FOSSE de CAPBRETON

Write up: GRIND TV:Location: In the crook of the Bay of Biscay, about 40 miles north of the Spanish-French border, the town of Hossegor is the Les Landes region of France. However, this is the Basque area, a cultural region that takes in both Spain and France on either side of the Pyrenees Mountains.

The history: For a millennium the River Adour flowed from the Pyrenees and entered into the ocean at Capbreton, just to the south of Hossegor. This created a swell-funneling deepwater canyon offshore known as the “Fosse de Capbreton.” In the 1500s, however, the river was diverted to Bayonne, but the canyon remained. This means the powerful Atlantic swells travel over deep water, losing no power before unleashing perfectly on the stable sandbanks, often only meters from the beach.

The optimal conditions: A clean, 12-second period, six- to eight-foot northwest swell is being met by the light all day offshores that happen in the autumn months. A crisp, cool morning gives way to a bright, sunny, and warm bluebird day. The low tide brings huge perfect peaks that break on the outside banks, while the high tide allows the famous shorebreak tubes to A-Frame up and down the mile stretch of sand. A day of incredible waves is finished with dinner (duck being the local specialty), washed down with a Bordeaux red as the sun sets into the Atlantic Ocean.

Photos: Pau, France and Paris, September 24,2014. 

Other waves: Thirty miles to the south lies the big-wave reefs of Guethary, Avalanche, and Lafatenia, while the Spanish coast is riddled with beaches, coves, reefs, and pointbreaks. Mundaka, the famous lefthand rivermouth, is a two-hour drive away.

What Ace says: Adrian “Ace” Buchan defeated Kelly Slater to win the 2008 Quiksilver Pro and has been coming to Hossegor for over a decade. “It is my favorite place on tour. I love the food, the culture, and the waves up in the forest,” he told GrindTV. “The surfing is amazing, but it’s more than that—this part of France creates incredible memories. I know I’ll be coming here long after my career is over.”