Live forecast for La Concha Beach (San Sebastian, Gipuzkoa). Water temperature, wave height, wind, beach index 1-10 and best time to swim. Coordinates 43.3170, -1.9890.
Considered one of the most beautiful urban beaches in Europe, La Concha stretches in a crescent between Mount Urgull and Mount Igueldo in the heart of San Sebastian bay. Its waters are calm thanks to Santa Clara island, making it ideal for families.
Orientation: north, approximate length 1350 m, sand type: fine golden sand. Holds a current Blue Flag award. Services: showers, toilets, sunbed and parasol rental, lifeguards in high season and access for visitors with reduced mobility. Access: under five minutes on foot from the Old Town. City bus lines 5, 16, 25 and 26. Underground parking at Plaza del Buen Pastor.
The WhatAWeather beach index combines six meteorological variables into a 0-10 score: air temperature (best above 22 °C), sea surface temperature from the Open-Meteo Marine model (best above 20 °C), wind speed (best below 20 km/h), significant wave height (best below 0.8 m), cloud cover (best below 30 %) and accumulated rainfall (best below 0.5 mm). A value of 8-10 means perfect, 6-7 good, 4-5 acceptable and below 4 we advise against swimming.
For the official microbiological status of Spanish bathing waters consult the NAYADE system run by the Spanish Ministry of Health. WhatAWeather displays an informational jellyfish warning when sea temperature exceeds 23 °C and the wind blows from the east (levante), a situation statistically correlated with sightings in the Mediterranean and the Strait of Gibraltar. This is an orientation indicator and does not replace official Red Cross or city council bulletins.
The sea is at its warmest in August, averaging 23.6 °C, and at its coldest in February, at 13.3 °C. On land the month with the highest daily maxima is August, which averages 24.6 °C.
The sea holds above 20 °C in June, July, August and September. Outside those months a swim is possible but short, and in midwinter it is plainly cold without a wetsuit. The gap between air and sea temperature is the figure that misleads most: in August the air reaches 24.6 °C against 23.6 °C in the water. The tide changes the beach completely, mind: at high water the sand is reduced to a narrow strip, so it is worth checking the table before you go down.
In July and August the mean wave height is around 1.1 m, a manageable sea, with a small shorebreak that rarely stops anyone swimming. In winter the mean climbs to 1.8 m, with the annual peak in February at 2.0 m. The prevailing summer wind comes from the north-northwest, and the windiest month is February, when daily maximum gusts average 20 km/h.
July averages 11.0 hours of effective sunshine a day and 12.1 rain days across the month. July is also the driest month of the year, against November, the wettest, with 16.9 rain days; over the year as a whole it rains on about 174 days.
| Month | Max. air | Min. air | Sea | Wave | Max. gust | Rain days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 11.9 | 6.2 | 13.8 | 1.70 | 19 | 15.9 |
| February | 13.7 | 7.0 | 13.3 | 2.00 | 20 | 15.0 |
| March | 15.1 | 8.0 | 13.3 | 1.70 | 20 | 16.8 |
| April | 16.9 | 9.6 | 14.7 | 1.30 | 17 | 14.2 |
| May | 19.2 | 12.1 | 16.9 | 1.10 | 16 | 15.9 |
| June | 22.0 | 15.4 | 20.7 | 0.90 | 14 | 14.3 |
| July | 23.8 | 17.4 | 22.5 | 1.00 | 14 | 12.1 |
| August | 24.6 | 17.6 | 23.6 | 1.10 | 14 | 12.3 |
| September | 22.9 | 15.7 | 22.3 | 1.20 | 15 | 13.0 |
| October | 20.5 | 13.6 | 19.9 | 1.30 | 18 | 13.4 |
| November | 15.9 | 10.0 | 17.2 | 1.90 | 19 | 16.9 |
| December | 14.1 | 8.4 | 15.0 | 1.80 | 20 | 13.9 |
These are climatological means, not a forecast: they describe what has happened on average over the past decade, and any single day can depart a long way from them. The sea column holds the mean of the daily maximum sea-surface temperature, and the wave column the mean of the day's highest significant wave height. The beach index above, by contrast, is computed from today's forecast, combining air and sea temperature, waves, wind, cloud and rain — which is why it can contradict the table on any given day.
