hola a tod@s, i'm going to be back in madrid for about two weeks. during this time i'd like to go up north to go surfing for a few days [anywhere from the week of the 11th oct, or the following weekend(still not sure)] and wanted to see if anyone was interested. i've heard good things about santander, and figure it'd be a good bet since i don't have a car and will be renting a board. oh, and don't worry if you're a beginner; i've only been surfing for a year so i just want to go to up for a good time. if anyone's interested send me a message. saludos
kev
Posts: 6 | Location: Boston, Mass | Registered: 28 November 2001
Kev, we drove the north coast in 1999, and I saw several promising breaks not far from Santander... complete with surfers enjoying them.. I'll look at a map tonight to see if I can recall any place names...meanwhile I suggest you do some web surfing to find out more....I am sure someone has written about these places.
From what I recall, you'd definitely need a car to get to those locations, so hopefully you can hook up with someone with wheels...
Good luck!
Paul
"An honest man is always a child" - Socrates ...no wonder I'm so immature!
Traveled along the coast of Asturias and Cantabria about 2 years ago. There were lots of surfable waves, but the best were at Playa de la Vega (Asturias) and Playa de los Locos (Cantabria). I didn't get the chance to ride any waves cause I didn't have a board or wetsuit. But we saw lots of people shredding.
hey guys, thanks for the tips. that website was really helpful, it also said that in october the waves in alicante of all places can get to be around 3meters on good days. sun and surf? i need to look into that.
kev
Posts: 6 | Location: Boston, Mass | Registered: 28 November 2001
hey hapa, i'd be interested in going. i've never surfed in my life, but i go snowboarding a few times a year. i have classes on the weekdays, but if you're going on a weekend let me know.
p.s. where in boston are u from? i spend this summer with my brother in somerville.
Posts: 25 | Location: San Francisco, USA | Registered: 23 August 2004
I've never surfed, but some things in this thread amaze me: the water in Santander or Asturias will probably be quite cold; on the other hand, in Alicante it will be probably warm, and most days sunny, but 3 m waves there? Maybe in the middle of a storm... As far as I know, the places for surfing in the Iberian Peninsula are Tarifa (down in the South, near Cadiz) and, in Portugal, close to Lisbon, the Praia de Guincho. Another good place in Southern France is Biarritz (better waves, but as cold as Santander). I hope I am not misleading you, since, as I said, I know nothing about surfing, but I just wanted to avoid you an unfruitful trip anywhere (this is especially true for Alicante - once again, I've never heard that it is a surfing place, but I might be wrong...).
Posts: 399 | Location: Madrid | Registered: 05 July 2001
kec, i put in a few summers in high school surfing but did not get very good.
Max, as for the low temp. of the water, it does not really matter (up to a certain point) since surfers use wetsuits of various types to keep warm(ish).
there exist full wetsuites and even gloves and booties for those extreme temps.
max, yeah i was surprised to hear about alicante too, because i never thought of the med coast as having big surf, but thats what someone said on one of the web sites so i will just have to keep web surfing to verify that. and up north, i'm sure that wherever you rent boards you can rent wetsuits (i'm bringing mine), and i checked out some pics of a contest going on in mundaka(sp?)in pais vasco and they were just wearing shorty wetsuits so it shouldn't be so bad. anyone who's interested can send me a private message so we can work out exact dates, and as it gets more concrete we can post it here for last minute people. cmunkee, i arrive in madrid tomorrow so i need to check some dates first before i know which days, so estamos en contacto. jer, from your post it sounded like you were kind of intersted. a little arm twisting maybe to get you to go??? ok, i need to go catch a plane. hasta pronto.
kev
Posts: 6 | Location: Boston, Mass | Registered: 28 November 2001
The main surfing beach just outside Bilbao is Playa de las arenas. Good beach, some surfing schools there, rentals, cafes etc. Good breaks and easily accessible from the city centre (i.e. regular bus route).
I was there a couple of weeks ago and heartily recommend it, although the water was cold! (Puts me off surfing and boogie boarding after 45mins... )
thanks mark, thats good to know. the regular bus route makes it a plus. i�m not to worried about the water though, i learned by winter surfing in new england. that can be pretty cold.
kev
Posts: 6 | Location: Boston, Mass | Registered: 28 November 2001
just got back from up north. only advice i have that isn�t posted so far is that if you go to mundaka make sure you have lodging booked in bilbao. its expensive in mundaka!
kev
Posts: 6 | Location: Boston, Mass | Registered: 28 November 2001
- rent or buy a cell phone from me for your stay in spain, more info at 
- already have a cell phone, get a spanish SIM card for it at 
)
