Biarritz - Cote des Basques Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right then, let’s get a look at what’s doing over the next couple of weeks at Biarritz - Cote des Basques. It’s mainly a beach and reef setup that’s fairly consistent, but the start of this forecast window is looking pretty grim, I won’t lie.

We kick off on Thursday, July 2nd, and the news isn't good. The water’s much warmer than normal for this time of year – a good three degrees above the average. The swell is coming from the NW at 4ft, but it's crossed up by a cross-onshore wind. The combined energy is moderate at 272. Honestly, it's poor conditions right out of the gate.

Friday the 3rd is a washout too. The swell drops back to 3ft in the morning with onshore wind, and even the afternoon’s 4ft NW swell with a 11-second period, which gives a solid, moderate-to-strong combined energy of 414, is ruined by that cross-onshore wind. It’s poor, flat out.

The first session that’s even worth checking is on Sunday morning, July 5th. It’s only 2ft of WNW swell, and the combined energy is weak at 118, but the wind goes cross-offshore from the NE. That’ll clean it right up. It’s only surfable in a very ordinary sort of way, but for a quick bounce on a longboard it’ll be alright.

Then on Monday morning, July 6th, we get a proper offshore breeze from the E at 10 km/h. The swell is a tiny 2ft from the NW, with weak combined energy of 67. It’s clean and surfable, but you’ll be scratching for anything with any push.

The standout for the whole run looks like Saturday morning, July 11th. The swell is 2ft from the NW, but the period jumps to a lovely 12 seconds – that's proper groundswell energy. The combined energy is moderate at 239. The wind is a light cross-onshore from the NW, so it’ll have a few ripples, but that long period will make for better-shaped, more powerful waves. This spot is exposed to the swell, and the optimum direction is W, so this NW swell is a bit off-angle, but the quality of that longer period should help. And look, for a break that gets crowded often, a Saturday morning might not be quiet, but if the timing’s right, this will be the best on offer in this whole outlook. It’s only marginal according to the tide, so pick your moment.

After that, it’s pretty average. Glassy conditions on Tuesday morning, July 7th with 2ft waves, and then again on Sunday morning, July 12th with 3ft off a 10-second NW swell. Both are surfable but ordinary. The week starting July 13th is a write-off with tiny, weak, short-period junk that never gets above poor conditions. Come Thursday morning, July 16th, there’s a glassy 2ft from the NW, but it’s very weak.

To be honest, don’t hold your breath. This is a pretty flat, windswept run for Cote des Basques. The one to really aim for is that Saturday the 11th morning – it’s the only time the combination of a decent groundswell period and workable wind lines up. Otherwise, it’s a lot of small, choppy days.

Rusty.

Read more