Surfing in Spain in April

Conditions in April

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

April is between the two Spains. The north Atlantic still produces the occasional serious swell and the coast still takes it, but the pattern has gone: what arrives comes without warning and leaves the same way, and nothing about the month can be planned around.

That makes it the month for a trip that is not only about surfing. The hills behind the coast are green for six weeks, San Sebastián is open and not full, and the drive from Bilbao takes an hour on empty roads. If the forecast delivers, the whole coast is yours; if it does not, this is a good place to be anyway.

The water is at 14°C, which is where a 4/3 stops being uncomfortable and a session stops being a test of endurance.

Learning in April

For learning : Good

The first month a lesson makes sense. Zarautz on the small days, with a school, and a suit you will still be glad of.

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.

Zarautz
ZarautzBeginner

For an experienced surfer

Surf : Good

A gamble with a good consolation. Two or three real swells in the month, and nobody at any of them.

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.