France Surf Forecast

Surfing in France

France faces the Atlantic along a coast that runs from the granite headlands of Brittany to the Spanish border, and it changes character completely on the way down. Brittany is rugged and exposed, with reefs and coves that pick up swell on almost any day the Atlantic is moving. Further north, the Channel coast of Normandy is sheltered from most Atlantic swell and only works when a large westerly pushes up the Channel, best on the exposed western side of the Cotentin peninsula and below the chalk cliffs at Étretat. South of the Loire the coast straightens into one of the longest runs of sand in Europe, through the Vendée and Gironde into the Landes, where the beachbreaks reshape with every storm. Around Hossegor and Capbreton a deep underwater canyon reaches almost to the shore, so swell arrives with more of its energy intact and breaks with a power that sets this stretch apart. At the southern end the Basque coast brings reefs and points back into the mix, around Biarritz, Anglet and Guéthary. Autumn is the season most surfers wait for: groundswell, offshore winds and water still warm from the summer. Winter brings the biggest swells, and summer is smaller and suits learners. SurfCheck covers 20 French spots with hourly wave, wind and tide data, free and without a login.