World class waves, easy to get to and wonderful food.
What are you waiting for?
Where?
There are so many spots to choose from but
undoubtedly check out Mundaka, Menakoz, Roca Puta, Playa de Barayo and Praia de
Esterio.
What sort of waves can I expect?
You can safely say that this area of Spain is the most consistent and most varied
coastline in Europe. There are all sorts of
waves on offer from classic beach breaks such as Los Locos and Pantin to
perfect point breaks and a host of class rivermouth waves.
Where does the swell come from and when is
it best?
Northern Spain picks up most swell going
and areas such as Galicia
pick up virtually anything. All of the coast around Galicia gets swell pushing
in from the Atlantic whereas areas such as Pais Vasco which is close to the
border with France isn’t exposed to everything going, but nevertheless offers
an abundance of waves with class waves at Bakio and of course Mundaka to
sample. Best times to go are between September and November when swell comes
from the north west
which is powerful and consistent. The weather is also still pretty good and
water temps at this time stay around 15 degrees. Winter has bigger swells but
water temps and air temps drop significantly.
What else is there to do?
Seek and you shall find. This is an
absolutely beautiful part of the world in particular the Galaician coastline,
though it does rain rather a lot here. Bilbao
has transformed itself and for art lovers the Guggenheim is a must visit.
Another big pastime is eating and the seafood along the whole of Northern Spain is wonderful. Plus it’s good value and
relatively cheap compared to here.
How do I get there and where can I stay?
There are loads of cheap flights to several
airports in Northern Spain so check airlines like Easyjet (www.easyjet.com) who
fly to Bilbao
and Ryanair (www.ryanair.com).
Another alternative is to take the ferry
which means of course that you can take your car. Brittany Ferries
(www.brittanyferries.com) sail to Santander from
Plymouth. P+O (www.poferries.com)
run year round between Portsmouth and Bilbao. Both are quite
lengthy journeys and can be expensive so flying and renting a car when you’re
there may work out at a similar cost.
As for staying there are loads of places
from really good campsites to a wealth of pensions and hotels. You can hire
huge chalets on the campsites from around £20 while decent pensions also start
at about £15 per night. Obviously, prices change depending on season but as
mentioned September is a good time to go as it’s cheaper, still warm and less
busy.
Will I score uncrowded world class waves?
In a word, yes! Places like Mundaka and
Menakoz can be phenomenal but when it’s on it’s for experienced surfers only.
Los Locos is one of the best beach breaks around but the key to surfing in Northern Spain is to cruise around checking out different
spots. There are so many places that work that the next hidden gem is probably
just around the corner.
|
