La Salie Surf Guide

La Salie in Acquitaine is an exposed beach break that usually has waves and can work at any time of the year. The best wind direction is from the east. Tends to receive a mix of groundswells and windswells and the ideal swell direction is from the west. Waves at the beach are both lefts and rights. Even when there are waves, it's not likley to be crowded. Beware of rips / pollution.

La Salie Spot Info

Type:Rating:Reliability:Todays Sea Temp*:
Beach4consistent
18.5°C*ocean temperature recorded from satellite

Surfing La Salie:

The best conditions reported for surf at La Salie occur when a West swell combines with an offshore wind direction from the East.

What's the best time of year to surf La Salie (for consistent clean waves)?

octoberBest Season: autumn
The best time of year for surfing La Salie with consistent clean waves (rideable swell with light / offshore winds) is during Autumn  and most often the month of October. Clean surfable waves are typically found 47% of the time in October while 47% of the time it tends to be blown out. For the remaining 6% of the time it is considered too small by most surfers but may still be OK for beginners and groms at times.
clean
47%
Surfable waves that hold up well for longer rides in prevailing cross-offshore, offshore or light wind conditions.
blown out
47%
Surfable sized waves that are of poorer quality due to prevailing onshore, cross-onshore or windy conditions (may be preferable for kitesurfing).
too small
6%
Waves usually considered too small for good surf. Some wave-magnet breaks may still work though if conditions are right (on occasion).

Explore La Salie Location Map

Interactive La Salie surf break location map. View information about nearby surf breaks, their wave consistency and rating compared to other spots in the region. Current swell conditions from local buoys are shown along with live wind speed and direction from nearby weather stations. Click icons on the map for more detail. The closest passenger airport to La Salie is La Teste De Buch (Arcachon) Airport (XAC) in France, 14 km (9 miles) away (directly). The second nearest airport to La Salie is Merignac (Bordeaux) Airport (BOD), also in France, 54 km (34 miles) away.

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  • Live Wave Height (m)
  • Live Wind Speed (km/h)
  • Surf Rating (10 Max)
  • Ocean Swells (m)
  • Wind Speed (km/h)
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Please note that some surf spot locations are approximate to protect their exact location while others are not shown at close zoom level.
La Salie Surf Forecasts:
Todays Surf Summary
Wednesday, 6 May 2026, 16:47 Local Time
Wednesday 06Thu
5PM8PM11PM2AM
Wave (m)
1.6
NW
1.3
NW
1
NW
1
NW
Period (s) 6 6 7 7
Wind (km/h)
25
20
10
5
Wind State cross-
on
cross-
on
cross glass

Swell History at La Salie

Surf stats for La Salie, see the swell variation by month or season on the history page here.

Wind History at La Salie

Wind stats for La Salie, see the variation in direction and stength by month or season on the history page here.

La Salie Reviews:

Interactive Porthcawl Point location map. View nearby buoy information, live wind conditions and surrounding roads, paths and locations to help find new breaks. Click the buoys or wind icon to view more information.

Ratings
Based on 11 votes.
  • Overall:4.0
  • Quality on a good day:4.3
  • Consistency of Surf:4.2
  • Difficulty Level:3.6
  • Wind and Kite Surfing:3.7
  • Crowds:3.7
  • ...

See all 18 ratings


Review
Impartial reviews submitted by Surf-Forecast users.
Ben from France
“Spot de bodyboard. Malheureusement, on ne peut plus surfer à la Salie Nord. Le banc de sable a disparu à marée basse et la marée haute ne donne que du shorebreak. Il faut dorénavant aller à gauche du Wharf pour surfer correctement. Cela demande 40 minutes de marche puisque seul le parking de la Salie Nord est ouvert. Certains se garent au niveau de la route forestière du Wharf, mais c'est interdit depuis les récents incendies et il y a un risque de se prendre une belle contravention. Le plus gros problème de ce spot est la qualité de l'eau. L'eau y est extrêmement polluée et au fil des années aucun effort n'a été fait par la commune d'Arcachon pour améliorer la qualité de l'eau. Le Wharf rejette des eaux de plus en plus sales et seulement à 400 m de la côte au lieu des 4 km qui étaient initialement prévus. Je tombe systématiquement malade au bout de quelques jours lorsque je surfe là-bas. L'eau est souvent marrons à cause des détergents rejetés, l'odeur est souvent nauséabonde et on observe régulièrement une pellicule sur le sable en raison de la teneur élevée en polluants qui se trouvent dans l'eau rejeté par le Wharf. A marée basse, le courant sud transporte ces eaux jusqu'à Biscarosse où la pollution due au Wharf est observable. A marée haute, la pollution du Wharf est transportée jusqu'au banc d'Arguin contaminant ainsi les plages de la Salie Nord, de la Lagune et du Petit Nice. Malgré les mensonges constants de la commune d'Arcachon affirmant que la qualité de l'eau est très bonne, il faut éviter de surfer trop longtemps si on veut éviter les maux de gorge, les otites et les infections e. coli. Le plus triste dans tout ça, c'est que la commune d'Arcachon prône un écotourisme responsable parce que ça lui rapporte énormément d'argent, mais par-derrière pollue ouvertement et sans remords l'océan avec des conséquences dramatiques pour les surfeurs réguliers du coin. Bref, c'est à gerber.

Bodyboard spot. Unfortunately, you can't surf the North Salie anymore. The sandbar disappeared at low tide and the high tide gives only shorebreak. It is now necessary to go to the left of the Wharf to surf properly. It takes 40 minutes to walk since only the parking lot of the North Salie is open. Some are parked at the Wharf Forest Road, but it has been banned since the recent fires and there is a risk of getting a nice ticket. The biggest problem with this spot is water quality. The water is extremely polluted and over the years no effort has been made by the municipality of Arcachon to improve the quality of water. The Wharf discharges increasingly dirtier waters and only 400 m from the coast instead of the 4 km that were originally planned. I always get sick after a few days when I surf there. The water is often brown because of the detergents released, the odor is often nauseated and a film is regularly observed on the sand because of the high content of pollutants found in the water released by the Wharf. At low tide, the southern current transports these waters to Biscarosse where the pollution from Wharf is observable. At high tide, the pollution of the Wharf is transported to the Arguin bank thus contaminating the beaches of the North Salie, Lagune and Petit Nice. Despite the constant lies in the municipality of Arcachon that water quality is very good, we must avoid surfing too long if we want to avoid sore throats, otitis and e. coli infections. The saddest thing about this is that the commune of Arcachon advocates responsible ecotourism because it brings him a lot of money, but by back it openly and without remorse the ocean with dramatic consequences for regular surfers in the area. Anyway, it's to be stacked.”

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