Côte des Basques at Low Tide
Walk five minutes south of the town centre and the tourist crowds thin dramatically: the Côte des Basques is a long, wild beach backed by crumbling ochre cliffs where, at low tide, an extraordinary shelf of flat volcanic rock is exposed, creating natural pools teeming with sea anemones, small fish and crabs. This is the beach where Peter Viertel first surfed in Europe in 1957, and it retains an un
Tide pools and rock shelves
At low tide the exposed reef stretches 200 metres into the Atlantic and the rock pools are among the richest on the Basque coast — bring waterproof sandals and a sense of curiosity. Children are mesmerised for hours.
The cliff path running above the beach offers a series of benches with elevated views of the break; on days with a solid northwest swell, watching surfers navigate the reef from up here is genuinely spectacular.
Surf culture birthplace
A small plaque near the beach access stairs commemorates Peter Viertel, the Hollywood screenwriter who rode the first surfboard in Europe here in 1957 after watching the waves from the cliff while filming 'The Sun Also Rises' in Biarritz. The Basque surf scene grew directly from that moment.
The beach has no commercial infrastructure — no parasol rentals, no beach bars — which is precisely its appeal. Bring a picnic from Les Halles market, a towel and a good book.
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