Are you visiting Basque Country for the first time? Perhaps you are staying on the Basque coast and want to visit cities or towns on the Atlantic Ocean. A day trip to Pasaia, Spain Basque Country is easy and affordable.

Is Pasaia Basque Country worth visiting?
If you read my San Sebastian travel guide, you’ll see that Donostia-San Sebastian makes a good base camp for day trips to Bilbao, Pasaia and Tolosa, Spain, among others. Accessible by car, bus, boat or train, Pasaia, Spain in Basque Country is worth visiting.
I made a boat trip from Donostia San Sebastian utilizing the San Sebastian City Catamaran. Depending on the time of year, you’ll want to dress in layers for this one hour scenic boat ride. There is inside cover and a bathroom available, as well as a snack bar on the catamaran. The link above includes admission to Albaola Itsas Kultur Faktoria ship museum.

Pasaia, Spain village
With a population of approximately 15,000 people, the fishing village of Pasaia is worth a day trip from San Sebastian. Divided into districts of Donibane, San Pedro, Antixo and Trintxerpe, the village is a bit isolated, thus keeping the population low. Our catamaran sailed on the Basque Coast in the Atlantic Ocean to Pasaia port.
Every Basque town has a summer festival and Pasaia is no exception. The local citizens and tourists celebrate Fiesta de San Juan and the Pasaia Maritime Festival. Held in May, the Pasaia Maritime Festival is a celebration of wooden ships and is quite a spectacle.
Divided by the bay, Donibane and San Pedro are connected by a little boat that ferries passengers across the small body of water to the seaside villages.

Albaola Itsas Kultur Faktoria Museum in Pasaia
Our catamaran dropped us directly at Albaola Itsas Kultur Faktoria Museum. As noted, our entrance to the ship building museum in Pasaia was included with the price of our boat ride. The Albaola Basque Maritime Factory offers a 30-minute guided tour of the UNESCO sponsored museum. Here you will see students learning and practicing the craft of wood ship building.
The biggest project underway at the Albaola Faktoria is the building on the San Juan Galleon replica. This 16th century whale boat sailed out of the Pasaia Port on its way to Canada. In 1563, the San Juan sank in Newfoundland, off the Canadian Coast. The wooden whaling ship was retrieved, piece by piece, from its watery grave, and returned to Pasaia, Spain Basque Country.
My visit to the ship building museum was in 2024. It is estimated that the San Juan wooden replica might be completed in 5 years time. The grand plan is for a Basque crew to sail from Pasaia, Spain, on the San Juan replica. Following the original course by nautical charts, the crew will travel back to Newfoundland, Canada by boat. This will be quite an impressive endeavor, carried out with as much authenticity as possible.
On my visit, students and volunteers were working in the blacksmith shop, forging steel nails by hand. In the shipyard, volunteers were working on the massive wooden whale ship replica.

Pasaia connection to Basque Coast
Pasaia’s connection to the Basque coast is like a baby’s umbilical cord connected to its mother. They both nourish the other. The Basque fishermen, while no longer hunting whales, have a close connection with Pasaia Port and the Atlantic Ocean.
On my visit, I watched the all-female Basque rowing crew, practice paddling in their pink boat. The boat’s sponsor, CMO Valves, is written on the side of the Basque boat as it glides across the water in Pasaia, Spain. The competition will be fierce on the day of the regatta.
After the museum tour and a trip on the little ferry, we watched local Basque musicians perform with txistu (flute) and drum, along with a trikitixa (button accordion) player. From there we strolled the shops, selling Basque cheese and local art. We returned to Donostia-San Sebastian by bus.

I was a guest of Visit Eurkadi while attending TBEX Europe conference in San Sebastian, Spain. All words and photography by Travel Writer Nancy D. Brown. For additional Basque Country resources, Visit Eurkadi is a Basque Country tourism resource for surrounding areas including Bilbao and other coastal villages and cities.