Cruising the Atlantic Coast of Europe in September and October - not a bad place to be...
For any surfer residing in Europe, September and October are what it’s all about. Angry depressions and hurricanes over on the west side of the Atlantic Ocean begin to develop, and start to maraud their way up towards the East Coast of the US. They can start generating south westerly swells pretty early on – lighting up Morocco (ok, not technically Europe but very much on the European surf trail), and some of those south facing breaks in Spain (and give those Tarifan wave sailors and kiters something to get excited about) – before marching on up the coast and, generally, swinging into the more central Atlantic Ocean and developing. In your perfect scenario they’ll stall here for a few days, getting angrier and angrier, and firing off increasingly sized swell into the Bay of Biscay, from where they choose their spot and some of the best surf breaks on the planet begin to turn on: Coxos, Mundaka, Hossegor, and countless other gems on the many coasts facing this part of the Atlantic Ocean. Having satisfied most European surfers, the low may then track neatly along the top of the UK and use its final breaths to fire some quality swell down onto the legendary reefs of Scotland’s east coast. And then everyone’s back to the weather chart and hoping that it’ll be groundhog day and another innocuous looking low will be developing somewhere near Central America...
Unfortunately not all years go this way and the lore of the ‘September Swells’ can prove to be a frustrating reminder as yet another low pressure parks itself over southern Europe and gives plenty of wind, and swell, but always at the same time, and you’re watching a raggedy mess and digging out your waterproof jacket rather than your 6’6” rounded-pintail.
This year, however, has proved to be one of those classics – it’s been a busy hurricane season (the first one beginning to show some promise, as if it had checked the calendar, on the 2nd September). And that one has been followed by another, and another, and another. There’s a brief respite right now but guess what: more swell is likely by the middle of next week – and it’s looking epic... again.
I’ve spent the last few weeks travelling east along the north coast of Spain from Santander, and then down into north of Portugal. Lucky timing on my part. It’s been a great trip – perfect weather and perfect waves and, while the famed spots are a little further east than where we’ve been, so are the crowds and so, whereas you can expect well over 100 guys in at Mundaka when it’s on (and with modern forecasting everyone knows when it’s on), there are many other spots where you’ll only find a handful of guys out. Here’s a few pictures of some of the spots that we’ve come across, I won’t name them because, well, they’re easy enough to find and maybe next September you should hop in a van, check the charts and choose your spot. I’ll see you there!
AJWaveriding
If I may ask, on average how much money do you spend traveling like that?
Hi there B52,
It can work out pretty cheap depending on when you stay in campsites - we've got a 12-week old baby so stayed in more than we usually would - normally we'd spend around one night in four in a site and the rest of the time freecamping. They're about 20 Euros in Spain at this time of year, and around 10 in Portugal... Then it's just the cost of food and fuel and wine (all pretty cheap around there)! You can easily get by on under 100 Euros a week if you're not staying on campsites too often...
Cheers.