Ribadesella — local surf knowledge

The wave

Santa Marina beach opens up in the town of Ribadesella itself, next to the mouth of the Sella, in a sheltered bay. That shelter is what defines the beach: it filters both the wind and the swell, so it needs a fairly specific swell to work, but in exchange it holds big days that are already closed out at open beaches.

Type of wave: beach break, with the break shaped by the banks and by the river mouth
Workable size: it asks for a bit more swell than the open beaches — it starts when San Lorenzo shows 0.8 m and its sweet spot is between 0.9 and 1.0 m
It holds size well: it is still good with San Lorenzo at 1.8–1.9 m, when other beaches in the area are already oversized
Too big: above 1.9 m it starts to go, and around 2.4 m it is no longer worth it

Swell direction

Best: a narrow window, between 324° and 10° — tight north-west, north and a bit of north-east. That is what manages to get into the bay
From the open north-west: it gets in weakened; about 0.3 m more size is needed for it to perform like a north day
From the west and north-east: not its swell, the headland eats it

Period

8 s minimum: below that the wave does not arrive with enough power to get into the bay
From 13 s it works at its best, and it makes good use of long periods, up to 17 s

Wind

Very sheltered: its great advantage — it holds wind that would already have messed up the day at open beaches
Southerlies, perfect: the classic offshore
From the east: the cliff turns it and it arrives almost as an offshore
From the west: it comes in nicely on the left-hand side of the beach
Onshore (bad): only northerlies, between 320° and 40°. That is the only thing that really spoils the wave

Tide

Works on any tide: no tide cancels it out or clearly improves it, so here it is the size and the direction of the swell that matter