The spot of Barcares Eole is located in a confined section of the immense coastal lake of Leucate, in France, in the department Languedoc - Roussillon. Of all the spots, we checked in the coastal lakes of this area, we found this the safest for inexperienced riders, with strong mistral winds, so frequent here.

Windsurf spot reviews: Barcares Eole (France)

In fact, in this spot, there is a school for learning how to windsurf (UCPA de Port Barcares). The safety of the spot is due to the the small bay from which you start, open to the north (see map below), and surrounded by the beach to South, East and West. So, the less experienced can enjoy the first riding, try maneuvers, or waterstart safely inside the bay, with a North/North-West wind of 40 knots, which throws you back to the beach, in case of difficulty. More expert riders, however, can get out of the bay, and sail in the wider section, called "Dins d'Ille "(see map below), getting very long planings as well, away from the "traffic" of surfers in the bay. 

To reach the spot, you have to take the road D83 in direction Perpignan (if you are in the opposite direction, ie towards Leucate, there are several points to correctly reverse the driving direction), and take exit n. 13. Shortly after, you arrive at a roundabout, after which (few meters) you get to the spot. You can easily park near the beach (at least in june during the week, when we were there), in the dirt parking lot around the surf school. If you are not customers of the school (which has a comfortable wooden platform at the center of the structure where to assemble your equipment), you can prepare the equipment in the parking, near your car. From there, in a few tens of meters, you are into the water.

The seabed in the small bay is low, but a little less, near the shore, with respect to other spots in the ponds of the area. This small bay, as said is perfect to try maneuvers, and, in particular, is ideal to learn the waterstart. In case of drift, in fact, you are soon wash to the ashore, being able to take some rest.

The water is like the one of the other coastal lakes, turbid, but not as in other spot located in the ponds (probably, because of the slightly greater depth, here). In any case, it's not dirty, and the excellent conditions for surfing, make it worthwhile to bear some discomfort.

The Mistral wind, in this spot, enters undisturbed, since there are no major obstacles that can stop him from the north direction.

In the wider and outer bay, you can surf very well (very good condition for freeride and freestyle), also with the possibility of riding fairly long (over a kilometer);  waves are very low, as in all the spots of coastal lakes in this region. We tried the spot in June 2017, and unfortunately we must point out that the Dins d'Ille pond, during our session, was infested with large size jellyfishes, which, frankly, made the session unpleasant. We do not know whether they are present in other periods of the year, in such a high number. If this is the case, it is better to stay in the smaller basin, that was not affected by this inconvenience.

We recommend this spot for beginners, also in the case of strong wind (30 knots).

To have an idea of all the spots in this area, we suggest to have a look at the useful map,  published by Darkzi at google map.

Aloha, Fabio Muriano

To watch the all slide gallery of our holiday in Gruissan zone, and of our sessions in this and other spots, click here.  

Here below, a video fimed at the spot.