Gallery: The land of croissants, cheese and barrels
After being stuck on a small island in the middle of the English Channel during one of the worst summers' (for surf) in a decade, a great friend of mine had a window to chase waves in the Bay of Biscay.
I kept an eye on the charts for a couple of weeks, then the trigger was pulled. A great run of surf was lining up, not dropping below 3ft and topping out at 6-8ft with favourable winds for the entire period.
A late night ferry ride followed by a seven hour drive south put Joey Abbott on the famed stretch of sand that is Hossegor.
Many barrels, croissants and baguettes later, Joey sent through a handful of shots from an epic run of surf.
All images by Joey Abbott.
Comments
Fucking awesome. Bucket list #1
What a great place to surf and eat . Where are the crowds ?
Oh, they are there! Masses. Careful cropping ...
Spent 3 months there in late 90's - if it's offshore you know ur gonna get barrelled. Sooooo many setups, huge tides (and rips) keeps the crowds pretty thin...
Maddog _ where did you base yourself and what time of the year if I may ask ?
I was in a camper van - we were camped in a highway rest stop in a forest just north of Le Penon. Quick stroll thru the trees and out onto the beach which just happened to be nudist. I was there mid July to mid October with September/October the pick for waves.
Yep...spent a week or two there on a round the world trip. Just North of Hossegor - but same set up all up and down that coast. Bowly one day, barrels the next, breaking close to shore, has push and energy. Just about as fun as it gets.
Pumping! Love that part of France.
Great waves , food and views Maddog . A campervan sounds like a great option . Transport and accommodation in one .
Great photos!
Out of interest, anyone know why the waves at La Gravierre are so good? From my perspective, straight beach with no rocks/ rivers = closeouts. Maybe diffraction around offshore bathymetry (i.e. puerta escondido / nazare)??
While the Capbreton Canyon helps focus swells into the region, making in the magnet it is, and also with size and power, I'd say it's the huge tidal ranges that are the magic? Nothing concrete but just my thoughts.
With so much water rushing in and out across the banks, semi-stable rip bowls/channels become setup. When I was there a couple of years ago I didn't have it this hollow, but the banks I surfed were like reefs and that reliable on the right part of the tide. An amazing place to surf, but you need your paddle arms and markers on the beach to be on top of it all.
Here are a couple of recent satellite images from low tide showing the sand formations..
seems the best explanation, those sand banks do look great in the photos. Still, I wander why so few Euro banks form the same when they also have huge tides. Also from experience beachies formed by "traditional" inshore sandbanks (vs wedging constructive wave interface e.g. TOS) tend to close out at size...
Yeah good question. Is it the type of sand/sediment in that particular location?
interesting point. could be
I reckon the very deep drop off near shore plays a part in the intense rip formation which helps shape those banks.
Further north on the same coast they don't have the same steepness and the wave quality drops off majorly.
Portugal is a bit the same at the best places. Very deep water near shore.
Sure is a Supertubos. I have never surfed a beach like than. An Island not too far from here is the same.
Phil Grace who lived there half the year until got stuck here by COVID, reckons La Graviere means the gravel, which refers to the sand which is like rock and packs hard. The huge tides form the wedge style banks by creating rivulets in the sand on their way out, which at 3m is miles.
Thanks Memla, yeah all makes sense.
The other day while walking on an angled sand berm that ran into the ocean, with sets pushing high up it and then retreating rapidly, I noticed something which I've seen many times before but not given too much thought to besides photographing at times.
The path of least resistance for the water running back into the ocean wasn't just to flow straight back down like say water splashed on a glass window, but the flow made little criss-cross hatches and it flowed between these while retreating rapidly. Nature at its finest and most efficient.
And maybe not much variation in the swell angle?
As opposed to exposed east cost beachies which is give or take 180 degrees.
True, it can get into a better rhythm.
Reckon that, like most good things in nature, a combination of many factors makes them special, however an untouched and active foredune system would also play a part.
Yea - interesting isn't it. Surfed Supertub(os!) in portugal and same thing. You look at it and think...this place should be a straight close out - and the tide changes a little and suddenly these pits just appear everywhere.
People couldn't imagine how many pumping days it's been at La Graviere the last two years, totally unreal.
Bungan - Same with the beach breaks in Bali esp Kuta and Legian .
They are shite and nothing like France.
Great memories of France in mid 90's. Camping in forest in a van scoring great waves, baguettes and warm beer and trying to speak passable french to the local lasses. Is the island you are referring to Jersey? Spent a while there and although not the best most consistent surf, epic spot with unreal people. Formed life long friends...
Hope to get back to that part of the world one day!
Close. Their number one rival! Guernsey.
Classic!, never got over there or Sark, wish I did. Met some of the crew that came over to Jersey for boardriders comp. Pretty hard core well traveled crew and some great surfers.
Great part of the world....
Yeah, growing up learning to surf mostly over reef and in a very dynamic environment regarding those huge tides, they don't mind a heavy barrel. Also love their fishing! All legends.
+1 Andy.
Seems to breed men whose kahunas double in size when they strap a snowboard to their feet
Would love to backdoor a few of those wedges on a sleek 6'8" pintail
Wow! Would swell net call those waves hard tens or soft tens? Haha. I'll be working on my french for some day.
Amazing pics and great part of the world. Would love to get a van and spend a couple of months travelling the coast around there, Portugal and Spain.
My sis holiday's in that area annually.
Her loss that.. she don't surf.