WorldFrance › Morbihan › Belle Ile en Mer - Donnant

Belle Ile en Mer - Donnant 62.9

#2901 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇫🇷 France · Morbihan · near Lorient

Very consistent, wind is the enemy here, no off season.

Works all yearRemoteIntermediate
Belle Ile en Mer - Donnant, France
Photo: Sylvain Le Breton · CC BY 3.0 · source
Surf score62.9 /100
Surfable days82% of the year
Clean days17% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell35% period 11 s+
Typical size1.0 m 3.4 ft median
Water15°C a 4/3 with boots

Best time to surf Belle Ile en Mer - Donnant

The best time to surf Belle Ile en Mer - Donnant is March, April, November. It rarely works. In March the water sits around 12°C, so pack a 5/4 with boots and hood, and the typical wave is 1.4 m. The nearest airport is DOL (338 km) and the nearest town is Lorient (48 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan85%19%1.5 m11°C5/4
Feb98%27%1.8 m11°C5/4
Mar93%35%1.4 m12°C5/4
Apr82%32%0.9 m14°C4/3
May80%5%0.9 m16°C4/3
Jun75%7%0.8 m18°C3/2
Jul61%1%0.7 m20°C2mm
Aug66%2%0.7 m19°C2mm
Sep71%7%0.7 m18°C3/2
Oct88%13%1.2 m17°C3/2
Nov97%31%1.6 m15°C4/3
Dec92%18%1.9 m13°C4/3

What is under Belle Ile en Mer - Donnant

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor sits over 37 m. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 65 m against 37 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out37 m
Depth 4 km out22 m
Channel beside it65 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 62.9

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%
17.7
Best days 22.4%
13.2
Clean days 18.4%
7.6
Consistency 10.2%
9.8
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
1.0
Access 4.1%
1.1

The detail

Faces 245° with 50% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 49% of days. Mean peak period 10.5 s. Days over 3 m: 4%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 2.4 m, with a peak period of 13 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 55%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 47.326, -3.239 (OpenStreetMap).

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

Strathy bay🇬🇧 United Kingdom · score 65.3Côte sauvage - Le 27🇫🇷 France · score 65.2Tonsupa🇪🇨 Ecuador · score 65.8Santa Maria Anguar🇵🇼 Palau · score 64.0
Compare Belle Ile en Mer - Donnant 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