Development
of Surfing : It is not by chance if France, with
the moderated climate, halfway of the Pole of Ecuador, bathed
by the Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the English Channel(Manche)
became a paradise for the surfers.
Surfing
makes its first appearance in the Basque- Country, where
powerful swells, coming from a north-western distance come
to break majestically in Guéthary or Barre, at the
bottom of this natural pocket dreaded by the sailors. The
GULF-Stream, running hot shaving the coasts supports the
microclimates besides. One then invents there the "leash"
and the "go-home". Surfing also develops on the
landaisan coasts where the swells coming from the North
Atlantic break, along the immense sandy beach which extends
from Adour to Garonne. Quickly, the virus of surfing is
propagated on the coasts of Vendée, Brittany and
Normandy, in colder water, towards areas equipped with a
maritime solid culture. Even the Mediterranean... and Corsican
cannot resist the surfmania. There,
the
surfer must face shorter swells coming from every part of
the Mediterranean and the ground winds which are sometimes
violent. Surfing is devided into various disciplines of
which the most important are: the shorts-board (the length
of the boards used spreads out on average from 1,8m to 2m40
according to the size of the waves to be treated),the bodyboard
(is a short board of approximately 5 feet), bodysurf (it
is the most purified surf riding discipline because the
bodysurfor slips into the waves, only helped by a pair of
palms), the kneeboard (the board used is shorter than shorts-board),
length-board or malibu-board (very large board of which
the minimum length authorized in competition is of 274,5cm),
the skimboard (which consists in surfing a wave while launching
from the beach by using a very short board without drift)
Where to Surf :
on the Côte Basque and the Landes :
Anglet ( Les Sables d'Or, Les Cavaliers), Biarritz, Guethary,
Les Alcyons, Lafitenia, Hossegor-La Gravière, Seignosse
les Estagnots, Landes, Capbreton-La Piste, Lit et Mixe
on the charentais et vendéen littoral: l'île
d'Oléron, l'île de Ré, la Tranche-sur-Mer,
les Sables d'Olonne, à St-Gilles-Croix-de-vie.
La Bretagne : from la Barre d'Etel to the Côte Sauvage
(Barre d'Etel, Kirminhy, Sainte Barbe, tata Beach, Mentor,
Les Crevettes, L'Isthme, Le Fozo, Port Blanc, Port Pigeon,
Port Rhu, Port Bara, La Truie, Le Guibello, Le Château,
la Grande Plage, la Petite Sirène, Guidel Plage,
La Crique, Plage du Loch, Maeva, Fort Bloque, La Piste de
Skate, Le Kaolin, Le Couregan, Toulhars, Pic Qui Pue, Gavres,
Lines
in Normandy and North of France : Siouville, Urville, spot
du Menhir, Fécamp, le Crotoy, Wimereux
in Mediterranean :Sète, Carro, La Verrerie, Le Prado,
Les Lecques, Brutal Beach, Beauvallon, Cigaro, Cannes, Lerins,
Antibes, Villeneuve-Loubet, Saint-Laurent-du-Var, Villefranche-sur-Mer,
Beaulieu-sur-Mer, Menton, La Corse (le cap Corse, l'île
Rousse, Calvi, Figari, La tonnara, Bonifacio, Santa Guilia,
Santa Manza, Piantarella)
in Martinique : Charpentier, Pelle à Tarte..
Aquitaine is a cradle of surfing in Europe. The southern
coast of Landes has some of the best beaches of surfing
(spot) in France. This sandy coast offers plates (banns
of sands) and of its “baïnes” (basins dug
in the generating sand of the current)the possibility of
learning and of practising surfing and the body-board throughout
the year.
Recherche
Surfing
makes its first appearance in the Basque- Country, where
powerful swells, coming from a north-western distance come
to break majestically in Guéthary or Barre, at the
bottom of this natural pocket dreaded by the sailors. The
GULF-Stream, running hot shaving the coasts supports the
microclimates besides. One then invents there the "leash"
and the "go-home". Surfing also develops on the
landaisan coasts where the swells coming from the North
Atlantic break, along the immense sandy beach which extends
from Adour to Garonne. Quickly, the virus of surfing is
propagated on the coasts of Vendée, Brittany and
Normandy, in colder water, towards areas equipped with a
maritime solid culture. Even the Mediterranean... and Corsican
cannot resist the surfmania. There, 
the
surfer must face shorter swells coming from every part of
the Mediterranean and the ground winds which are sometimes
violent. Surfing is devided into various disciplines of
which the most important are: the shorts-board (the length
of the boards used spreads out on average from 1,8m to 2m40
according to the size of the waves to be treated),the bodyboard
(is a short board of approximately 5 feet), bodysurf (it
is the most purified surf riding discipline because the
bodysurfor slips into the waves, only helped by a pair of
palms), the kneeboard (the board used is shorter than shorts-board),
length-board or malibu-board (very large board of which
the minimum length authorized in competition is of 274,5cm),
the skimboard (which consists in surfing a wave while launching
from the beach by using a very short board without drift)
on the Côte Basque and the Landes :
