Playa San Lorenzo is one of the few genuinely urban beaches in Spain where the city front runs straight onto the sand. The beach stretches 1.5 kilometres along the city's northern edge, backed by a promenade of Belle Époque buildings, cafes, and the Teatro Jovellanos — the kind of built relationship between city and sea that requires centuries of commitment to achieve. The Bay of Biscay here faces directly north, which means Atlantic swells, good surf conditions in autumn and winter, and water that is colder and more bracing than the Mediterranean beaches that the rest of Spain is famous for.
Surfers use the beach year-round; swimmers arrive in summer. The town's beach culture is more Asturian than Andalusian — the cafes are full of people drinking cider and eating bocadillos rather than sangria and patatas bravas, and the beach itself is covered in towels from June through September. The western end of the beach, below the old town of Cimadevilla, has the most activity; the eastern end is quieter and borders a smaller beach, Playa de Poniente. The promenade behind the beach is a good walk at any time of year, especially on winter mornings when the surf is up and the sea is making noise.