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Bakio:
This is one of the few larger beaches in an area whose coast usually is dominated by mountains meeting the sea and therefore an abundance of steep cliffs.
Naturaly that rare place of relatively flat area is allready occupied by a town. Also not uncommon for this area, the first impression of the place is the one of a fairly faceless town, build to provide as much room to live at as little space as possible. Architecture was not an issue to be considered in constructing the buildings. Nevertheless the town was choosen by plenty of Bizkainos as the perfect place for a summer residence. Bakio has a beach promenade that borders a very large beach that is just perfect for spending a hot summer day.
But for the one taking his time to explore a bit more, the town offers more than just a good place for being at the beach during the day and partying during the night. You can savour the famous txakoli. In nearby San Juan de Gaztelugatxe you can watch an old custom, where people climb up to the hermitage and beat the fields to warn the fishermen in the fog.
The beach has its own surfing tradition, reaching back as far as the mid seventies of the past century. The ambiance is very local, but local in a good way, which means that there is a strong crew of locals who surf the place on a daily basis year round. As long as you respect the basic rules and the locals, You´ll never have problems surfing here. Needless to say, that a smile and some spanish words make it even easier.
That strong surf tradition led to the founding of the Bakio Surf Taldea in 1992. This surf club is very active in all surf related issues as organising contests, teaching beginners and taking active care for our allways endangered mother ocean.
surfing: this place more than once saved surf contests that were supposed to be held at nearby Mundaka. Facing north this beachbreak still has waves, when everything else is flat. The sandbars and with them the quality of the waves change a lot but usually offer a couple of breaks that give plenty of opportunities for fun rides. Mid tide in combination with southerly winds offer the best chances to score. Peaks shift with changing tides but that gives You the chance to sneak a ride even when Bilbao surfers make it a big crowd.
At low tide it´s best to surf near Peñas Rojas that has a good right. When it gets bigger it breaks at the center of the beach and when a solid swell combines with a high tide the right at the port starts to offer some tubes.
The place closes out with bigger swells which are very common during winter.
windsurfing: sailboarding conditions are rare in this area, but if You´re lucky and the right wind direction happens to coincide with some force You might score some nice wavesailing. The surrounding mountains make it even more difficult to get the right wind direction.
kiteboarding: the beach is large enough but gets very crowded with sunseekers. Still one of the few places in the area where You can launch Your kite.
more pics in the galleries (the place and surf)!
Muchas gracias to our partner site www.buenasolas.com who supported us with information and images. Check them out for more pics and the local community!
Thanx a lot also to the Bakio Surf Taldea (the local surf club) for giving permission to use those beautifull pics. Very informative site for everyone who plans to visit the place (you need to understand spanish though).
For actual weather, wind and wave conditions and accurate forcast check this (Mundaka has similar conditions):
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