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Cartagena Jetty 46.7

#4286 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇨🇴 Colombia · Bolívar · near Cartagena

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

Works all yearWarm waterIntermediate
Cartagena Jetty, Colombia
Photo: andresisrael · CC BY 3.0 · source
Surf score46.7 /100
Surfable days87% of the year
Clean days0% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell0% period 11 s+
Typical size1.2 m 3.9 ft median
Water29°C boardshorts

Best time to surf Cartagena Jetty

The best time to surf Cartagena Jetty is October. It rarely works. In October the water sits around 30°C, so pack boardshorts, and the typical wave is 0.6 m. The nearest airport is CTG (8 km) and the nearest town is Cartagena (5 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan99%0%1.6 m28°Cboardies
Feb100%0%1.8 m28°Cboardies
Mar100%0%1.6 m28°Cboardies
Apr97%0%1.2 m28°Cboardies
May90%0%0.9 m29°Cboardies
Jun91%0%1.1 m29°Cboardies
Jul99%0%1.3 m29°Cboardies
Aug84%0%1.0 m29°Cboardies
Sep55%0%0.6 m30°Cboardies
Oct48%1%0.6 m30°Cboardies
Nov82%0%0.9 m29°Cboardies
Dec99%0%1.4 m29°Cboardies

What is under Cartagena Jetty

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor sits over 51 m.

Depth 8 km out51 m
Depth 4 km out27 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 46.7

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%
7.8
Best days 22.4%
8.5
Clean days 18.4%
0.0
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
3.7
Water comfort 6.1%
6.1
Access 4.1%
4.1

The detail

Faces 337° with 47% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 82% of days. Mean peak period 7.1 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.8 m, with a peak period of 8 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 50%. Months that work: 11 of 12. Coordinates 10.399, -75.564 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,160/ month
typically €1,020 – €1,300
Rent, one bedroom€603
Groceries€240
Eating out€135
Getting around€80
Phone + internet€86
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€2,250/ month
typically €1,980 – €2,520
Somewhere to stay€1,320
Eating out€474
Car, transfers, fuel€308
Data + extras€141
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Airport and town on the doorstep, so the local estimate is 23% above the country average. Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for Colombia (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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