Biarritz is a year-round paradise for golfers with 10 high-quality golf courses within 20 km of the centre, four of which are listed in Europe’s 100 finest golf courses. If you would like to combine a french standard course with golf lessons, contact Insted directly for more information.
Biarritz Surf Areas
European surfing has deep roots in Biarritz and will always be a major part of the town’s unique charm.
In 1956, Hollywood filmmaker Peter Viertel, worked on an adaptation of Hemmingway’s ‘The Sun Also Rises’ in the Basque region. Amazed by the fabulous waves and untapped surfing potential in Biarritz, he sent for a surfboard from California. Together with locals George Hennebutte and Joel de Rosnay, they attempted to conquer the waves, and ultimately they started Europe’s first surf club, ‘The Waikiki’.
The sport grew quickly in popularity and within a year, Hennebutte started making the first European surfboards. Today, the surfing spirit is everywhere and the familiar presence of surfers riding the waves is a permanent part of the landscape no matter what time of the year it is.
The depths of the Bay of Biscay outside Biarritz funnel waves straight into Biarritz which enables surfing here all year round. The town is at the end of a long stretch of sandy beaches from the Gironde Coast to the south of the Landes region. There are a number of good surf breaks in and just outside Biarritz.
It was on this beach that surfing in Europe began. The place is popular mostly among longboarders and beginners as the waves aren’t as powerful as in other areas. The Biarritz Surf Festival is held on the Côte des Basques in July every year.
This beach has powerful waves breaking right in front of the town centre. This is where the Biarritz Surf Trophy is held in October every year.
The beaches of Ilbaritz are located south of the town centre and feature a number of good reef breaks including Marbelle, Bora Bora and Edouard VII.
Anglet is found just north of Biarritz. The long, wide beaches here – Les Sables d’Or, L’Ocean, La Madrague, Marinela and Les Corsaires – provide many great peaks between the jetties that separate these beaches.
Les Cavaliers often gets bigger waves than the Anglet beaches mentioned above. The tubes here are known to rival those at Hossegor.
Hossegor is situated north of Biarritz and it is where three time world champion, Californian surfer Tom Curren, settled for a couple of years. This long stretch of golden sand has earned a reputation as the best beach break in Europe and one of the best in the world.
South of Biarritz towards the Spanish border you will find the picturesque villages of Saint-Jean-de-Luz and Guethary with a couple of decent reef and beach breaks.
Across the Spanish border there are lots of surf spots worth checking out. Notably the world famous Mundaka and the beaches of the laid-back Basque town San Sebastián. For more info about the surfing in the Spanish Basque region – click here.
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