Surfing Cap Ferret & Le Verdon

Beach Break · Best Year-round · 1-6 ft · Crowd 3/5

Clean groundswell

Cap Ferret is the long peninsula between the Bassin d'Arcachon and the Atlantic. Its ocean beaches are open beach breaks that pick up consistent swell, with plenty of room to spread out.

The village on the bay side is known for oyster shacks and holiday houses, and for being one of the more expensive places on this coast. Best on a clean groundswell.

It works best on a clean groundswell with an easterly wind, usually in autumn. The ocean beaches are a walk or a bike ride from the village through the pines, and in summer some have lifeguards. The tip of the peninsula has strong currents, so don't surf near the channel into the bay.

Beach Break · Best Year-round · 2-6 ft · Crowd 2/5

Clean groundswell

Le Verdon is at the northern tip of the Médoc peninsula, where the Gironde estuary meets the Atlantic. It's a beach break with punchy peaks over sand, and the currents and sandbars at the mouth of the estuary give it a slightly different shape from the open beaches further south.

It's quieter than Lacanau or Le Porge and best on a clean groundswell. The ferries to Royan leave from the harbour nearby.

Autumn and spring usually bring the best mix of swell and wind. The beaches here are wild, with few facilities, and Soulac-sur-Mer, a few minutes south, is the nearest town with shops and places to stay.

Beach Break · Best Year-round · 1-5 ft · Crowd 2/5

Small-mod swell, all tides

Montalivet is a long beach on the Gironde coast, north of Lacanau, also known for its large naturist centre. The beach break works across a wide range of swell sizes and suits beginners and improvers.

It picks up the same groundswell as Lacanau and Le Porge with fewer surfers. Walk away from the main beach access in summer to find quieter peaks. Small to medium swells are friendliest.

In summer there are lifeguards and surf schools at the main beach. Autumn brings better swell and an empty beach. The town has campsites, holiday rentals and a few restaurants, and Lacanau is about forty minutes south.

Tidal Bore · Best Year-round (tide-dependent) · 1-4 ft · Crowd 2/5

Tide-driven, not swell-driven

Le Mascaret is a tidal bore, not a swell wave: on the biggest spring tides, the incoming tide pushes a wave up the Dordogne and Garonne rivers, upstream of the Gironde estuary, against the current. The best-known places to ride it are around Saint-Pardon on the Dordogne and Podensac and Cadillac on the Garonne.

You can ride it for a long time, sometimes several kilometres, but there's only one wave per tide, so timing is everything. Check the tide tables, a coefficient above about 90 is usually needed, and get in the water before it arrives. Most people use a longboard.