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Broadstairs 28.1

#5398 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Kent · near Dover

Wind is the enemy here, thick rubber, gentle enough to learn.

Beginner friendlyBeginner
Surf score28.1 /100
Surfable days65% of the year
Clean days0% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell0% period 11 s+
Typical size0.8 m 2.6 ft median
Water14°C a 4/3 with boots

Best time to surf Broadstairs

It rarely works. The nearest airport is LGW (114 km) and the nearest town is Dover (27 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan72%0%0.9 m9°C6/5
Feb81%0%1.0 m9°C6/5
Mar72%0%1.0 m10°C6/5
Apr66%0%0.8 m11°C5/4
May51%0%0.6 m13°C5/4
Jun53%0%0.6 m15°C4/3
Jul40%0%0.5 m19°C3/2
Aug45%0%0.6 m20°C2mm
Sep60%0%0.7 m18°C3/2
Oct81%0%1.0 m16°C4/3
Nov76%0%1.0 m14°C4/3
Dec81%0%1.0 m11°C5/4

What is under Broadstairs

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor sits over 45 m.

Depth 8 km out45 m
Depth 4 km out43 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 28.1

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%
3.3
Best days 22.4%
6.8
Clean days 18.4%
0.0
Consistency 10.2%
7.5
Season spread 4.1%
3.4
Water comfort 6.1%
0.3
Access 4.1%
3.1

The detail

Faces 105° with 53% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 55% of days. Mean peak period 4.9 s. Days over 3 m: 1%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.7 m, with a peak period of 6 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 60%. Months that work: 10 of 12. Coordinates 51.357, 1.443 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,830/ month
typically €1,610 – €2,050
Rent, one bedroom€960
Groceries€385
Eating out€220
Getting around€130
Phone + internet€135
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€3,570/ month
typically €3,140 – €4,000
Somewhere to stay€2,100
Eating out€750
Car, transfers, fuel€485
Data + extras€230
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

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.

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.

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