Where to surf in September

September puts four coasts at their peak, and three of them run down the same Atlantic front. Portugal gets there through a combination that does not repeat: the nortada dies, the autumn swells return and the water is at its 18° ceiling. France gets there because the first autumn lows land on sandbanks August has just rebuilt. Ireland gets there on 15° water, the warmest it sees all year, with the swell coming back on top of it. Senegal is three thousand kilometres further south, at 29°. Ten other countries are in good season, northern Spain among them with its window just reopened, which makes September the most generous month of the year.

Sorted by the coasts at their peak in September, then by verdict.

Country	September on that coast	Water	Peak season
France	Excellent	21°	Peak
Ireland	Excellent	15°	Peak
Portugal	Excellent	18°	Peak
Senegal	Excellent	29°	Peak
Colombia	Very good	28°	–
Costa Rica	Very good	29°	–
Iceland	Very good	11°	–
Mexico	Very good	–	–
Mozambique	Very good	24°	–
Nicaragua	Very good	29°	–
South Africa	Very good	17°	–
Spain	Very good	21°	–
Sri Lanka	Very good	28°	–
Wales	Very good	17°	–
Canary Islands	Good	23°	–
Morocco	Good	21°	–
Panama	Good	–	–

Verdicts are read from published surf guides and signed by us. Temperatures are monthly means published for one named break per country, not an average of a coastline. Swell height is left out on purpose: no source publishes it month by month for all of these coasts, and a figure measured one way here and modelled another way there would not compare.

Where to surf in September

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