you will enjoy yourself. Today's forecast is free; the seven-day forecast with its good-weather windows is Pro, and the Pro trial lasts 3 outings.
Sources
- Salvamento Marítimo, weather information (VHF, NAVTEX, AEMET maritime zones; in Spanish). Checked on 14 October 2026.
- Salvamento Marítimo, while under way (bad-weather advice).
- AEMET, marine forecast.
- "Terral malagueño", DivulgaMeteo and the winds of Gibraltar. Local, popular-science descriptions; not an official AEMET definition.
- El Faro de Ceuta, orange levante warning in the Strait (example of an AEMET warning with 100 km/h gusts).
- Beaufort scale: force 3 is 7 to 10 knots, force 4 is 11 to 16 and force 5 is 17 to 21.