WorldSierra Leone › Western › Aberdeen Area Beach

Aberdeen Area Beach 53.5

#3734 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇸🇱 Sierra Leone · Western · near Freetown

Works almost every day, wind is the enemy here, no off season.

Works all yearWarm waterBeginner friendlyBeginner
Aberdeen Area Beach, Sierra Leone
Photo: Ghassan Mroue · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Surf score53.5 /100
Surfable days94% of the year
Clean days12% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell15% period 11 s+
Typical size0.8 m 2.6 ft median
Water28°C boardshorts

Best time to surf Aberdeen Area Beach

The best time to surf Aberdeen Area Beach is May, June, July. It rarely works. In June the water sits around 29°C, so pack boardshorts, and the typical wave is 0.9 m. The nearest airport is FNA (17 km) and the nearest town is Freetown (6 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan72%5%0.6 m28°Cboardies
Feb92%7%0.7 m28°Cboardies
Mar94%9%0.8 m28°Cboardies
Apr99%12%0.8 m28°Cboardies
May99%22%0.8 m29°Cboardies
Jun100%31%0.9 m29°Cboardies
Jul100%17%1.1 m28°Cboardies
Aug100%6%1.1 m27°Cboardies
Sep100%14%1.0 m27°Cboardies
Oct98%12%0.8 m28°Cboardies
Nov96%3%0.7 m29°Cboardies
Dec83%3%0.7 m28°Cboardies

What is under Aberdeen Area Beach

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor is still shallow, 19 m.

Depth 8 km out19 m
Depth 4 km out14 m

Measured, not estimated: NOAA ETOPO 2022 global relief at 15 arc-seconds, about 460 m per cell, sampled along this spot’s own swell window. At that scale the survey sees passes and channels; it cannot see a reef ledge, so nothing here is said about how the wave breaks.

Why 53.5

Seven parts, each normalised 0 to 1 and multiplied by its weight; the sum is scaled so the best spot in the world scores 100. Wave quality and what the spot does on its best days carry more than half of it, which is what separates this from a ranking of where the water is warm.

Wave quality 34.7%
11.6
Best days 22.4%
4.9
Clean days 18.4%
5.3
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
6.1
Access 4.1%
4.1

The detail

Faces 305° with 64% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 80% of days. Mean peak period 9.8 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.2 m, with a peak period of 12 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 91%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 8.491, -13.291 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€812/ month
typically €714 – €909
Rent, one bedroom€424
Groceries€172
Eating out€98
Getting around€55
Phone + internet€62
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€1,590/ month
typically €1,400 – €1,780
Somewhere to stay€935
Eating out€332
Car, transfers, fuel€215
Data + extras€105
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Airport and town on the doorstep, so the local estimate is 23% above the country average. Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for Sierra Leone (2025, United States = 1.00) applied to a fixed surfer basket, then adjusted for how remote the spot is. Your own number moves with the season and how you live.

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