Le Pin Sec.

Le Pin Sec sits on a remote, forested stretch of Atlantic coast north of Hourtin, where a single road cuts through 10km of pine forest to reach the beach. The break delivers consistent a-frame peaks over a sandy bottom, with well-covered, slopey waves that generate medium-speed rides - nothing hollow or heavy, but clean and well-shaped when a solid NW swell is running. Wave lengths stay short, typically under 50m, so surfers need to be mobile and read the banks carefully. The incoming tide tends to organise the banks best, though the spot functions at all stages. Optimal conditions arrive on SW to NW groundswell paired with an easterly offshore, which is reliable enough that the spot sees waves on a regular basis. The relative isolation created by the forest access road is the defining feature here: crowds are rare even in summer, and the peaks spread out across a long beach allowing plenty of space between surfers. Some rip currents run through the lineup and should be identified from the beach before paddling out, particularly after recent swells have carved channels. A campsite sits close to the beach, making this a favourite for travelling surfers looking to base themselves on this quiet stretch of the Medoc coast without the busier scene at nearby Montalivet to the north or Hourtin to the south.

Ten kilometres of pines, then a-frames that shift with the tide's read.