Surfing in France in April

Conditions in April

Water temp. : 14 °C
Wetsuit : 4/3 mm, boots advised

April sits between two seasons. The North Atlantic still produces, but the swells arrive days apart instead of hours, and the calm stretches between them are what start rebuilding the coast. Small swell pushes sand into bars, big swell spreads it out again. Everything that makes September good begins here.

The wind is April's problem. Spring brings the most changeable air of the year to this coast, and a morning that starts offshore can be onshore by ten. Sessions get planned hour by hour rather than day by day.

The water is at 14°C and climbing slowly. A 4/3 still, but the boots can stay home.

Learning in April

For learning : Good

The first workable month. Small days on the Basque beaches with a school, and nothing in the Landes once it is over head high.

Where a beginner goes in April

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

For an experienced surfer

Surf : Good

A quiet month with real swells in it, and banks that are already worth the drive between two lows.

How April 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.