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Côte sauvage - Le 46 67.9

#2511 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇫🇷 France · Charente-Maritime · near La Rochelle

Works almost every day, no off season.

Works all yearIntermediate
Côte sauvage - Le 46, France
Photo: Besenbinder · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Surf score67.9 /100
Surfable days92% of the year
Clean days25% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell40% period 11 s+
Typical size1.4 m 4.4 ft median
Water16°C a 4/3 with boots

Best time to surf Côte sauvage - Le 46

The best time to surf Côte sauvage - Le 46 is March, April, November. The season runs Mar to Apr. In November the water sits around 15°C, so pack a 4/3 with boots, and the typical wave is 2.0 m. The nearest airport is BOD (106 km) and the nearest town is La Rochelle (52 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan86%24%1.9 m10°C5/4
Feb95%38%2.1 m11°C5/4
Mar97%48%1.7 m12°C5/4
Apr92%40%1.2 m14°C4/3
May95%9%1.1 m17°C3/2
Jun91%8%1.0 m20°C2mm
Jul87%2%0.9 m20°C2mm
Aug89%5%0.9 m21°C2mm
Sep94%20%1.0 m20°C2mm
Oct94%19%1.5 m18°C3/2
Nov94%58%2.0 m15°C4/3
Dec90%31%2.3 m12°C5/4

What is under Côte sauvage - Le 46

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor falls away into open ocean, 1,942 m, deep right up to the door, so swell arrives with its energy intact.

Depth 8 km out1942 m
Depth 4 km out974 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 67.9

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%
12.8
Best days 22.4%
16.2
Clean days 18.4%
11.3
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
1.3
Access 4.1%
2.9

The detail

Faces 241° with 56% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 62% of days. Mean peak period 10.5 s. Days over 3 m: 10%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 3.0 m, with a peak period of 13 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 41%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 45.708, -1.243 (OpenStreetMap).

Live here

6 homes for sale within 30 km of Côte sauvage - Le 46, up to 60,000 euro. Houses and flats you can move into, never plots of land. Cheapest right now €24,280. Checked 2026-09-13. Listings from Bien'ici and the agents themselves; we take no part in the deal.

€24,280House · 100 m² · 4 roomsRoyan20 km from the spot →€28,807Flat · 31 m² · 2 roomsRoyan20 km from the spot →€29,598Flat · 63 m² · 2 roomsRoyan19 km from the spot →€34,443House · 57 m² · 3 roomsMeschers-sur-Gironde28 km from the spot →€36,250House · 114 m² · 4 roomsArvert10 km from the spot →€55,000House · 40 m² · 2 roomsArvert12 km from the spot →

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,380/ month
typically €1,210 – €1,540
Rent, one bedroom€727
Groceries€289
Eating out€166
Getting around€98
Phone + internet€102
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€2,690/ month
typically €2,370 – €3,020
Somewhere to stay€1,590
Eating out€565
Car, transfers, fuel€366
Data + extras€174
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 France (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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