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Brighton (West Pier) 39.6

#4808 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Brighton and Hove · near Brighton

Very consistent, wind is the enemy here, no off season.

Works all yearBeginner friendlyBeginner
Brighton (West Pier), United Kingdom
Photo: Arild Vågen · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Surf score39.6 /100
Surfable days76% of the year
Clean days1% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell2% period 11 s+
Typical size1.0 m 3.3 ft median
Water14°C a 4/3 with boots

Best time to surf Brighton (West Pier)

The best time to surf Brighton (West Pier) is February, March, April. It rarely works. In April the water sits around 11°C, so pack a 5/4 with boots and hood, and the typical wave is 0.8 m. The nearest airport is LGW (37 km) and the nearest town is Brighton (2 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan84%1%1.6 m8°C6/5
Feb94%2%1.8 m8°C6/5
Mar81%2%1.2 m9°C6/5
Apr73%4%0.8 m11°C5/4
May67%0%0.8 m13°C4/3
Jun61%1%0.7 m16°C3/2
Jul52%0%0.6 m19°C3/2
Aug62%0%0.7 m20°C2mm
Sep73%0%0.8 m18°C3/2
Oct88%1%1.4 m16°C4/3
Nov92%1%1.6 m13°C4/3
Dec88%1%1.7 m11°C5/4

What is under Brighton (West Pier)

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor sits over 29 m. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 40 m against 29 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out29 m
Depth 4 km out24 m
Channel beside it40 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 39.6

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%
4.2
Best days 22.4%
12.7
Clean days 18.4%
0.0
Consistency 10.2%
9.0
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
0.2
Access 4.1%
4.1

The detail

Faces 190° with 44% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 49% of days. Mean peak period 6.5 s. Days over 3 m: 5%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 2.5 m, with a peak period of 8 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 49%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 50.821, -0.153 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€2,250/ month
typically €1,980 – €2,520
Rent, one bedroom€1,180
Groceries€474
Eating out€271
Getting around€160
Phone + internet€166
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€4,390/ month
typically €3,860 – €4,920
Somewhere to stay€2,590
Eating out€922
Car, transfers, fuel€597
Data + extras€283
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 United Kingdom (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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