San Lorenzo, Gijón

Playa de San Lorenzo is Gijón’s main beach and city wave spot. In wintertime with swell and cross-on north-easterly winds, really big waves can break cleanly on the point to the east and over sandbars off the beach. In summer, the waves are usually somewhere between chop and shoulder-high. The beach gets very crowded in sunbathing season, when kiting is banned and windsurfers have to launch via a small channel. At high tide the wind’s a bit gusty inshore, the current gets stronger and the water almost reaches the promenade steps. Plenty of surfers too.