WorldCape Verde › Porto Novo › Curralinho

Curralinho 91.1

#103 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇨🇻 Cape Verde · Porto Novo · near Mindelo

Works almost every day, no off season, a mission to reach.

Works all yearRemoteIntermediate
Curralinho, Cape Verde
Photo: Letzte*Spieler · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Surf score91.1 /100
Surfable days100% of the year
Clean days46% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell52% period 11 s+
Typical size1.7 m 5.7 ft median
Water23°C a rash vest or 2 mm

Best time to surf Curralinho

The best time to surf Curralinho is April, October, November. The season runs Oct to May. In April the water sits around 21°C, so pack a 2 mm shorty, and the typical wave is 1.9 m. The nearest airport is SID (253 km) and the nearest town is Mindelo (34 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan100%42%2.0 m21°C2mm
Feb99%54%2.2 m21°C2mm
Mar99%41%2.1 m20°C2mm
Apr100%67%1.9 m21°C2mm
May100%41%1.6 m22°C2mm
Jun100%25%1.5 m22°Cvest
Jul100%25%1.4 m23°Cvest
Aug100%23%1.3 m25°Cboardies
Sep100%35%1.5 m26°Cboardies
Oct100%61%1.7 m26°Cboardies
Nov99%64%2.0 m25°Cvest
Dec100%54%2.1 m23°Cvest

What is under Curralinho

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor sits over 35 m.

Depth 8 km out35 m
Depth 4 km out28 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 91.1

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%
26.5
Best days 22.4%
13.6
Clean days 18.4%
18.4
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
4.3
Access 4.1%
1.7

The detail

Faces 230° with 69% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 88% of days. Mean peak period 11.1 s. Days over 3 m: 2%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 2.5 m, with a peak period of 14 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 10%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 16.922, -25.314 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€952/ month
typically €838 – €1,070
Rent, one bedroom€502
Groceries€200
Eating out€115
Getting around€68
Phone + internet€72
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€1,860/ month
typically €1,640 – €2,080
Somewhere to stay€1,100
Eating out€391
Car, transfers, fuel€251
Data + extras€119
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 Cape Verde (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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