Surfing

In 1957, the surfing world first discovered the waves of Biarritz on the southwest coast of France. In the 50 years that followed, surfing became such a part of the local culture that the words surfing and Biarritz are now almost synonymous.

The surf school

As long as there has been surfing in France, there has been a Reinhardt on the scene. Bruno senior was one of the founding fathers of the surf school in the late 1950's as the sport spread from Australia and America to Biarritz. Following his father's lead, Christophe could hardly fail to follow suit. He took the sport to his heart and was to become the French National Champion and with his fun-loving personality travelled the world's top surf breaks to become a truly legendary figure. The national champion Christophe became known as the leading big wave rider of France.

The Reinhardt family is a true family of surfing, and the next generation is snapping at Christophe's heels. Read about the surf school here.

Season

Summer is a popular time, but also the most crowded and inconsistent. The end of the summer, beginning of autumn is the best time to go, the water and air temperature are still good, waves are good and most of the crowds have gone home. You will needs board shorts/shorty in summer, a 4/3 for spring and autumn, and a 5/4 wetsuit with cap and gloves in wintertime.

Beaches

Lacanau Ocean: Host of the annual ASP contest. It is a beach break, which can be good, depending on the shape of the sandbanks.
Biscarosse Plage: A nice little village, with some descent waves here, less crowded than Lacanau.
Mimizan Plage: Nice little village. If there is a real terrible smell in the morning, go surfing offshore. From Mimizan until Hossegor there are several good remote beaches which get good surf without the crowds, but the access is difficult.
Vieux-Boucau: Same waves as in Hossegor, but less people in the water. Nothing to do in the evening.
Hossegor/Capbreton/Seignosse: One of the best beach breaks in the world, especially La Graviere has very fast tubes. But at high tide the Shore break is a true board snapper! The ASP contest is held at Les Estagnots. Lots of people in the water in summer. Nightlife is excellent at the Rockfood, in September you can meet the pros there.
Anglet: Anglet has some very good beaches for surfing, but not in summertime. 
Biarritz: This is a very nice town to visit. It is also very crowded in the summer, and the 'Grande Plage' is not that 'Grande' so it gets very crowded. On the beaches of Biarritz are a lot of long-boarders because the waves are normally not breaking that fast here.
Bidart: Good waves here, less crowded than Biarritz. It doesn't have a very nice beach.
Guethary: Guethary has a very nice little harbor, and was home to the 1996 long-boarding world championships. The waves can be perfect here, because it can hold swells up to 4 meters. But it breaks over rocks so beware!
Les Alcyons: Same as Guethary , but this one is a left and it is very powerful.
St Jean de Luz: It can have some good waves, and it is a nice place to visit.
Hendaye: Hendaye needs a big swell to break. This is the last place before the Spanish border.

Check out the waves in Biarritz here and read more about surfing in Biarritz here or here.