In no other city on the Atlantic coast do a whale, an empress, and a surfboard tell the same story. And yet, in Biarritz, in New Aquitaine, that’s exactly what happened.
There is an invisible thread that runs through the entire history of Biarritz and extends all the way to its beaches teeming with surfers: the Atlantic.
Long before the city became one of Europe’s most elegant seaside resorts, Basque fishermen set out from these shores in search of whales. The sea meant work, survival, and danger. Legends also arose around those expeditions, such as that of the Laminak, mysterious creatures from Basque mythology linked to the rocks and the sea.
Then Biarritz underwent a transformation.
In the 19th century, Eugénie de Montijo and Napoleon III arrived, and the small fishing village was transformed into a tourist destination frequented by the European aristocracy. Kings, princes, and nobles chose this coast for their vacations, and Biarritz became the “Beach of Kings.”
But the city’s history would not end there.
In 1956, an American filmmaker named Peter Viertel watched the waves at the Côte des Basques and recognized something he knew well from California: surfing. What might have seemed like a simple curiosity would forever change Biarritz’s relationship with the ocean. A surfboard that arrived from the United States, a meeting with a young tech enthusiast, and a series of experiments on the beach would give rise to the first generation of French surfers.
Since then, the waves have become part of the city’s very identity.
Today, Biarritz is known around the world for surfing and its water sports culture, but you only need to look beyond the surfboards and beaches to discover a much older and more surprising history.
This is the story of Biarritz’s many lives: from whalers to kings, and from kings to surfers. A story in which, throughout the centuries, the Atlantic has remained the only true protagonist.
Biarritz and the Whalers
The connection between Biarritz and whaling dates back a very long time. Local sources mention a tradition that dates back at least to the Middle Ages, when the hunting of large cetaceans was an important activity along the Basque coast.
The hunt began atAtalaye, the promontory overlooking the sea. Here, a lookout scanned the horizon, and when he spotted the characteristic spout of a whale, he sounded the alarm. The crews would then rush to their boats to chase the whale.
The boats were small compared to the enormous animals they had to face. Whaling required experience, courage, and a deep knowledge of the Atlantic.
A whale, however, was a valuable resource for the community: oil was extracted from its blubber, and various parts of the animal were put to use.
As the number of cetaceans along the coast gradually declined, this activity became increasingly difficult.
The last time a whale was caught in the waters off Biarritz was in March 1686.
It was the end of an era.
The memory of the whalers, however, would remain deeply rooted in the city’s identity, so much so that it is still depicted today in Biarritz’s coat of arms.
The winds, the stars, and the sea are on my side: Biarritz’s coat of arms tells its story
There is one place where the history of Biarritz’s whalers is particularly evident: the city’s coat of arms.
The coat of arms features a small boat with five men hunting a whale. One of the fishermen is about to throw his harpoon as the whale dives into the waves. The upper part also features three seashells and a star.
This depiction is not random: the whale and the fishermen serve as a reminder of the role that whaling played in the community’s history.
Even more evocative is the motto associated with the coat of arms:
Aura, sidus, mare adjuvant me—that is, The winds, the stars, and the sea help me.
It’s a phrase that seems to run through the entire history of Biarritz.
The winds, the stars, and the sea were the elements on which sailors of old depended; centuries later, they have become the very elements that guide surfers and water sports enthusiasts.
In a way, the coat of arms thus foreshadows the city’s entire history: a community born of the sea and one that has continued to draw its identity from the sea.
The Legend of Roche Percée and the Laminak
In addition to its documented history of whaling, Biarritz also preserves a legendary tradition deeply rooted in the sea.
This is the story of the Roche Percée, also known as the Roche Ronde, and the Laminak, creatures from Basque folklore.
According to legend, a traineur from Biarritz is returning home after a completely unsuccessful whale hunt. The fishermen are tired and disappointed: they spent the day at sea without catching anything.
When the boat reaches the rocks near the harbor, the sailors suddenly hear an extraordinary song coming from the shore.
They are women’s voices.
According to tradition , the Laminak—supernatural creatures resembling beautiful women— live among the rocks of Roche Percée . In this particular legend , they are described as having fish tails instead of legs, and their song is so enchanting that it lures sailors.
The men, spellbound, decide to change course and head toward the rock, ignoring the captain’s orders.
The commander realizes the danger and desperately tries to stop them. When he realizes that the men refuse to obey, he kneels down and prays to God to save them.
The prayer is answered, but salvation comes at a price: the sailors are transformed into cormorants, doomed to live forever on the ocean.
It’s a legend, of course, but it vividly illustrates the Basques’ ancestral connection to the sea: a force capable of providing sustenance, yet also mysterious, unpredictable, and dangerous.
Even today, the Roche Percée is associated with this story, and the cormorants that frequent the area are, according to tradition, linked to the memory of that ancient crew.
“The Beach of the Kings”: Eugenia de Montijo and Napoleon III
After the end of the whaling era, Biarritz slowly began to change.
As early as the 19th century, the city began to attract visitors interested in sea bathing. But the real turning point came with Eugenia de Montijo, the future empress of France.
Eugenia had known Biarritz since childhood and had already visited the town before becoming empress. After her marriage to Napoleon III, she returned to the city in 1854 and convinced Emperor Napoleon III of the coast’s charm.
Napoleon had a summer residence built for her overlooking the Atlantic: the Villa Eugénie, completed in 1855. The residence became the center of imperial life during the couple’s stays there; they returned to Biarritz every year until 1868.
Today, the building is known as the Hôtel du Palais.
The empress’s presence radically changed the city’s fate.
In his entourage came kings, princes, and aristocrats from all over Europe: the monarchs of Württemberg, Belgium, and Portugal; Russian, Polish, and Romanian princes; Spanish nobles; and English lords.
Biarritz came to welcome about 10,000 vacationers per season.
The area around the imperial residence came to be known as the “plage des rois,” or “beach of the kings, ” while the city filled with grand villas and aristocratic residences.
When the imperial court arrived in Biarritz, the town took on a different rhythm: the small seaside town became the stage for European high society, with strolls along the Grande Plage, receptions, and stays in grand villas.
The Atlantic, which for centuries had been primarily a source of work and danger, thus also became a setting for vacations and prestige.
The fishing village had been transformed into one of the most elegant resorts in Europe.
The Grande Plage, the Casino, and Biarritz in the Belle Époque
The Grande Plage became the heart of the new Biarritz.
Here, the Atlantic took on a completely different meaning. It was no longer just the sea where fishermen went out to sea; it became a place for vacations, health, walks, and social life.
The beach, surrounded by the buildings of the new seaside resort town, perfectly embodied this transformation.
The Municipal Casino, overlooking the Grande Plage, also helped complete the city’s new look. The complex was inaugurated in 1901 and became one of the symbols of Biarritz’s glamorous Belle Époque scene. The building we see today, however, dates back to its 1928–1929 reconstruction in the Art Deco style.
The casino helped cement Biarritz’s status as a major international destination for vacations, gambling, and social life.
The contrast with the past is clear.
In the very same place where the sea once meant above all fishing and survival, visitors from all over Europe now came to spend their vacations, attend shows, and enjoy the social life of the beach season.
Even today, when you look out over the Grande Plage, you can see this transformation: on one side, the elegance of aristocratic Biarritz; on the other, the ocean, which continues to dominate the landscape.
But the relationship between Biarritz and the sea was about to change once again.
Nearly a century after the era of Napoleon III, the Atlantic would become the playground of a new generation.
1956: Peter Viertel and the surfboard that changed Biarritz
The history of surfing in Biarritz is almost like a modern legend.
In 1956, the city served as the filming location for the movie *The Sun Also Rises*, based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway.
Among those involved in the production was Peter Viertel, an American screenwriter and surfer.
Viertel looked out at the waves off the Côte des Basques and recognized something he knew well from California: waves perfect for surfing.
Californian producer and surfer Dick Zanuck had a surfboard shipped from the United States. Viertel tried using it, but the board broke during his first few attempts.
That’s when Georges Hennebutte entered the picture—a young man passionate about technology and mechanics who was destined to become a key figure in the history of French surfing. Hennebutte managed to repair the board, and in September 1956, the two began surfing together at the Côte des Basques.
The incident might seem trivial, but it actually marked the beginning of a revolution.
The following year, Viertel returned to Biarritz with several surfboards and got other local youths involved, including Jacky Rott and Joël de Rosnay.
From that small group would emerge the generation of the Tontons Surfeurs, the pioneers of French surfing.
The Côte des Basques became their workshop.
A new era had begun.
The Tontons Surfeurs, the pioneers of French surfing
Peter Viertel had brought his curiosity about surfing to Biarritz, but it was a group of local young people who turned that curiosity into a true culture.
They have gone down in history as the Tontons Surfeurs, the group of pioneers who, between the late 1950s and the 1960s, helped give rise to French surfing.
Among the most prominent names were Georges Hennebutte, Jacky Rott, and Joël de Rosnay, who were joined by other young surfers destined to become leading figures of Biarritz’s first generation of surfers.
In the beginning, there were no schools, specialty shops, or a real surfing industry. Surfboards were hard to find and often had to be handmade or modified.
Learning to surf, too, was above all about observing, trying things out, and sharing one’s experiences with others.
The Tontons Surfeurs thus turned the Côte des Basques into their Atlantic surf lab. They would head out into the water, study the waves, experiment with new boards, and try to figure out how to make the most of the Atlantic conditions.
Their role was not limited to sports.
They were the ones who helped give rise to a true surfing culture in Biarritz, one built on friendship, adventure, and a very direct connection to the ocean.
Their story also sheds light on a curious aspect of the city’s transformation.
A few decades earlier, Biarritz had been a favorite destination of the European aristocracy; now a new generation of young people was filling the same beaches, surfboards under their arms and wearing swimsuits.
In September 1959, the Waïkiki Surf Club was founded—one of the first French surf clubs and the first to be directly linked to that generation of pioneers.
That small community would help transform a trend that had come from California into an integral part of the city’s identity.
And it is precisely thanks to the Tontons Surfeurs that the history of surfing in Biarritz ceases to be just the story of Peter Viertel and becomes the story of an entire city.
The Côte des Basques, the cradle of European surfing
The Côte des Basques is the place that, more than any other, embodies this transformation.
Located at the foot of the cliffs, south of downtown Biarritz, the beach offers ideal conditions for surfing and spectacular views of the Atlantic.
This is where French surf culture took its first steps.
In just a few years, a sport that was virtually unknown in France evolved into a true local culture. Enthusiasts began building and experimenting with new boards, and surfing gradually became part of the city’s daily life.
In 1966, Jo Moraiz opened what is considered France’s first surf school in Biarritz.
From that moment on, surfing ceased to be merely the pastime of a small group of pioneers and began to evolve into a full-fledged sports and tourism industry.
The contrast with the past is striking.
For centuries, the locals had watched the sea from the shore, looking for whales.
Now they were starting to go out there to ride the waves.
From surfing to windsurfing: a new way to experience the ocean
The popularity of surfing contributed to the emergence of a broader water sports culture.
Alongside surfing, sports such as bodyboarding and windsurfing emerged, in which the relationship with the ocean takes on different forms.
Windsurfing introduces an additional element: the wind.
A surfer must read the waves and find the right moment to ride them. A windsurfer, on the other hand, must interpret both the waves and the wind at the same time, transforming the force of the wind into speed.
It’s a new way to experience the Atlantic.
Whalers tried to master its dangers in order to survive. Surfers learn to ride its waves. Windsurfers add the wind to their challenge.
The sea is still the same, but the way we relate to it has completely changed.
The Rocher de la Vierge: A Glimpse into the History of Biarritz
Amongthe must-see sights in Biarritz is the Rocher de la Vierge, one of the city’s most famous landmarks.
The rock is located right on the Atlantic Ocean and is connected to the mainland by a footbridge. From there, you can enjoy a spectacular view of the coast.
It’s also one of the best places to understand just how crucial the ocean has been to the city’s history.
Looking out over that expanse of water, one can imagine the whalers’ boats, the strolls of the nineteenth-century aristocracy, and, much more recently, the surfboards of today’s surfers.
Three completely different eras, united by the same horizon.
Biarritz, a city that has always lived in harmony with the sea
What truly sets Biarritz apart is that none of its various identities has completely erased the one that came before it.
The fishing town is still evident in the Port des Pêcheurs and in the memory of the whaling industry. The imperial era lives on in the villas, hotels, the Hôtel du Palais, and the buildings along the Grande Plage. Surf culture, on the other hand, thrives on the beaches and especially along the Côte des Basques.
And above it all, the Atlantic continues to reign supreme.
First spotted by Atalaye lookouts searching for a whale’s spout. Then admired by European aristocrats during their summer stays. Finally tackled by surfers and water sports enthusiasts.
From whales to surfboards
Perhaps the most evocative way to describe Biarritz is precisely through this long journey.
First, the whales.
For centuries, fishermen have braved the Atlantic in pursuit of large cetaceans. In March 1686, the last whale was caught right off the coast of Biarritz, bringing to a close a pivotal chapter in the city’s maritime history.
Then the aristocracy.
Eugenia de Montijo and Napoleon III transformed Biarritz into a major seaside resort, attracting kings, princes, and aristocrats from all over Europe. The city became known as the “beach of kings.”
Finally, surfing.
In 1956, Peter Viertel looked out at the waves of the Côte des Basques and saw something that almost no one in France had seen until then: a place to ride the Atlantic. The board broke, Georges Hennebutte repaired it, and the first attempts at surfing in Biarritz began to evolve into a true culture.
Since then, Biarritz has continued to build its identity around water sports, eventually becoming one of the most well-known international destinations for surfing.
The boats have changed, the people have changed, and above all, the way we experience the sea has changed.
But the Atlantic has always been at the heart of Biarritz’s history.
And perhaps this is the real reason why visiting Biarritz means so much more than just spending a few days on the beach. It means journeying through centuries of history in a city where the legends of whalers, the elegance of the European aristocracy, and surf culture still coexist today, all facing the same ocean.
Biarritz is a city that has learned to live with the sea: first by challenging it, then by admiring it, and finally by riding its waves.
How to Plan a Surfing Trip to Biarritz
For those who, after learningabout the history of Biarritz, want to try surfing for themselves, planning a trip to the French Basque Coast is relatively simple.
The Côte des Basques is the main attraction: it is considered the birthplace of European surfing and offers conditions suitable for both beginners and experienced surfers.
When to Go to Biarritz to Surf
Biarritz can be a great surfing destination for much of the year, but the best time to visit depends on your skill level and the kind of experience you’re looking for.
For those who have never surfed before, summer is the easiest time to find a wide variety of courses and services, but it’s also the busiest time for tourists.
Those with prior experience, on the other hand, may prefer less crowded times of year, when the Atlantic can offer more challenging conditions and the city takes on a more peaceful atmosphere—such as in the fall, from October through November.
In any case, before entering the water, it is essential to check the sea conditions and the tide schedules.
The Côte des Basques is, in fact, a beach that is heavily influenced by the tides, and at certain stages of high tide, the sandy area can be completely submerged.
Côte des Basques or Grande Plage?
For those arriving in Biarritz with the main goal of surfing, the Côte des Basques is the most obvious choice. It is the iconic spot in the city’s surfing history and is home to numerous surf schools.
The Grande Plage, located in the city center, also features areas dedicated to water sports. Its location is particularly convenient for those who want to alternate between sports, walks, restaurants, and city life.
The Côte des Basques, however, has an added advantage: it allows you to experience the very place where surfing began in France.
Is it better to take a class or rent a board?
For beginners, the best option is to sign up with a surf school.
Among the long-standing institutions is the Jo Moraïz Surf School, founded in 1966 on the Côte des Basques and considered the first surf school in France. It offers courses for various skill levels and provides the necessary equipment.
For those with prior experience, renting equipment may be the most convenient option. In this case, however, it’s important to choose a board that’s suitable for your skill level and always check sea conditions before entering the water.
A surfing trip isn’t just about surfing
Biarritz lets you plan a vacation where surfing takes center stage without being the only activity.
You can spend the morning taking a lesson at the Côte des Basques; after surfing, you can head back toward the city center, stroll along the Grande Plage, and make your way to the Rocher de la Vierge.
In the evening, on the other hand, you can explore Basque cuisine or simply head back to the Côte des Basques to watch the sunset from the top of the cliffs—one of the city’s most breathtaking sights.
It is precisely this combination that sets Biarritz apart from being just another surfing destination.
Here, you can enter the ocean at the very spot where, nearly seventy years ago, a group of French pioneers first discovered surfing; a few hours later, you can stroll among the architecture of aristocratic Biarritz and, before that, retrace the history of the fishermen who have hunted whales for centuries.
A trip to Biarritz to go surfing thus also becomes a journey through the city’s many lives: from whales to kings, from kings to surfers.
Fun Facts and Frequently Asked Questions About Biarritz
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What is the difference between the Laminak of Basque mythology and the Sirens of Homer’s *Odyssey*?
Both characters use their singing to enchant sailors, but that’s where the similarity ends.
The Homeric Sirens of the *Odyssey* are hostile creatures whose song deliberately leads those who approach them to their deaths. The Laminak of Basque mythology, on the other hand, belong to a very different folkloric universe and are not necessarily portrayed as evil beings.
In the legend of the Roche Percée, their song is a temptation to which the fishermen succumb, disregarding the captain’s orders.
The most fundamental difference, therefore, lies in their intent: the Sirens are predators in the Homeric tradition, while the Laminak belong to a more complex supernatural world, in which they can have different relationships with human beings.
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What is the Côte des Basques?
This is the beach at the foot of the cliffs south of downtown Biarritz, considered the cradle of European surfing. It was here, in 1956, that Peter Viertel began experimenting with surfing the local waves, marking the birth of French surfing.
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Why is Biarritz called “the Beach of Kings”?
Because in the 19th century, thanks to Eugenia de Montijo and Napoleon III, the city became a vacation destination for kings, princes, and aristocrats from all over Europe, eventually welcoming about 10,000 vacationers per season.
- Who was Peter Viertel?
Peter Viertel was an American screenwriter and author, as well as a surfer. While filming *The Sun Also Rises* in Biarritz in 1956, he recognized that the Côte des Basques offered ideal conditions for surfing. After breaking the surfboard he’d brought from the United States, he began surfing with Georges Hennebutte, who managed to repair it.
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Who were the Tontons Surfeurs?
They were the group of pioneers who, between the late 1950s and the 1960s, helped lay the foundations for French surfing in Biarritz. Among the most prominent figures were Georges Hennebutte, Jacky Rott, and Joël de Rosnay.
- What is Peter Viertel’s film “The Sun Also Rises” (Il Sole Sorgerà Ancora) about?
*The Sun Also Rises* was the first film adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s 1926 novel of the same name. Directed by Henry King and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck for 20th Century Fox, the film was released in theaters in 1957, starring Tyrone Power, Ava Gardner, Mel Ferrer, and Errol Flynn.
The screenplay was written by Peter Viertel himself, who, while filming in Biarritz in 1956, had an insight that would go on to change the history of French surfing.
Speaking of Ernest Hemingway, be sure to check out our article about Key West and the writer’s six-toed cats.
