The forecast has dropped off. Nothing to get pumped about.
About Guethary
If the southwest coast of France has become an escapist cliche for older surfers wanting out of California and Australia, Guethary is its mecca. There's a good chance you may spot Aussie surf-scribe Phil Jarrat sipping on
vin rouge in the ultra-hip Heteroclita right above the break or Jeff Hakman out on 8-foot gun on a triple overhead midwinter's day. Guethary is the kind of place where if you wanted to write a novel, you could rent a quaint apartment overlooking the break for the winter, stock up on wine, get a solid wetsuit and serious gun, and do some intense introspection.
The wave itself is quite deceiving. From the park benches at the west end of town, you look out at what seems to be a clean and mushy right-hand peak breaking into a clearly marked channel, as if Sunset Beach moved to San Onofre. But reality kicks in mid-paddle as you start to realize it's
out there. The outside peak is easily a few hundreds yards from the rocky shoreline and it shifts around, turning those peaks that seemed so easy and makable from the cliff top into roguish A-frames stalking around the lineup just waiting to catch you inside. And if you try to go left on a big day, be prepared to inhale a whole bunch of Atlantic Ocean. Make no mistake; Guethary is the closest thing to open-ocean Hawaiian power you'll get in France.
Guethary is no disco flyaway closeout -- it's all about long, drawn-out bottom turns and swooping cutbacks and carves. Like Sunset, it's more of a thinking-man's wave, and the lineup tends to reflect that level of saltwatery sophistication, with the median maturity level on the big days leaning closer to half a century than half a brain.
But you're not composing poetry out there. After the initial big bottom turn/cutback, the wave'll either back off again, allowing another carving combo, or begin to wall up across the bay and demand some serious high speed lines toward the inside section. When it connects properly, you'll be using more of your rail in one wave than you would in an entire session at Hossegor.
