Pays Basque, France
Côte des Basques
Also known as Biarritz, Côte des Basques, Plage de la Côte des Basques
Intermediate
Beach break
Rock bottom
Peels both
0.5–2.5 m
Low tide
Biarritz's urban surf spot: a beach/reef mix at the foot of the cliffs below the town that works on a low-to-mid tide and a west swell. It is short, easy to reach and historically important — the cradle of European surfing — but small, crowded and tide-sensitive; at high tide the beach disappears and the wave shuts down. Best on a clean head-high day with offshore east wind.
Hazards
RocksCrowdsShallowLocalism
Conditions
- Best swell
- W, WNW, NW
- Best wind
- E, SE, NE
- Season
- Sep, Oct, Nov, Mar, Apr, May
- Wave size
- 0.5–2.5 m
- Wave quality
- Consistency
- Crowd
- Coordinates
- 43.4830, -2.2532
Facilities
ParkingToiletsShowersSurf SchoolBoard RentalCafeLifeguard
Getting there
Park on the seafront above the beach (Avenue de la Reine Victoria / escaliers) and walk down. Tide-dependent: check the tide or you arrive to no sand.