A few days' trip to Galicia, to take advantage of a good forecast of wind from the North East for 4 consecutive days. I understood better how the windsurfing spots in this wonderful area of ​​Spain work, and I discovered other fantastic places.

Windsurfing, report: Galicia, Spain (june 2024) 

 

I'll say straight away that, even though I was in Galicia for a few days, this time too it was worth it; both for the windsurfing trips, but also, simply, for the relaxed and magical atmosphere that can be felt in June in that region, and for the beauty of the places, which have definitely won me over. Anyone who has never been there, doesn't know what they're missing....

I left with my "helicopter" (Ford Galaxy) from Milan, and, on Friday 31 May 2024, I was already operational on site. I woke up with a view of the Doninos bay, and the tiredness from the trip vanished immediately (also thanks to a nice regenerating sleep). On site, I immediately had the opportunity to meet Max from Jesi, who has been traveling around the Iberian peninsula since May 4th..., who then introduced me to Joseph, a seventy-year-old from Bolzano, truly very athletic and youthful. We hoped to be able ride San Xurxo, the incredible spot in this area for pure down the line waveriding. But San Xurxo, who had worked well the day before, didn't show a truly worthy wave on Friday. I understood that San Xurxo works better in the very first days of the North East, when the high pressure has just replaced a low one, still responsible for an expired N-NW swell.

 

 

 

In the end, I decided to go out at Santa Comba, a spot a little further east, another panoramically moving place.... I waited for the tide to go down a little, to have less shorebreak, and waves less close to the shore, and I entered the water with the Goya Guru X 4.7, and the Tabou Da Curve 88. I chose the 4.7, because, in Santa Comba, the wind in the bay is a little less strong than that found in the car park, high up on the cliff. The whole set up, however, was excessive. In the bay, the wind proved to be very variable in direction (from side to onshore) and intensity, but, in the gusts, it was really strong. Not being able to bear away to set the bottom turn, I decided to return to the car to switch to the Da Curve 80 and the Ga Sails Manic 4.2. But with the 80, once in the water, I struggled to overcome the breakers on the shore (1-2 metres), as the wind was often weak on the inside.

In the end, I found the right compromise by combining the 88 with the 4.2, and with this set up, I was able to have fun and catch some nice waves. Santa Comba is decidedly more exposed than San Xurxo and in the middle of the bay I found myself surfing between 3 meters of waves, sometimes steep, which became around 2 metres, surfable, about 100 meters from the beach.

The session in gusty winds, however, proved to be very physical. Only windsurfer in the water, among kiters and wingofoilers. Other windsurfers, however, went out at the nearby bay of Ponzos, which I will try one day, but which, from the outside, doesn't convince me, because it shows a less clean wave than that of Santa Comba.

 

 

The next morning (Saturday 1 June) I missed, due to inexperience, a nice session in Doninos. The plan included a safe exit to Playa Traba (1.5 hour drive from San Xurxo), and I hadn't considered Doninos. Instead, after breakfast, when I showed up at Doninos (Playa Penencia, to be precise), shortly after 9.00, with low-medium tide, I found myself faced with the spectacle of clean 1-2 meter bars, which entered the bay with very regular and spaced sets, and which some expert local surfers were enjoying. Wind from NE, side off, light, but enough to make the session. Unfortunately, just the time to rig the Goya Banzai 5.3 and the Da Curve 88, and the high tide made almost everything disappear..... In this period, the excursion between high and low tide here is about 3 meters.

Amen.... I unrigged and headed for Playa Traba.

Traba is another magical place: wild nature, and beautiful and relaxing countryside behind the deep and endless beach. Since the wind seemed nice and strong, I rigged the Ga Sails Manic 4.2, and the Da Curve 88. Conditions of falling tide, with two wave peaks, one more upwind and the other in the middle of the bay (just downwind at the mouth of the river), as described in the review of the spot.

On the spot, about fifteen windsurfers, both local and from Northern Europe, as well as us Italians. While I was rigging, a Spanish guy told me that the wind was "muy racheado". And so, it really turned out. Probably, being a little oriented from the East, and therefore coming down from the hills upwind, the wind on Saturday was very unstable both inland and offshore, with no possibility of keeping the glide stable when going out, to rest a bit. As regards the water surface, there didn't seem to be much wave from the shore, and instead I found myself descending and going upwind at supersonic speed on beautiful long ramps, even 4 metres high, sometimes steeper and almost surfable, and surfing beautiful vertical waves of about 2 meters, about 100 meters from the shore. Another physical session, but very beautiful, and with good sensations. I resisted as much as possible, but after two hours in the water (4-6.30pm), I left due to exhaustion.

Shower, and pasta with sauce cooked on site, and overnight stay, under the stars. Unfortunately, due to the (cool) shower, or the exposure to the wind at 10pm, at sunset, I got a bad cold, with an accompanying headache, which prevented me from enjoying the third day of wind on Sunday . Max from Jesi went out again in Traba with conditions similar to those on Saturday, and I, after spending the afternoon dozing, was kicking myself for not being able to go out in Doninos which, in the late afternoon, gave away 1-1 .5 meters of clean wave, and magnificent conditions for down the line, which about ten locals fully enjoyed (see photos and video).

 

 

Monday 3 June, 4th day of North East wind. After dedicating the morning to a wonderful walk along the 2 kms of Doninos beach, discouraged by some information received, I decided not to go to Valdovino, and to try Santa Comba . Even if it got gusty winds, I should have avoided listening to others, and had my first experience in Valdovino. In Santa Comba, when there was stronger wind, in the early afternoon, there was high tide and little wave (but a sea of ​​a fantastic color and with wonderful streaks); and when the medium-low tide arrived, the wind dropped.....

On Tuesday 4 June, the forecast was for only for very light winds, and I gave up windsurfing. But the day was still very beautiful, and I used it to explore the coast around Valdovino, and above all to discover the incredible Playa de Pantin, a spot for surfing of incredible beauty. Since the surf rentals were still closed (soon, I will also equip myself with a surfboard), I had a nice swim, and then I went to see the surroundings (Cedeira, and the beautiful nearby beach of Baleo - another surfing spot - and that of Villarube).

 

 

 

Relaxing evening among the surfers' vans at the beach car park, and dinner with a beautiful sunset.

The next day the return journey by car began, with a stop to admire the particular Playa Cuevas del Mar, in Asturias, and with other stops to break up the journey.

The return journey also had an adventurous moment when, shortly after Narbonne, in France, on the motorway, I was approached by a motorbike and a car from the gendarmerie, who made me pull over to a parking area.

The gendarmes asked me if I had any weapons or drugs..... I opened the trunk for them, and showed them "my weapons and my drugs" (windsurfing equipment, of course)!

Luckily, I  will return to Galicia in August with my family, because I already miss it!

Hang loose. Fabio

 

Click here, for Traba's slide gallery of June 1st

Click here, for Doninos' slide gallery of June 2nd

Click here, for the slide gallery of the panoramas

 

 

Video of the sessions