The questions everyone asks the week before they come.

Year-round guide:

• October to May: 4/3 fullsuit. Booties optional, hood rarely needed.
• June and September: 3/2 fullsuit.
• July and August: 3/2 shorty or springsuit. No suit at all on a hot afternoon if you're a confident swimmer.

Water temperature in winter (Jan-Feb) bottoms out around 11-12°C. Summer peaks at 21-22°C in late August.

Boardies are fine from June 1 to October 1.

Surf shops and surf schools at every break offer board hire by the hour, day, or week. Hourly is roughly €10-15, daily €20-30, weekly €80-120. Soft tops for beginners and learners; epoxy and PU performance boards for experienced surfers.

Surf schools work all the central beaches in season (April to October). Group lessons are around €40-50 per 1.5-hour session including board and wetsuit; private lessons €80-100. Most schools run a "découverte" first-timer week of five sessions for €180-220.

The lake (Lac Marin d'Hossegor) is calm, shallow at the edges, and safe for young kids and complete beginners on stand-up paddle. It's not the ocean. For surf, even a complete beginner is better off taking a lesson at La Sud than trying to learn on the lake. The ocean is the point of being here.

Yes. The lake is calm and shallow at the edges, the cycle paths are flat and protected, the ocean at La Sud is the gentlest of the central beaches, and surf schools run dedicated kids' lessons from May to September. The town is compact and walkable. Most rental flats are family-sized and have a garden.

The main central beaches (La Sud, La Centrale, La Gravière, Les Estagnots) are lifeguarded daily 11:00-19:00 from mid-June to early September. Outside those dates and times, no lifeguard. The flagged "baignade surveillée" zone changes daily based on the conditions; respect the flags.

Big shop: Carrefour Market in Soorts-Hossegor or Intermarché in Capbreton. Small shop: Casino in Hossegor centre. Markets: Place du Trinquet on Saturday morning (producers, year-round) and Tuesday morning in summer. The Saturday market is the one to go to if you only go to one.

Hossegor centre has half a dozen cafés that all do an espresso plus pastry plus juice combo for around €8. The Monday issue's "where to eat" block rotates through them; check there for current picks.

Centre. Walk to everything. Restaurants, the cinema, the markets, all under 10 minutes. Furthest from the ocean (about 1.5km to La Sud). Best for non-surfing partners and shorter trips.

Lake side. Quieter, leafier, the lake itself is a 2-minute walk. About 800m to the ocean. Best for families and SUP people.

Near the beach. The villas and flats along the dune road north of the centre. Steps to the sand. Less amenity walking but easier surf logistics.

The Monday issue's "where to stay" block lists rentals from local agencies (Hossegor Immo, Locations Vacances Hossegor) that are the trusted way in. Airbnb works but the local agencies are usually cheaper for the same property and easier to deal with if something breaks. Reserve early for July and August.

In July and August the central streets are full by 10am. The dune-side car parks (La Centrale, La Gravière) fill earlier. If you're surfing in summer, be on the sand by 8am or come back at 17:00. Outside July-August it's not really a problem.

Casual everywhere. Even the nicer restaurants are fine with shorts and a clean t-shirt at lunch. At dinner the centre fills up after 19:30; you'll want a long-sleeve and trousers if you're going somewhere with white tablecloths, but no jacket needed anywhere.

In the surf shops, surf schools, restaurants near the beach, and most cafés in the centre, yes. In the supermarket, the bakery, the pharmacy, less reliably. A bonjour and merci go a long way. The Monday issue exists partly because reading French listings is the genuinely hard part of being here without French. The speaking part's mostly fine.