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Cape Sebastian 72.1

#2204 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇺🇸 United States of America · Oregon · near Crescent City

Works almost every day, wind is the enemy here, no off season.

Works all yearBig waveIntermediate
Cape Sebastian, United States of America
Photo: Gary Halvorson, Oregon State Archives · CC BY 4.0 · source
Surf score72.1 /100
Surfable days97% of the year
Clean days19% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell54% period 11 s+
Typical size1.8 m 5.8 ft median
Water11°C a 5/4 with boots and hood

Best time to surf Cape Sebastian

The best time to surf Cape Sebastian is January, April, October. It rarely works. In October the water sits around 12°C, so pack a 5/4 with boots and hood, and the typical wave is 1.8 m. The nearest airport is ACV (152 km) and the nearest town is Crescent City (65 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan85%35%2.8 m11°C5/4
Feb97%29%2.3 m11°C5/4
Mar97%33%2.1 m10°C5/4
Apr97%36%1.9 m10°C5/4
May100%5%1.7 m9°C6/5
Jun100%5%1.5 m9°C6/5
Jul100%0%1.4 m11°C5/4
Aug100%4%1.3 m11°C5/4
Sep100%18%1.4 m12°C5/4
Oct98%38%1.8 m12°C5/4
Nov98%29%2.1 m12°C5/4
Dec92%24%2.7 m12°C5/4

What is under Cape Sebastian

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor falls away into open ocean, 693 m, deep right up to the door, so swell arrives with its energy intact. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 1143 m against 693 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out693 m
Depth 4 km out594 m
Channel beside it1143 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 72.1

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%
19.6
Best days 22.4%
17.7
Clean days 18.4%
8.5
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
0.0
Access 4.1%
2.2

The detail

Faces 255° with 53% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 35% of days. Mean peak period 11.4 s. Days over 3 m: 13%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 3.2 m, with a peak period of 14 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 14%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 42.319, -124.424 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,700/ month
typically €1,500 – €1,900
Rent, one bedroom€892
Groceries€357
Eating out€204
Getting around€119
Phone + internet€128
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€3,320/ month
typically €2,920 – €3,710
Somewhere to stay€1,960
Eating out€697
Car, transfers, fuel€450
Data + extras€212
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 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.

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.

Spots nearby

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