Surfing in the Canary Islands in March

Conditions in March

Water temp. : 18 °C
Wetsuit : 3/2 mm, 4/3 mm for long sessions

March closes the run that started in October. The north-west groundswell is still arriving with the period the reefs need, and the trade winds have not begun, so the pattern of the winter holds for four more weeks.

The water is at 18°C, tied with February for the coldest of the year, and the air has started to move ahead of it. What changes towards the end of the month is consistency rather than size: the Atlantic lows begin tracking further north, and the gaps between swells get longer. That is the shape of April arriving early, and it is the reason March is the last month you can book without watching a forecast first.

Learning in March

Good conditions and few people, which is a rarer combination here than good conditions alone. The sand between Corralejo and El Cotillo is still the answer.

Where a beginner goes in March

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 : Very good

The end of the season, and it ends well. After March you are choosing between swell and wind rather than getting both.

How March 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.