Coworking at the Côte des Basques, by the ocean

The Côte des Basques is not just another part of Biarritz. This long beach below the cliffs, on the town's southern side, is where European surfing began. A whole generation of entrepreneurs now chooses to live here, and the question of where to work takes on a flavour of its own. This article looks at what coworking in Biarritz looks like in this particular neighbourhood: what changes, what helps, and what gets in the way.

What makes the Côte des Basques different

First, the light. The bay faces due west, which gives you spectacular late afternoons and morning light that skims across the rocks. A well-designed workspace makes the most of it all day long.

Then there is the ocean, right on your doorstep. You finish a meeting, walk for three minutes and you are on the sand. That is no small thing: it changes the shape of the working day. Instead of putting off your surf or your walk until tomorrow, you fit it in between two blocks of focused work.

Finally, a quiet concentration of people. Over the past five years, the neighbourhood has drawn founders, operators and investors looking for something other than Paris. You will not spot them from the café terraces above the beach, but they are here. And they run into each other.

What a working day looks like here

A typical day often starts early. The tide usually favours a morning session, and people who work locally have built that natural constraint into their diaries.

7am to 9am: get up, a quick coffee, cold water. Three days out of five, an hour's surf. On the other days, a walk or a swim.

9am to 1pm: deep work. For most people this is the main block of the day. A good workspace at the Côte des Basques has to make room for it without friction: silence, light, no interruptions.

1pm to 2.30pm: lunch. There are so many restaurants nearby that you only eat alone if you want to.

2.30pm to 6pm: meetings, calls, conversations. The more social part of the day.

After 6pm: often another walk, or a session if the conditions are right. Or dinner with other founders, which is the neighbourhood's other real asset.

The catches

Working at the Côte des Basques is not all upside. Three things to weigh up.

Parking. There are plenty of spaces at the Côte des Basques, and out of season, parking is no problem at all. In summer, though, plan to arrive before 10am. The town's resident and worker parking permits are cheap and make life easier. That said, in Biarritz a bike or the town's free shuttle buses are more pleasant day to day.

Summer noise. In July and August, you notice the tourists. A well-insulated workspace gets through the summer without trouble; a poorly insulated one becomes impossible to work in.

Temptation. This is a neighbourhood where doing nothing is very easy. If you do not already have a solid working rhythm, your surroundings will not give you one.

Getting here and getting around

The Côte des Basques is easy to reach, which matters the day a business partner or an investor comes to see you. Biarritz Pays Basque airport is nine minutes from the town centre, and the TGV, France's high-speed train, runs direct to Bordeaux and Paris. Anglet, the next town along, sometimes offers larger premises, but it is further from the station and the airport.

Once you are here, the neighbourhood works better on foot or by bike than by car. The town's free shuttle buses serve the coast, and parking once for the whole day beats moving your car all the time. If you want something more settled than a passing visit, a desk of your own rented by the month makes all the difference: that is what renting an office in Biarritz is about.

How to choose a space in this neighbourhood

The general criteria in our overview of coworking spaces in Biarritz still apply, but a few points carry more weight at the Côte des Basques.

Quiet becomes critical in high season. Sports facilities (showers, somewhere to keep your board, a rack) go from nice-to-have to decisive here. The community matters more too, because the neighbourhood draws a lot of visitors and you want your space to stay a place of work, not a place people drift through.

Calls deserve some thought as well. Between two sessions, a video call with an investor or a client does not work well from a café terrace: you need a quiet booth, good light and clear sound. Places designed for people who run their own business build that in from the start; the others leave you to improvise.

The larger coworking spaces in the area fill up differently in summer and in winter. Smaller ones keep the same people all year round, which makes life simpler.

What a small coworking space offers at the Côte des Basques

Everything described above is the brief Bibi House was built to: a coworking space at the Côte des Basques, at 11 rue Lamartine, a short walk from the sand, with quiet offices, changing rooms with showers, a gym and a surf room under one roof, and a community that does not change with the seasons. You work in peace in the morning, head to the water or the gym between two blocks if you feel like it, and see the same faces over coffee.

Two plans, no minimum term: Flex, a hot desk in the open-plan space, at €299 a month excl. VAT; Fixe, your own desk in a private office, at €399 a month excl. VAT. The gym and the surf room are included in both. Bibi House opens on 1 November 2026 and welcomes you Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm; you can book your place now. Have a look at the spaces and the plans, read about a typical day here, or send us a WhatsApp: we will show you round.

Conclusion

The Côte des Basques changes what a working day is. It gives it a rhythm, it feeds it, and it also makes it harder when you lack the discipline to stick at it. Chosen well, a coworking space in this neighbourhood is one of the best things someone who works for themselves can treat themselves to in France today. Chosen badly, it is a lovely address where nothing gets done.

To dig deeper: the routine that combines surfing and running a business, and why cold water changes the quality of your work.