Question 1

When is the best time to surf in Guéthary?

Accepted Answer

The best surf season in Guéthary is Oct – Mar (October, November, December, January, February, March). The sea ranges from 12°C to 22°C over the year.

Question 2

Which months have the most good surf days in Guéthary?

Accepted Answer

Measured over the last three years (2023-11-01 to 2026-10-31), the waves at Guéthary's best spot were good or better most often in December (72% of days, 46% great), February (64% of days, 44% great) and March (68% of days, 27% great), and least often in July (10%). From each day's swell and wind (Open-Meteo), rated like Swell Cabin's forecast.

Question 3

Do I need a wetsuit in Guéthary?

Accepted Answer

Water temperature in Guéthary is 12–22°C: shorty or rash vest (warmest) to 5/4 mm + boots (coldest).

Question 4

Is Guéthary good for beginner surfers?

Accepted Answer

Guéthary is better for intermediate and advanced surfers.

Question 5

What are the surf spots in Guéthary?

Accepted Answer

Guéthary has 2 surf spots on Swell Cabin: Guethary (Reef break, lefts and rights, advanced surfers, faces NW (offshore wind from the SE), best at high tide); Lafitenia (Reef break, right-hander, advanced surfers, faces WNW (offshore wind from the ESE), best at low to mid tide).

Question 6

Where should surfers stay in Guéthary?

Accepted Answer

Swell Cabin lists 578 places to stay within 10 km of Guéthary, including 7 surf camps such as Hegoa Surf Camp, Joyu Surf Shack, Lagoondy Surf Camp and Biarritz Surf Lodge, 11 hostels, 49 guesthouses and homestays, 135 rentals and villas. Each one shows its distance to the nearest surf spot.

Question 7

What is the nightlife like in Guéthary?

Accepted Answer

Guéthary is a small, chic Basque village: evenings are sunsets and aperitifs at the beach and harbour bars and restaurants, with a busy village events calendar in summer only. In autumn and winter it is quiet; Biarritz is 10 minutes away for bars and concerts.

Question 8

What is the surf forecast for Guéthary this week?

Accepted Answer

Swell Cabin shows a live 7-day surf forecast for Guéthary and each of its 2 surf spots on https://swellcabin.com/town/guethary: each spot rated hour by hour (Flat, Poor, Fair, Good, Great or Epic) from the way its coast faces, the swell, its period, the wind and the tide, with the best time each day and why, the size in surfers' words (e.g. "chest to head high, clean"), tides, and how sure the forecast is (three wave models compared). It is checked live against the nearest buoy and airport wind reports where there are any, and refreshed every few hours (waves from Open-Meteo, wind from MET Norway).

Question 9

When is the best tide to surf in Guéthary?

Accepted Answer

It depends on the spot: shallow reefs usually want mid to high tide, most beach breaks work best around mid tide. Swell Cabin's forecast for Guéthary weighs each spot's tide hour by hour and shows the best window each day with the high and low tide times, predicted from the Ciboure tide gauge (6 km away).

Question 10

How accurate is the surf forecast for Guéthary?

Accepted Answer

Swell Cabin checks it against the Saint-Jean-de-Luz buoy (6 km away, E.U. Copernicus Marine Service): over 303 hours from 2026-10-24 to 2026-11-05 the forecast wave height was within 20% of the buoy 83% of the time. Last checked 2026-11-05.

Question 11

Is the Guéthary surf forecast checked against measurements?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The open water off Guéthary is checked against the satellite altimeters (Copernicus Marine's near-real-time wave heights): 36 satellite passes within 100 km since 2026-09-23, typically 38 km out, put the forecast wave height within 20% of the measurement 83% of the time after correcting the wave model, which ran 13% low out there (67% before). Of the three wave models compared, ECMWF has been the closest to the satellites here. Nearer the coast, the buoy above decides the correction. Generated using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information (https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00179). Last checked 2026-11-03.

Question 12

How reliable is Swell Cabin's information about Guéthary?

Accepted Answer

Trust in this page's data is medium (55/100): the town has not been verified against sources in the last 12 months; 0 of 2 spots fully verified, 2 with a researched tide; season and water temperature checked against measured data; no open audit warnings. How we check: https://github.com/danielgalam/swellcabin/blob/main/docs/data-accuracy.md Last checked against sources on 2026-11-05. Every value comes from measured data (Open-Meteo, buoys), open databases (OpenStreetMap, Wikidata) or a published page we opened, never from visitor reports; a daily audit compares them and a weekly evaluation measures the error rate (https://github.com/danielgalam/swellcabin/blob/main/docs/data-quality.md).

Question 13

Is there a live surf cam in Guéthary?

Accepted Answer

Yes: Parlementia (Guethary) on GoSurf (free). Swell Cabin checks these cams regularly.

Question 14

Where can I take surf lessons in Guéthary?

Accepted Answer

Surf schools in and around Guéthary include Guéthary Surfboards, Cours de Surf Bidart - Aquality School, Ecole de surf H2O, Taiba Surf Club, Benb Surf School and Bidart Surf.

Guéthary surf guide

Live surf cams in Guéthary

Surf spots in Guéthary

What's on in Guéthary

Where to stay in Guéthary

Cafés, food and surf shops

Frequently asked questions