Hendaye Plage Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what’s on the table for Hendaye Plage (beach and reef). Honestly, mate, it’s a pretty grim outlook for the first couple of weeks. We’ve got a long stretch of flat, weak, and messy conditions before anything remotely worth getting wet for shows up.

Right now and for the first several days, it's all tiny, onshore slop. The water’s a whopping 76°, which is *much warmer than normal* for this time of year, but that’s about the only upside. You're looking at ankle-to-knee high dribble with light cross-onshore breezes making a mess of any potential lines. The combined swell energy is barely registering, sitting between 34 and 85 for the first few days – that's weak.

Through the second week, it doesn’t get any better. From the 13th of July right through to the 22nd, we’re stuck in the same pattern. Wave heights barely hit 2ft, period is either short or middling, and the wind is either onshore or cross-onshore. We get a morning of glassy conditions on the 14th of July, but with a wave height of only 1ft and a period of just 4 seconds, it’s not going to break properly. It’s a paddling session, not a surfing one. There’s more than a week of this flatness with no real recommendation.

Then, just at the very end of the outlook, we finally get a pulse. On the 23rd of July, Thursday morning, the swell bumps up to 6ft from the WNW with a 7-second period. The combined energy jumps to 326 (moderate wave energy). The wind is a light cross-onshore – not perfect, but a hell of a lot better than what we’ve seen. The swell jumps again for the afternoon, hitting 8ft from the WNW, with an 8-second period and a combined energy of 796 (strong wave energy). That’s a proper-sized, powerful swell for the area. However, at 8ft, this is really only for experienced surfers; beginners will be out of their depth. The wind is onshore in the afternoon, which will chop it up.

So, the one standout? It’s got to be the morning of Thursday, the 23rd of July. That 6ft of WNW swell under light cross-onshore winds is the best we’re going to see in this 16-day window. It won’t be perfect, but it’s got enough size and push to be fun on a beach break, and the wind is light enough that you’ll find some clean ones. Anything after that is too far out to trust, but it’s a glimmer of hope in a dry spell.

Signing off, Rusty.

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