L'Estartit / Catalonia / Spain

Situated approximately 2 hours north of Barcelona, towards the French border lies the beach at L'Estartit. It is a popular place with surfers, wind surfers and kite surfers of intermediate and expert abilities. Beginners and novices are not advised to practice here because there is a harbor mole. Also the waves here are fairly large in comparison to other spots in the area, there are also strong undercurrents. L'Estartit does get fairly busy with tourists during the summer months, particularly June, July and August. Because of this, there may well be zone and time restrictions in place. So if you want to avoid the crowds, then come from October through to April. Having said this, the best times for surfing are from April to September when the winds become thermal.

L'Estartit boasts a large white sandy beach with lots of space. There is a harbor mole situated at the south end of the beach. To get here you need to head eastbound out of Torroela De Montgri heading towards L'Estartit. Drive to the south of the harbor and you can park right on the beach.

The main wind direction at this spot is easterly, or variations thereof. The best directions for surfing are north easterly, easterly, south easterly, southerly and south westerly. During the summer you get some pretty good thermal winds and during the winter they become frontal. If the wind is directly north or directly south it becomes sideshore. The water quality is clean and conditions are choppy with small, medium and even large waves of up to 4 meters in height. The water temperature remains somewhere between 10-16 degrees so you might want to suit up accordingly.

There is a campsite near by which offers accommodation. It also has a bar, eating places and even a small shop. If you require anything else then head towards Palafrugell which is the nearest town. If you want to let your hair down then you may want to try out Girona.

Watch out for the strong undercurrent when the wind is blowing. Keep an eye out for the harbor mole and especially keep an eye out for the large waves, they can take you unawares.