Surfing Towns in France?

[Flutistic]

My husband and I are retiring and thinking seriously of France or possibly Spain. We currently live in New York City.

We want to leave the USA to find a less expensive lifestyle and to immerse ourselves in a new culture and language. We are in the early stages of research and plan research visits in January.

However my husband is a surfer, so we want to live near surfing.

It looks like it is less expensive to live near surf in France than to live near surf in Spain. San Sebastian, Spain is said to be the most expensive real estate in all of Spain, whereas the west coast of France seems to have lower real estate prices.

Also, French surf seems to be more reliable, with more surfing days, than the surf in Spain.

Questions: What are the most popular surf towns in France? And is it possible to live walking or biking distance to a surf beach in France?

Thanks to everyone, --Karla.

[jamesOK]

San Sebastian is a great city but the surfing beach (Zurriola) is the only one in the city itself. So it can get very busy there especially during the summer months.

There are surfing towns all along the Atlantic coast of France. From Hendaye in the far south all the way up to Brittany in the north. You can even surf in the Mediterranean but it isn't very consistent.

Between Hendaye and Biarritz the coastline is quite varied. You can surf beach breaks, point breaks, reefs etc. And you are also close enough to Spain to experience its cultural influence on the area. As you go north from Biarritz until Soulac it is almost one constant beach. When the surf conditions are right then you can't go wrong as there is plenty of space for everyone to surf their own little peak. If the conditions are bad then there is no escape unless you go south to Biarritz.
Then if you go further north towards Brittany you get more variation in the types of break but you also get a deterioration in the weather.

Find some more info about the different breaks here: France Surf Report and Surf Forecast.

I do a daily eyeball surf report in Biarritz, you can see the pictures here: Biarritz Airport Transfers & Taxi

[GALLUS]

Paris, Amiens, Strasbourg, Annecy and Toulouse.

Jokes apart, JamesOK and internet are your answer.

[jacquest]

Lacanau, more specifically Lacanau-Plage, Gironde (33).

cheers,
jacques.

[Dee J]

Hi Karla
Like you ,myself and partner are thinking of retiring also to France . We went a couple of yrs ago to the Medoc ..... Oh my God what a beautiful place this area is .We saw Surfing all along this coastline with lovely beaches and log cabins in forests , we fell in love with this area and would highly reccomend a look for you to check it out . Good look with your venture ,would love to know how you get on

Dee

[James Higginson]

Reasonably priced areas along the southern Atlantic coast are north of Hossegor/Capbreton, some fabulous surfing to be had there, we live near Dax, don't hesitate to ask if you want to know about the region.

James