Hossegor is one of the great surfing destinations not just of France but the whole of Europe. Soorts-Hossegor, to give this resort on the French Atlantic coast its full name, has been the home of the sport’s organising body in France the Fédération Française de Surf since 1977. Every year, in late September or early October, Hossegor also plays host to the Quicksilver Pro France world surfing competition.

Plage Nord – The most famous surfing beach at Hossegor

The most famous surfing beach at Hossegor is the Plage Nord or North Beach, which like most beaches along this stretch of coast is pretty vast. Here the Atlantic Ocean pounds in, creating some great surf for surfing enthusiasts. Part of this beach is a naturist area known as ‘Les Culs Nus’—literally naked bums—but this doesn’t seem to deter the surfers too much.

Plage Sud, the Plage Centrale, and the Plage de la Gravière

All have lifeguards in the peak months of July and August, with the Plage Nord having guards from mid-May to early September, while the Plage Sud is patrolled from early May to the start of October.

There is also excellent surfing at Capbreton just to the south of Hossegor and Seignosse immediately to the north.

Find the best spots to surf, by boat

Take a special surfing boat trip where the skipper locates the best spot for you to surf the waves.

Gouf de Capbreton – the underwater canyon

The great surfing conditions at Hossegor and neighbouring Capbreton and Seignosse are partly due to a large underwater canyon that is around 150 km long and in places more than 3,500 metres deep. This remarkable canyon affects the ocean’s swell, and helps produce the waves that makes Hossegor so popular with surfers all year.

Sheltered family-friendly beaches

But Hossegor’s beach life is not restricted to the ocean. When there’s a bit of wind and swell the Atlantic can be a bit daunting for some and isn’t always ideal for youngsters. This problems is solved by the presence of Lac d’Hossegor, an inland lake just a short distance behind the seafront. It’s a tidal lake entirely supplied by the sea via a manmade channel so it does get low at low water. But it has all the advantages of the Hossegor seaside without the risk of dangerous waves and is a very popular area.

The four beaches on this lake—which is more than 2km long and 300m wide in places—are the Plage du Parc, the Plage du Rey, the Plage des Chênes-Lièges and the Plage Blanche. There are lots of trees near the water’s edge and a very pleasant 6km footpath. In all Hossegor has around 7 km of beaches.

To learn more about Hossegor, click here. 

Photo by Angel Escartin Casas / CC BY 2.0 image cropped