We were greeted by a large pod of dolphins at the bow, and clean swell lines marching into Playa de Somo one of Santander’s best beaches, it was on!

By the time we got into the ocean the wind had dropped and the waves were a playful 3ft and hell of a lot of fun.

The main peak is a right that has a bowly takeoff, followed by a slow peeling wall that breaks into a deep hole perfect for cutbacks. On the other side of the channel is a good fast left that needs to be attacked with speed.

But the main wave of the area we were eager to sample is a right hand reef which breaks along a beautiful island 200m paddle from the shore La Isla!

After a good run of days finding our feet on the peak out front, we were treated to a good clean six-foot swell, which was lighting up the beach and the island!We divided forces, the groms and a couple of the boys opted for the perfect hollow beach, myself and the saffa headed for La Isla which was looking flawless on the set with no takers as yet.

We paddled like mad men across the channel and out to the breaking waves. As we arrived at the end section we realised why there was no one out there yet, the tide was still very low with boils and rocks popping up everywhere.

Nevertheless we thought we might as well give it a go, so we started on the shoulder and slowly worked our way deeper with each wave. A perfect session unfolded, just the two of us trading overhead perfect fast walling rights, with the most stunning mountain backdrop of the Pico de Europa covered in snow. As the tide pushed, the wave just got better and better, but we could see cars and a crowd starting to gather on the headland. It wasn’t long before locals were flocking out into the line-up of their much prized point break but we had had our fill by this stage so left them to it and very content paddled over to join the boys on the beach.