Mundaka
Recommended as part of an Urdaibai day, and a good place for a slow lunch. Not somewhere to build a trip around unless you surf.
The best-known wave in Spain, in a village small enough to walk in twenty minutes.
At a Glance
- — You want a town with a restaurant scene
Mundaka is a village of steep lanes above a small harbour where the Urdaibai estuary meets the sea. The sandbar offshore produces a long, fast left-hand wave that made the village known to surfers decades ago, and it still draws them every autumn. Off the water it is a quiet place: a church on the headland, a handful of bars around the harbour, and a ferry across to the beach at Laida that runs in summer. It is twenty minutes from Gernika and ten from Bermeo, and it works best as one part of a day on the estuary rather than a destination in itself.
How it got here
Ships from this harbor once participated in the whaling trade that defined the coastal economy of Bizkaia for centuries. The maritime law of the medieval lordship of Biscay granted these ports specific commercial privileges that encouraged local shipbuilding and seafaring expertise. While the original medieval town walls have largely vanished, the orientation of the houses around the small port still tracks the historical dependence on the tides of the Urdaibai estuary. This maritime heritage persists in the identity of the town, which continues to view itself as a distinct entity apart from the industrial centers that grew in the nearby Nervión valley.
Where it sits
The village occupies a limestone headland at the narrowest point of the Urdaibai river mouth. Beyond the quay, the estuary widens into expansive tidal flats and dunes that submerge during high water. The surrounding hillsides drop sharply into the Atlantic, creating a rugged coastline that forces wind into the narrow channel to produce the sandbar wave. Winter storms bring heavy surf that shifts the estuary sands, while summer heat draws crowds from the inland towns of the province. Access follows the winding roads that trace the contours of the low coastal mountains between the industrialized ports.
What to eat and drink
The proximity to the cold waters of the Bay of Biscay dictates the plate. Marmitako, a robust stew of bonito tuna, potatoes, onions, and pimiento choricero, forms the core of the local diet. Fresh catch from the daily auctions arrives grilled over coals in the traditional manner. For drink, the village looks to the nearby vineyards of the Getaria area for Txakoli, a high-acid, slightly effervescent white wine served with a splash to aerate it. Meals finish with intxaursalsa, a thick walnut cream dessert that dates back to the historical use of mountain nuts in traditional Basque farmhouse cooking.
Basque Country: the whole region
The Basque Country is the most expensive and the most rewarding corner of northern Spain: three small provinces, each with its own character, all within an hour of each other. It suits travellers who want to eat well and move slowly far…
Minimum 4 days · better 7 days · deep 2 weeks
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Experiences worth booking ahead
- Dragonstone, Mundaka and Guernica from Bilbao4.8 (931)6 hrsFrom €55
- Enjoy the Coast of Biscay: Visit Dragonstone and beautiful towns5.0 (160)From €88
- Munduk Twin Lake Jungle Hike, Ulun Danu Temple, & Waterfall4.9 (35)5 hrsFrom €35
- Bilbao: Gaztelugatxe, Bermeo, Mundaka and Gernika with Txakoli4.4 (159)11 hrsFrom €49
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