Surfing in the Canary Islands in December

Conditions in December

Water temp. : 20 °C
Wetsuit : 3/2 mm fullsuit

December has the swell of November with a fortnight of Christmas on the end of it. The north-west groundswell keeps arriving with the period the reefs need, the alisios are months away, and the north shore works day after day.

The water has come down to 20°C, still a 3/2 and still warmer than mainland Europe by a long way, which is exactly why the islands fill up from about the twentieth. Before that the line-ups are reasonable. After it, El Cotillo and the Lanzarote reefs get the same crowd January will have. If you can choose your fortnight, take the first one.

Learning in December

The beach breaks are working every day and there is a school on every one of them. Book early: the second half of the month is the busiest fortnight of the winter.

Where a beginner goes in December

These spots are reachable all year. What the month changes is the size of the waves, not the access.

Playa de Famara
LanzaroteBeginner

For an experienced surfer

Surf : Excellent

Full season conditions. The only thing to plan around is the calendar, not the forecast.

How December compares

All twelve months, side by side

Where these figures come from

Air, rain and sunshine: WMO / NOAA 1991-2020 normals for Agadir Al Massira, a station some twenty kilometres inland and so a little warmer than the coast in summer. Swell, period and share of workable wind: Swell Archive and surf-forecast. Water temperature: seatemperature.org and weather-and-climate. Crowds and prices are an editorial judgement, not a measurement.