Ondarreta Beach
At the western end of the bay, past the stone outcrop of Pico del Loro that separates it from La Concha, Ondarreta runs for 700 metres of pale sand backed by gardens and the 19th-century silhouette of Miramar Palace. It is wider than its famous neighbour, quieter in July and August, and ends at a clutch of rocks where Eduardo Chillida's steel sculptures reach into the Atlantic.
Blue-and-white striped cabanas line the sand in summer, volleyball nets go up, and a floating platform appears in the bay with slides and diving boards. Families tend to claim this beach over the others, and the promenade behind it connects, without interruption, to the city's two other beaches.
💛 What travellers fall for
Regulars tend to arrive early and walk the length of the promenade before settling near the gardens end, where the shade from the trees arrives sooner. The surf breaks on the western side — two fast left-handers — are worth watching even if you're not in the water. And most people walk to the rocks at the far end at least once.
Deals in Ondarreta Beach
Book directly at the provider
How Ondarreta Beach came to be
What is now a broad public beach was, through most of the 19th century, a rocky military training ground. The shift began in 1921, when the municipal government acquired the land. Construction of the beach and its gardens followed in 1926, directed by mayor Juan José Prado and municipal engineer Juan Machimbarrena.
The neighbourhood around it had already begun to change. Queen María Cristina had been summering in San Sebastián almost without interruption since 1893 — her residence, Miramar Palace, stands at the beach's edge — and the Brunet family, reading the social current correctly, had purchased land nearby to build villas for wealthy families who followed the royal court west.
Who and what shaped it
People who shaped it
Landmark buildings
Plan your visit
On the map
When to go
July and August are the months for swimming, with air temperatures around 23°C and water reaching 22°C; rainfall drops to its annual low in July. From October through March the beach is windswept and frequently wet, though mild enough for a walk — locals who surf here year-round do so in wetsuits from autumn onwards.
Right now
Background & history adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA) · specs from Wikidata (CC0) · weather from Open-Meteo · map data © OpenStreetMap contributors · photos from Wikimedia Commons / Unsplash with per-image credit. No third-party reviews or social posts reproduced.