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Archies 41.4

#4665 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇦🇺 Australia · Queensland · near Bundaberg

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

Works all yearWarm waterRemoteIntermediate
Surf score41.4 /100
Surfable days96% of the year
Clean days1% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell1% period 11 s+
Typical size1.0 m 3.4 ft median
Water24°C a rash vest or 2 mm

Best time to surf Archies

The best time to surf Archies is February, March, May. It rarely works. In February the water sits around 27°C, so pack boardshorts, and the typical wave is 1.2 m. The nearest airport is ROK (260 km) and the nearest town is Bundaberg (13 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan99%0%1.1 m28°Cboardies
Feb100%1%1.2 m27°Cboardies
Mar95%1%1.2 m27°Cboardies
Apr97%0%1.2 m25°Cboardies
May99%1%1.2 m23°Cvest
Jun94%1%0.9 m21°C2mm
Jul91%1%0.9 m20°C2mm
Aug89%1%0.9 m20°C2mm
Sep94%0%1.0 m21°C2mm
Oct99%1%0.9 m24°Cvest
Nov97%0%0.9 m26°Cboardies
Dec98%0%1.1 m27°Cboardies

What is under Archies

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor sits over 32 m. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 45 m against 32 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out32 m
Depth 4 km out16 m
Channel beside it45 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 41.4

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%
6.8
Best days 22.4%
7.9
Clean days 18.4%
0.0
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
4.8
Access 4.1%
2.0

The detail

Faces 80° with 50% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 48% of days. Mean peak period 7.5 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.7 m, with a peak period of 9 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 66%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates -24.847, 152.478 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,560/ month
typically €1,380 – €1,750
Rent, one bedroom€824
Groceries€327
Eating out€187
Getting around€110
Phone + internet€119
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€3,060/ month
typically €2,690 – €3,430
Somewhere to stay€1,800
Eating out€642
Car, transfers, fuel€416
Data + extras€196
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Remote spot, so the local estimate is 15% below the country average. Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for Australia (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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Sumba has eight spots in this ranking, the best of them inside the world top 50. A cabin is €11,500. The land it sits on is separate, from €6,500 (€9,950 oceanfront), on an 80-year lease that extends at the end. Water, septic and electricity are another €6,500, and furniture is on top, so a finished cabin lands around €28,000 plus the land, payable in instalments.

Eco Beach City is run by the same people as SurfRanking, so treat this as our own advert, not a recommendation. It is an off-plan property in Indonesia: take your own legal and financial advice before paying anything.

Spots nearby

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