Surfing Messanges & Moliets

Beach Break · Best Year-round · 2-6 ft · Crowd 2/5

W-NW swell, E wind, all tides

Messanges has two surf beaches, the Plage Sud and the Plage Nord, both with big campsites behind the dune.

In summer the campsites fill up and so does the water. In winter it's calm, and you can have a peak to yourself. The peaks come and go with the sandbanks, and they don't handle a big swell or a west wind. There's a large car park behind the dune. Use the marked paths to cross it.

It suits beginners and improvers in summer, when the waves are usually small, and more experienced surfers in autumn on a clean swell. Surf schools run lessons from the campsites, and Vieux-Boucau, a few minutes south, has the shops and restaurants.

Beach Break · Best Sep-Apr · 2-6 ft · Crowd 2/5

W-NW swell, E wind

Les Chênes-Lièges is the beach behind the Moliets golf course, reached by a marked path through the cork oaks and over the dune.

Some days it has very good waves, and the locals would rather keep that quiet. Keep to the path so you don't damage the dune, and give the regulars some space. It's a beach break like the rest of this coast, so the quality depends on where the sand has settled.

It's at its best on a clean autumn swell with an east wind. There's a car park by the golf course and nothing on the beach itself, so bring what you need. Moliets Plage Centrale, just south, has cafés and lifeguards in summer.

Beach Break · Best Year-round · 2-6 ft · Crowd 3/5

W swell, E wind

Moliets Plage Centrale is the main beach in Moliets, next to the mouth of the Courant d'Huchet, a small river that runs out of the forest.

The river moves the sandbanks around, so the best peak changes from week to week. Beginners and surf schools stay on the central beach. It's very exposed to west swell, and without an east wind it quickly gets messy. The surf shops and cafés are a short walk from the sand.

Summer is busy, with lifeguards, lessons and families. The Courant d'Huchet, the river behind the beach, is a nature reserve with boat trips and walking paths, a good plan on a flat day. Messanges is a few minutes south for more peaks.