WorldUnited States of America › New Jersey › Cape May Ave.

Cape May Ave. 40.1

#4766 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇺🇸 United States of America · New Jersey · near Atlantic City

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

Works all yearIntermediate
Surf score40.1 /100
Surfable days89% of the year
Clean days4% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell5% period 11 s+
Typical size1.0 m 3.3 ft median
Water13°C a 4/3 with boots

Best time to surf Cape May Ave.

The best time to surf Cape May Ave. is March, September, October. It rarely works. In September the water sits around 22°C, so pack a 2 mm shorty, and the typical wave is 1.1 m. The nearest airport is PHL (96 km) and the nearest town is Atlantic City (43 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan90%6%1.2 m4°C6/5
Feb94%1%1.1 m2°C6/5
Mar88%7%1.2 m5°C6/5
Apr89%2%1.1 m9°C6/5
May94%3%1.0 m14°C4/3
Jun84%1%0.8 m19°C2mm
Jul85%1%0.8 m24°Cvest
Aug77%1%0.7 m24°Cvest
Sep91%15%1.1 m22°C2mm
Oct93%8%1.1 m19°C3/2
Nov94%2%1.1 m13°C5/4
Dec85%4%1.1 m7°C6/5

What is under Cape May Ave.

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor drops to 107 m.

Depth 8 km out107 m
Depth 4 km out67 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 40.1

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%
6.7
Best days 22.4%
9.0
Clean days 18.4%
1.5
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
0.2
Access 4.1%
3.1

The detail

Faces 132° with 53% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 76% of days. Mean peak period 7.4 s. Days over 3 m: 1%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.8 m, with a peak period of 10 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 66%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 39.690, -74.143 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€2,000/ month
typically €1,760 – €2,240
Rent, one bedroom€1,050
Groceries€420
Eating out€240
Getting around€140
Phone + internet€150
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€3,900/ month
typically €3,430 – €4,370
Somewhere to stay€2,300
Eating out€820
Car, transfers, fuel€530
Data + extras€250
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 States of America (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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