WorldPhilippines › Surigao del Norte › Daku Island

Daku Island 51.1

#3971 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇵🇭 Philippines · Surigao del Norte · near Surigao

Wind is the enemy here, peaks in October, boardshorts water.

Warm waterBeginner friendlyRemoteBeginner
Daku Island, Philippines
Photo: ChaasPrime · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source · photo taken 4.3 km from the spot
Surf score51.1 /100
Surfable days69% of the year
Clean days3% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell6% period 11 s+
Typical size0.8 m 2.6 ft median
Water29°C boardshorts

Best time to surf Daku Island

The best time to surf Daku Island is April, October, November. It rarely works. In October the water sits around 30°C, so pack boardshorts, and the typical wave is 0.7 m. The nearest airport is CEB (248 km) and the nearest town is Surigao (74 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan100%1%1.3 m29°Cboardies
Feb100%1%1.2 m28°Cboardies
Mar100%1%1.0 m28°Cboardies
Apr100%6%0.8 m29°Cboardies
May68%1%0.7 m30°Cboardies
Jun29%1%0.5 m30°Cboardies
Jul16%1%0.5 m30°Cboardies
Aug15%0%0.5 m30°Cboardies
Sep33%5%0.5 m30°Cboardies
Oct77%11%0.7 m30°Cboardies
Nov95%7%0.9 m30°Cboardies
Dec99%3%1.2 m29°Cboardies

What is under Daku Island

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor sits over 50 m. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 143 m against 50 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out50 m
Depth 4 km out32 m
Channel beside it143 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 51.1

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%
19.2
Best days 22.4%
6.0
Clean days 18.4%
1.0
Consistency 10.2%
8.1
Season spread 4.1%
2.6
Water comfort 6.1%
6.1
Access 4.1%
1.2

The detail

Faces 120° with 75% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 57% of days. Mean peak period 9.4 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.4 m, with a peak period of 10 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 82%. Months that work: 8 of 12. Coordinates 9.746, 126.166 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€722/ month
typically €636 – €809
Rent, one bedroom€378
Groceries€153
Eating out€85
Getting around€51
Phone + internet€55
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€1,400/ month
typically €1,230 – €1,570
Somewhere to stay€824
Eating out€293
Car, transfers, fuel€191
Data + extras€89
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
48% 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 Philippines (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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Spots nearby

Ishizakigawa🇯🇵 Japan · score 51.8Morro das Pedras🇧🇷 Brazil · score 51.6Llangennith🇬🇧 United Kingdom · score 51.6Oshima🇯🇵 Japan · score 51.7
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