Mundaka Swell Window
Basque Country, Spain · part of the Mundaka spot guide
- Swell window (from)
- 270°–10° (W–N)
- Best direction
- ~310° (NW)
- Period sweet spot
- 12–18 s
- Open-ocean height (Hs)
- 6–10 ft
- Resulting faces
- 4–12 ft
Open-ocean vs. the face: the heights on buoys and forecast models are significant wave height (Hs) in deep water. What you ride is the breaking face, which depends on period, direction and this break's bathymetry — that's why the two rows above differ. PierMonkey's spot ratings already do this conversion for you.
Mundaka only truly switches on with a solid northwest groundswell. The productive window runs roughly west through north, core west-northwest to northwest around 300–320°, at period of about 12 to 18 seconds; short-period wind swell won’t build the bar. It faces northwest, so it needs that open-ocean energy that clears the Biscay corner and refracts around Matxitxako.
It carries a double dependency no other spot in this set shares: it needs both a real long-period northwest groundswell and a sandbar that has been built up that season. A 2 m open-ocean reading at long period makes a classic 6-to-10-foot face on a good bank; the same swell on a poor bank is mediocre. The height on the model and the height you ride are separate, and both depend on the sand.