WorldFrance › Landes › Arna plage

Arna plage 74.4

#1964 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇫🇷 France · Landes · near Biarritz

Works almost every day, no off season, real size comes through.

Works all yearBig waveIntermediate
Arna plage, France
Photo: VIGNA christian · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source · photo taken 1.9 km from the spot
Surf score74.4 /100
Surfable days93% of the year
Clean days28% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell48% period 11 s+
Typical size1.5 m 5.1 ft median
Water17°C a 3/2 wetsuit

Best time to surf Arna plage

The best time to surf Arna plage is March, April, November. The season runs Mar to Apr. In March the water sits around 13°C, so pack a 4/3 with boots, and the typical wave is 1.9 m. The nearest airport is BOD (116 km) and the nearest town is Biarritz (51 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan86%28%2.1 m13°C4/3
Feb95%37%2.5 m12°C5/4
Mar94%50%1.9 m13°C4/3
Apr95%46%1.4 m15°C4/3
May99%17%1.3 m17°C3/2
Jun97%10%1.2 m21°C2mm
Jul93%5%1.0 m23°Cvest
Aug96%7%1.1 m23°Cvest
Sep94%27%1.2 m21°C2mm
Oct94%27%1.7 m19°C3/2
Nov92%50%2.4 m17°C3/2
Dec83%28%2.4 m15°C4/3

What is under Arna plage

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor is still shallow, 14 m. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 35 m against 14 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out14 m
Depth 4 km out12 m
Channel beside it35 m

Measured, not estimated: NOAA ETOPO 2022 global relief at 15 arc-seconds, about 460 m per cell, sampled along this spot’s own swell window. At that scale the survey sees passes and channels; it cannot see a reef ledge, so nothing here is said about how the wave breaks.

Why 74.4

Seven parts, each normalised 0 to 1 and multiplied by its weight; the sum is scaled so the best spot in the world scores 100. Wave quality and what the spot does on its best days carry more than half of it, which is what separates this from a ranking of where the water is warm.

Wave quality 34.7%
14.9
Best days 22.4%
17.5
Clean days 18.4%
13.0
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
1.9
Access 4.1%
2.8

The detail

Faces 280° with 50% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 60% of days. Mean peak period 11.1 s. Days over 3 m: 13%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 3.2 m, with a peak period of 14 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 33%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 43.912, -1.377 (OpenStreetMap).

Live here

2 homes for sale within 30 km of Arna plage, up to 60,000 euro. Houses and flats you can move into, never plots of land. Cheapest right now €40,000. Checked 2026-09-13. Listings from Bien'ici and the agents themselves; we take no part in the deal.

€40,000Flat · 37 m² · 2 roomsCastets19 km from the spot →€53,000Flat · 17 m² · 1 roomSeignosse23 km from the spot →

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,380/ month
typically €1,210 – €1,540
Rent, one bedroom€727
Groceries€289
Eating out€166
Getting around€98
Phone + internet€102
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€2,690/ month
typically €2,370 – €3,020
Somewhere to stay€1,590
Eating out€565
Car, transfers, fuel€366
Data + extras€174
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Remote spot, so the local estimate is 15% below the country average. Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for France (2025, United States = 1.00) applied to a fixed surfer basket, then adjusted for how remote the spot is. Your own number moves with the season and how you live.

Our own project · Sumba, Indonesia
Own a cabin on a surf coast in Sumba

Sumba has eight spots in this ranking, the best of them inside the world top 50. A cabin is €11,500. The land it sits on is separate, from €6,500 (€9,950 oceanfront), on an 80-year lease that extends at the end. Water, septic and electricity are another €6,500, and furniture is on top, so a finished cabin lands around €28,000 plus the land, payable in instalments.

Eco Beach City is run by the same people as SurfRanking, so treat this as our own advert, not a recommendation. It is an off-plan property in Indonesia: take your own legal and financial advice before paying anything.

Spots nearby

Bushrangers bay🇦🇺 Australia · score 76.8Bowie Seamount🇺🇸 United States of America · score 76.4Punta Baja🇲🇽 Mexico · score 77.6Back Beach🇳🇿 New Zealand · score 77.5
Compare Arna plage with 5,700 other spots
Filters by month, level and water, map, side by side comparison and a trip planner.
Open the interactive profileMore spots good in March