WorldChile › Ñuble › Buchupureo

Buchupureo 87.0

#281 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇨🇱 Chile · Ñuble · near Quirihue

Works almost every day, no off season, thick rubber.

Works all yearAdvanced
Buchupureo, Chile
Photo: CARLOS SALGADO MELLA · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Surf score87.0 /100
Surfable days100% of the year
Clean days45% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell85% period 11 s+
Typical size2.0 m 6.6 ft median
Water12°C a 5/4 with boots and hood

Best time to surf Buchupureo

The best time to surf Buchupureo is February, May, July. The season runs Feb to Sep. In May the water sits around 12°C, so pack a 5/4 with boots and hood, and the typical wave is 1.9 m. The nearest airport is CCP (81 km) and the nearest town is Quirihue (33 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan100%21%2.0 m13°C5/4
Feb100%63%1.8 m14°C4/3
Mar100%55%2.0 m13°C4/3
Apr100%40%2.0 m12°C5/4
May100%75%1.9 m12°C5/4
Jun100%62%2.1 m12°C5/4
Jul100%64%2.1 m11°C5/4
Aug97%48%2.1 m12°C5/4
Sep99%40%2.1 m12°C5/4
Oct100%32%2.0 m11°C5/4
Nov100%26%2.0 m12°C5/4
Dec100%24%2.0 m13°C4/3

What is under Buchupureo

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor falls away into open ocean, 525 m, deep right up to the door, so swell arrives with its energy intact.

Depth 8 km out525 m
Depth 4 km out271 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 87.0

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%
24.2
Best days 22.4%
15.1
Clean days 18.4%
18.4
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
0.0
Access 4.1%
3.4

The detail

Faces 290° with 47% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 53% of days. Mean peak period 12.8 s. Days over 3 m: 4%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 2.7 m, with a peak period of 15 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 4%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates -36.077, -72.799 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,120/ month
typically €986 – €1,250
Rent, one bedroom€590
Groceries€235
Eating out€135
Getting around€80
Phone + internet€85
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€2,190/ month
typically €1,930 – €2,450
Somewhere to stay€1,290
Eating out€460
Car, transfers, fuel€295
Data + extras€140
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for Chile (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
Own a cabin on a surf coast in Sumba

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

Quintay🇨🇱 Chile · score 82.2Red Bluff🇦🇺 Australia · score 81.0Sometimes🇮🇩 Indonesia · score 80.7Inatel🇵🇹 Portugal · score 80.3
Compare Buchupureo with 5,700 other spots
Filters by month, level and water, map, side by side comparison and a trip planner.
Open the interactive profileMore spots good in May