Local knowledge

Can't help you with any lingo rootless - but I'm also going to northern Spain this Autumn so if anybody reading this post does know any good surf spots, places to camp, local delicacies we should try? Especially looking forward to plenty of fresh sea food...

northern spain

hi sam,surfed northern spain last sept.travelled from san sebastian up to santander.some good beach and reef breaks around santander,try ajo beach,two parts to it and one is a small cove with a reef break.somo is a good beach break,playa de langre and galizano all good to.all these spots are in the storm rider guide so better info in there.as for sea food you gotta try percebes,looks like an alien life form but tastes great!

percebes

Crazy critters

Jeeze.... South Seas those things look like crazy critters. Thanks for the tips I will have to hunt some down... A quick look on wikipedia says that you can find them on rocks in coves so I'll keep my eyes peeled.

I'm also taking my spear fishing gun to try and get some of my own seafood along the way. Spear fishing this summers been really poor up in Wales with all of the rain pushing a lot of run off from the rivers into the sea making visibility almost zero. Managed to get a few spiders crabs in the hot spell that we had at the end of April though - fiddly to get the meat out of but well tasty.

Ugly things!!Taste great though(from the Culture gallery)

nice size crabs! so to speak

nice size crabs! so to speak ha ha.....the percebes are found on rocks pounded by heavy surf and are extremely hard and diffilcult to find.they're also found in portugal and people have lost lives collecting them,which means they're pretty expensive.the plate in the picture was about £15-20..a real delicacy though and well worth it.somo 10 mins outside santander is just full of sea food restaurants with every seafood you could imagine,great beach too.i shall be back there in sept before heading on down to peniche.

I'll definitely try some

I'll definitely try some when I'm down that way Southseas, there's not much I won't eat :) - we're going to be over there from the beginning of October, cruising down to Portugal then Morocco. If you see the van come knock on and have a beer/cup of tea.

North Spain

Quick note to say that Somo is good but there are some quality spots a little further West too. Los Locos is a great little beach which hold a decent wave right up to high tide. Quite a young vibe there and can get busy but good fun.

Further on is Rhodilles, which wasn't breaking when I was there but has a good rivermouth wave apparently and nice campsite right behind
the beach (although it was full when I was there).

If you're heading West there is a beautiful little town called Comillas just before San Vincente. No surf there but worth a night's stop to check out the castle and town.

Otherwise Zaratuz is another cool town (closer to San Seb). Really nice campsite up on the hill to the right overlooking the beach from which you can walk down to the beach. Gets fat at high tide and apparently you can't surf in front of the town anymore but if you get up early I'm sure you could outfox Davide el Hasslehoff and pals.

spear gun

hi sam,did you use the spear gun to get the crabs.only thinking of getting one myself for the local beaches,how do you manage to spear lobster and crabs without blowing them to pieces.how bout fish too?

Dinner tonight

Funny about exactly the same time that you were posting this I was climbing down the cliff to the beach to go spear fishing this evening.

It's not pretty but to get the crabs my technique is to dive down, they're usually about about 4 to 5 meters deep, and stab them with a knife in the back just behind the eyes. You can then bring them to the surface on the end of the knife and swim them to a rock or stuff them in a bag. The gory stuff is that it takes a bit to finish them off and until they're completely gone they'll stick their legs straight out ridged and try to reach back with their nippers to grab your fingers - so getting them into a bag is not easy!

Can't believe it "The one that got away" but tonight as I missed two excellent fish - still getting experience but when shooting for a fish, I think the best method is to shoot about 20 cm in front of it. I'm sure as soon as you fire it feels the pressure wave from the gun and is gone! but managed to get a small tasty lobster which was a good starter for diner...

Tasty lobster

Get yourself a gun if you can - I don't know if you've been free diving with a weight belt before but it's a new feeling to be able to soar down to 5 or 6 meters deep. Even if you don't catch anything it's just a fantastic buzz to be able to go to that depth.

well got myself a gun,just

well got myself a gun,just need to find a good spot now lol

Happy hunting S-seas

Happy hunting S-seas here's a link that you might find useful.

Spearfishing guide

Spearfishing madness!!

This is off the scale S-seas - we had a New Zealand friend staying with us who is into his hunting and he showed us these videos. Absolutely incredible diving to 60 feet plus spearing 200 + kg blue fin tuna 80 kilometers off shore...

Part 1

http://youtube.com/watch?v=FYwAmJtk9Wg

Part 2

http://youtube.com/watch?v=e7upjOr4h9s