Pavilosta

Pavilosta sits where the Saka reaches the sea on the exposed western coast, a small town of a thousand or so people with a fishing and yacht harbour behind two long moles, and it has acquired a reputation out of proportion to its size: the reliable onshore wind and the empty beach either side of the harbour made it the centre of Latvian windsurfing and kitesurfing, and schools, board hire and a summer population of surfers have grown around that. The beach is broad sand backed by dune and pine. Outside the season it is a quiet fishing town with a small museum and a seafront that empties completely.

History

People have lived here since the Stone Age, and a port at the mouth of the Saka is first mentioned in 1253. In 1879 Otto Friedrich von Lilienfeld of the nearby Upesmuiža manor rebuilt the harbour and named the new town Paulshafen after his brother Paul, and from 1893 it grew as the main hub for shipping stone to Liepāja (Wikipedia, Pāvilosta).

The main sights

• The harbour moles - the two piers enclosing the river mouth.
• The beach - the sand and dune running either side of the harbour.
• Windsurfing and kitesurfing - the schools and the summer surf population.
• The town - the small fishing settlement behind the shore.

When to go

May to September for the wind and the season; the strongest reliable wind is in spring and autumn, which is when serious surfers come. July and August fill the town. Winter closes almost everything.

Before you go

The town is very small and almost everything closes outside summer. The sea is cold and the coast exposed. Accommodation is limited and books out in the season. There are no lifeguards.

Nearby

Akmenrags lighthouse lies south; Jurkalne bluffs are north.

Key facts