Mundaka Surf Guide

Mundaka Surf Guide

The combination of river and oceanic currents have sculpted a sandbank of almost mathematical perfection to produce one of the most awesome waves on the planet. Access is simple enough, a gentle paddle from the harbor, but this isn't an easy wave to surf. The water detonates onto the shallow sand bank in a steep and pitching lunge, and although it is sand-bottomed, from here on in it breaks like a reef. Those who hit the bottom do so hard. The outer peak is dominated by a pack, but even the scraps way down the line can offer great barrels. Mundaka's fantastically shaped rivermouth sandbar creates solid, 200-yard-long, top-to-bottom barrels. The rip that runs along the side of the cliff is perhaps surfing's ultimate saltwatery escalator -- it's a paddle-optional trip straight to the peak. Mundaka's essentially a 200-yard-long shorebreak wave. It gulps and warbles and barrels top-to-bottom like the best inside beachbreak ever and keeps going. When you finish the wave -- especially when it's bigger -- it's best to prone out and head back over toward the cliff rip rather than kick out and paddle back along the edge of the wave.