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Zarautz surf guide

Basque beach town with consistent peaks along 2.5 km of sand, a surf school on every corner and Getaria's txakoli vineyards next door.

Location
Basque Country, Spain (43.2845, -2.1700)
Best season
Sep – Apr: September, October, November, December, January, February, March, April
Water temperature
12–22°C (shorty or rash vest (warmest) to 5/4 mm + boots (coldest))
Waves
Beach break
Suits
Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced surfers

Live surf cams in Zarautz

Surf spots in Zarautz

Where to stay in Zarautz

204 places to stay within 10 km: 61 hotel, 43 holiday rental, 37 guest house, 21 hostel, 14 chalet, 7 camp site, 7 bed and breakfast, 5 surf camp, 3 apartment, 3 caravan site, 3 villa. Compare them by distance to the nearest surf spot on the interactive map.

Surf camps: NorthShore Surfcamp Zarautz, Zarautz Surf House, Zarautz Surf Village, Stoke Travel San Sebastian Surf Camp, San Sebastian Surf Camp: Spain's Best Surf House & Hostel.

Hostels: Lagunak, Kein Hostel Zarautz, Blai Blai Hostel, Galerna Zarautz Hostel, Txiki Polit, Igerain.

Cafés, food and surf shops

36 cafés and bakeries, 302 restaurants and bars, 6 surf schools and 6 surf shops nearby. Surf schools: Surfblend, Moor Surf Eskola, Essus Surf Eskola, Shelter Surf, Illusions Surfboards, Flysch Surf.

Frequently asked questions

When is the best time to surf in Zarautz?

The best surf season in Zarautz is Sep – Apr (September, October, November, December, January, February, March, April). The sea ranges from 12°C to 22°C over the year.

Which months have the most good surf days in Zarautz?

Measured over the last three years (2023-11-01 to 2026-10-31), the waves at Zarautz's best spot were good or better most often in February (81% of days, 46% great), December (75% of days, 45% great) and January (69% of days, 35% great), and least often in July (13%). From each day's swell and wind (Open-Meteo), rated like Swell Cabin's forecast.

Do I need a wetsuit in Zarautz?

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

Is Zarautz good for beginner surfers?

Yes. Zarautz suits beginner, intermediate and advanced surfers; spots that work for beginners or all levels include Zarautz.

What are the surf spots in Zarautz?

Zarautz has 2 surf spots on Swell Cabin: Zarautz (Beach break, lefts and rights, all levels, faces NNW (offshore wind from the SSE), best at mid to high tide); Orrua (Reef break, lefts and rights, advanced surfers, faces NW (offshore wind from the SE), best at low to mid tide).

Where should surfers stay in Zarautz?

Swell Cabin lists 204 places to stay within 10 km of Zarautz, including 5 surf camps such as NorthShore Surfcamp Zarautz, Zarautz Surf House, Zarautz Surf Village and Stoke Travel San Sebastian Surf Camp, 21 hostels, 37 guesthouses and homestays, 46 rentals and villas. Each one shows its distance to the nearest surf spot.

What is the surf forecast for Zarautz this week?

Swell Cabin shows a live 7-day surf forecast for Zarautz and each of its 2 surf spots on https://swellcabin.com/town/zarautz: 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).

When is the best tide to surf in Zarautz?

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 Zarautz 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 Saint Jean-de-Luz Socoa tide gauge (41 km away).

How accurate is the surf forecast for Zarautz?

Swell Cabin checks it against the Pasaia station (21 km away, E.U. Copernicus Marine Service): over 264 hours from 2026-10-23 to 2026-11-05 the forecast wave height was within 20% of the buoy 86% of the time after correcting the wave model, which ran 22% low there (36% before). Last checked 2026-11-05.

Is the Zarautz surf forecast checked against measurements?

Yes. The open water off Zarautz is checked against the satellite altimeters (Copernicus Marine's near-real-time wave heights): 43 satellite passes within 100 km since 2026-09-23, typically 43 km out, put the forecast wave height within 20% of the measurement 53% of the time. 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 2026-11-05.

How reliable is Swell Cabin's information about Zarautz?

Trust in this page's data is low (52/100): 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; 1 open audit warning. 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).

Is there a live surf cam in Zarautz?

Yes: Zarautz on Gipuzkoa Provincial Council (free). Swell Cabin checks these cams regularly.

Where can I take surf lessons in Zarautz?

Surf schools in and around Zarautz include Surfblend, Moor Surf Eskola, Essus Surf Eskola, Shelter Surf, Illusions Surfboards and Flysch Surf.

Nearby surf towns

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