Zarautz tide times

Predictions: Open-Meteo Marine (MeteoFrance SMOC, 0.08° grid) — heights relative to MSL (not chart datum / LAT). Model-derived.

Model-derived from a global ocean grid. Useful indication; expect about ±45 minutes on average vs. a local harmonic gauge, individual stations vary widely. See /methodology for per-region detail. Not for navigation.

Conditions as of 06:00 local time. Refreshes daily.

Predictions: Open-Meteo Marine (MeteoFrance SMOC, 0.08° grid) — heights relative to MSL (not chart datum / LAT). Model-derived. · Not for navigation.

The angler tradition for major/minor fishing windows: major ≈3-hour windows around moon transit and opposition; minor ≈2-hour windows around moonrise and moonset. Times are Europe/Madrid local. Folk tradition, not a scientific forecast.

Next spring tide on Sun 17 May (range 4.1m). Last neap on Sat 16 May. Next neap on Fri 22 May.

Spring tides cluster around new and full moons (biggest swings). Neap tides land on quarter moons (smallest swings). See the spring tide and neap tide glossary entries for the why.

Zarautz has the longest beach on the Basque coast — 2.4 kilometres of straight sand between the old town headland to the west and the Talaimendi hill to the east. It faces north-northwest into the Bay of Biscay and picks up Atlantic swell with no offshore obstruction. Mean spring tidal range is approximately 3.5 metres; the tide is semidiurnal. That range alters the beach substantially: at high water, the sand narrows to a fringe a few metres wide at the base of the seafront promenade; at low water, the full 2.4 km × 50 to 80 metre strip is exposed and the shallow sandbar break runs across the length of the beach. Zarautz is the primary surf town on the Spanish Basque coast. The break is a beach break — shifting peaks along the full 2.4 km — with quality that improves markedly at low to mid-rising tide when the sandbar is exposed and the waves pitch more cleanly. The most consistent surf window is September through April, when Atlantic depressions push northwesterly swells into the bay. Autumn (September–November) is the benchmark period: water temperature still 16 to 18°C, swell size 1.5 to 3 metres, light offshore winds on calm mornings. The World Surf League has staged European Championship Tour events at Zarautz. The town itself is compact and built close to the sea — the old quarter on the headland at the western end, the promenade running the full length of the beach, a cluster of surf shops and pintxos bars on the main street. The terraced vineyards of Txakoli de Getaria (Getariako Txakolina DO) begin immediately behind the town and climb the hillsides above the beach. Txakoli — a dry, slightly sparkling white wine with high acidity and 10–11% alcohol — is poured from a height into a wide glass to aerate it; a standard pitcher at any bar in town will have this theatre. The wine pairs with anchoas and local pintxos with the kind of obvious rightness that only exists in the place of origin. Fishing from the rocks at the eastern end of the beach targets lubina (sea bass), sargo (white sea bream), and the occasional dorada; rock fishing is best at the last two hours of the flood. The harbour at Getaria, 4 kilometres west, lands more significant commercial catch — the Getaria fishing fleet is one of the most active on the Basque coast, specialising in anchoa and the rare kokotxa (cod cheeks used in pil-pil sauce). The promenade walk along the full beach to the Talaimendi headland takes 30 minutes at low water; at high water, the wave wash can reach the promenade wall. The cliffs of Talaimendi above the eastern end give a full view along the beach and out toward the bay. Tide predictions on this page come from Open-Meteo Marine, a gridded global ocean model. Accuracy is typically within plus or minus 45 minutes on timing and 0.2 to 0.3 metres on height — model-derived, not from a local gauge. For authoritative official predictions, Puertos del Estado (puertos.es) publishes gauge-based tide tables for Pasajes (Pasaia), 20 kilometres east of Zarautz.