We all know that Northern Spain is home to some of the best food and wine in the World, but its not just the Pinchos and Rioja that bring us back twice a year, there’s a variety of waves to suit all styles and abilities of surfer and Spring and Autumn in Spain is the bomb.
We host our Surf and Yoga Camps in Loredo; a small, Spanish-speaking surf town that is home to a three mile long, peaky beachbreak Playa de Somo, terrifying World-famous big wave spot and a secluded wedge perfect for bodyboarders and aerial enthusasts. All of which are surrounded by either beautiful mountains, green landscapes, cliffs or the Big City; Santander.
Basically there’s a lot going on wave-wise, if you are coming on the annual October trip, here’s a run down of what to expect.
Playa De Somo
Somo is my favourite wave in the area as it’s sucky at low tide, long and wally at high tide and well known for its consistency. It reminds me a lot of my home break, Fistral in Newquay. It handles swell up to the way overhead range and as it’s such a long beach, there’s usually a quiet peak to surf to yourself.
Santa Marina
This is the nuts big wave spot mentioned earlier. A very powerful and rippy right hander that breaks on the western side of ‘the island’ that sticks out of mainland Loredo. It’s a very long paddle out to the wave and when you get there it’s a scary wave to surf as the wave wraps into the reef/ island, so you feel like you’re surfing towards rocks the whole time, but you can be rewarded by massive barreling waves that hold up to 12-15ft.
Langre
People say this is an average wave full of surf schools, but I would beg to differ, as would these photos.
Photos Lewis Pinder
Maybe we got lucky last year, but we surfed here four days in a row on a low to mid tide and surfed the fun wedges until the beach disappeared at high tide. It does need a bit of swell in the area to work, but we know Autumn pumps in Spain so fingers crossed we’ll score next month…
El Sardinio, Santander
Now this place is fun to surf. It’s a long beach and offers sucky beach break waves. It reminds me a lot like some of the beach breaks in Costa Rica believe it or not; breaking close to shore with power and nice short paddle-outs. It’s literally in the city centre, which does mean it can be crowded at weekends and after work, but it’s a big beach, has loads of parking and heaps of post surf restaurants and bars within strolling distance.
Photo Luke Gartside
Santander is a very local city with plenty of very stereotypically Tapas bars and little tourism, which means you get that real feel of Spain. It’s also only a 20 minute, €2 foot passenger ferry away from Loredo, meaning you get a nice little adventure, but close to home (surf lodge).
The October Surf & Yoga trip is one of our most popular surf camps and is filling up fast, so get your deposits in ASAP if you want to join in the fun.