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Chop Chop 54.9

#3637 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇳🇱 Netherlands · Bonaire · near Willemstad

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

Works all yearWarm waterIntermediate
Chop Chop, Netherlands
Photo: dronepicr · CC BY 2.0 · source
Surf score54.9 /100
Surfable days100% of the year
Clean days0% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell2% period 11 s+
Typical size1.3 m 4.1 ft median
Water28°C boardshorts

Best time to surf Chop Chop

It rarely works. The nearest airport is CUR (80 km) and the nearest town is Willemstad (70 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan100%0%1.4 m27°Cboardies
Feb100%0%1.6 m27°Cboardies
Mar100%0%1.4 m27°Cboardies
Apr100%0%1.4 m27°Cboardies
May100%0%1.4 m28°Cboardies
Jun100%0%1.3 m28°Cboardies
Jul100%0%1.2 m28°Cboardies
Aug100%0%1.1 m29°Cboardies
Sep99%0%1.0 m29°Cboardies
Oct100%0%1.1 m30°Cboardies
Nov100%0%1.1 m29°Cboardies
Dec100%0%1.3 m28°Cboardies

What is under Chop Chop

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor sits over 43 m.

Depth 8 km out43 m
Depth 4 km out9 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 54.9

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%
17.1
Best days 22.4%
7.2
Clean days 18.4%
0.0
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
6.1
Access 4.1%
2.8

The detail

Faces 75° with 50% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 0% of days. Mean peak period 6.3 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.7 m, with a peak period of 7 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 41%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 12.077, -68.231 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,490/ month
typically €1,310 – €1,670
Rent, one bedroom€782
Groceries€314
Eating out€178
Getting around€106
Phone + internet€110
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€2,910/ month
typically €2,560 – €3,260
Somewhere to stay€1,710
Eating out€612
Car, transfers, fuel€395
Data + extras€187
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 Netherlands (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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