where to start with surfing in europe?

[Jan]

hi everyone, so this year im gonna start with surfing and im trying to find where to go. so, what im looking for: place that is not far from london (or it is but the flights arent expensive) and is NOT touristy. i was thinking about portugal or spain but i dont really care about the country. my plan is to stay there for around 1 month (or shorter or longer) so i can really get into it, live by to ocean with the locals and surf every day.any suggestion for some local surf places or anything? does anybody have a friend who lives on the coast and want to teach me how to do it and make some money?

i just really want to surf and i dont want to do it in the most mainstream touristy way.

thx a lot!!

jan

[Esther]

In Asturias (Spain):
http://es.magicseaweed.com/Asturias-West-Surfing/87/
http://www.surfcampribadesella.com/
http://www.rompientenorte.com/
http://www.horizonteescueladesurf.com/

In Basque Country (Spain)
http://www.yumping.com/surf/pais-vasco
http://www.escuelasdesurf.com/

[Nick]

You should go to Donegal in Ireland. It's probably the most isolated part of Ireland aside from the mountains in Kerry. It's less than 6-hours from London if you get a flight into Belfast. Then you can just get a 2 hr coach to Letterkenny (Largest town in Donegal). Donegal's population is very sparsely populated but there are many small coastal communities dotted around the coast. The most obvious one if you want to learn to surf is Bundoran, which boarders on County Sligo. It's home to numerous surf schools and there are many nearby beach-breaks close to the town itself (Tullan, rossnowlagh etc).

Another good surfing town, if your looking for a real adventure is one called Dunfanaghy. Though I live in Belfast, I regularly go to this town on weekends to train (apart from portrush, a town on the North shore of Northern Ireland) with a surf school called Narosa (https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Red-O...150660150) which has opened last year and it's brilliant! Dunfanaghy is one of the last real surfing frontiers and its a real escape, the drives are stunning because you drive past a nearby mountain range called the derryveagh mountains. Narosa is closed at the moment because Dunfanaghy is a ghost-town in the winter but at easter, Narosa opens again and the town comes alive. I would recommend coming any time between easter and june because in June and August, the swells get pretty small, so theres little surfing and the hordes of holiday-makers come flying in from no-where to sunbathe on marble-hill.

If your going to be surfing for a month, I would recommend buying a wetsuit and some boots from somewhere because the water in Ireland at easter or winter isn't exactly warm! But the quality of the waves outweighs the cold by far. I've been out surfing when it was snowing! Bring a very warm coat also.

If you decide to go to Donegal, make sure to remember to exchange your dollars into euros and remember to be friendly! The folk in Donegal are perhaps the nicest people you may ever meet and you cannot leave without trying a Guinness on it's home soil. They have a unique way of pouring it!

Dunfanaghy, a true escape.

Good luck!