WorldSpain › Tarragona › Altafulla

Altafulla 30.2

#5309 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇪🇸 Spain · Tarragona · near Tarragona

Wind is the enemy here, gentle enough to learn.

Beginner
Altafulla, Spain
Photo: Jorge Franganillo · CC BY 2.0 · source
Surf score30.2 /100
Surfable days42% of the year
Clean days0% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell0% period 11 s+
Typical size0.5 m 1.8 ft median
Water20°C a 2 mm shorty

Best time to surf Altafulla

It rarely works. The nearest airport is BCN (61 km) and the nearest town is Tarragona (11 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan52%0%0.6 m14°C4/3
Feb43%0%0.5 m13°C4/3
Mar66%0%0.8 m14°C4/3
Apr53%0%0.6 m16°C4/3
May35%0%0.5 m19°C3/2
Jun25%0%0.4 m24°Cvest
Jul12%0%0.5 m27°Cboardies
Aug21%0%0.4 m28°Cboardies
Sep36%0%0.5 m25°Cboardies
Oct49%0%0.6 m23°Cvest
Nov65%0%0.8 m19°C3/2
Dec41%0%0.5 m16°C4/3

What is under Altafulla

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor falls away into open ocean, 720 m, shoaling steadily over the last kilometres. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 1207 m against 720 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out720 m
Depth 4 km out59 m
Channel beside it1207 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 30.2

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%
10.7
Best days 22.4%
3.0
Clean days 18.4%
0.0
Consistency 10.2%
4.5
Season spread 4.1%
1.1
Water comfort 6.1%
2.9
Access 4.1%
3.9

The detail

Faces 160° with 50% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 93% of days. Mean peak period 4.9 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.1 m, with a peak period of 6 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 64%. Months that work: 4 of 12. Coordinates 41.134, 1.384 (OpenStreetMap).

Live here

148 homes for sale within 30 km of Altafulla, up to 60,000 euro. Houses and flats you can move into, never plots of land. Cheapest right now €16,000. Checked 2026-09-13. Listings from Fotocasa and the agents themselves; we take no part in the deal.

€17,500Flat · 38 m² · 1 roomValls20 km from the spot →€33,900Flat · 40 m² · 2 roomsBonastre11 km from the spot →€38,000Flat · 40 m² · 1 roomBonastre11 km from the spot →€45,000Flat · 249 m² · 5 roomsTarragona12 km from the spot →€47,000Flat · 50 m² · 2 roomsTarragona11 km from the spot →€56,000Flat · 73 m²Els Pallaresos12 km from the spot →

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,420/ month
typically €1,250 – €1,590
Rent, one bedroom€745
Groceries€300
Eating out€170
Getting around€100
Phone + internet€105
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€2,770/ month
typically €2,440 – €3,100
Somewhere to stay€1,640
Eating out€585
Car, transfers, fuel€375
Data + extras€180
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for Spain (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.

Our own project · Sumba, Indonesia
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