WorldUnited Kingdom › Norfolk › East Runton

East Runton 33.0

#5180 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Norfolk · near Norwich

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

Works all yearBeginner friendlyBeginner
East Runton, United Kingdom
Photo: Kolforn (Kolforn) I'd appreciate if you could mail me (Kolforn@gmail.com) if you want to use this pi · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Surf score33.0 /100
Surfable days75% of the year
Clean days1% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell2% period 11 s+
Typical size0.9 m 3.0 ft median
Water12°C a 5/4 with boots and hood

Best time to surf East Runton

The best time to surf East Runton is January, March, December. It rarely works. In January the water sits around 6°C, so pack a 6/5 with boots, gloves and hood, and the typical wave is 1.2 m. The nearest airport is LTN (162 km) and the nearest town is Norwich (34 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan88%2%1.2 m6°C6/5
Feb83%0%1.3 m6°C6/5
Mar83%1%1.1 m7°C6/5
Apr83%1%1.0 m9°C6/5
May71%0%0.8 m12°C5/4
Jun58%0%0.7 m15°C4/3
Jul53%0%0.6 m18°C3/2
Aug53%0%0.7 m18°C3/2
Sep80%1%0.9 m17°C3/2
Oct84%1%1.0 m14°C4/3
Nov83%0%1.0 m10°C5/4
Dec83%2%1.0 m8°C6/5

What is under East Runton

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor is still shallow, 7 m.

Depth 8 km out7 m
Depth 4 km out7 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 33.0

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%
4.5
Best days 22.4%
8.5
Clean days 18.4%
0.0
Consistency 10.2%
8.9
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
0.0
Access 4.1%
2.6

The detail

Faces 15° with 50% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 49% of days. Mean peak period 6.1 s. Days over 3 m: 2%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.9 m, with a peak period of 8 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 60%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 52.938, 1.269 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,560/ month
typically €1,370 – €1,740
Rent, one bedroom€816
Groceries€327
Eating out€187
Getting around€110
Phone + internet€115
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€3,030/ month
typically €2,670 – €3,400
Somewhere to stay€1,790
Eating out€638
Car, transfers, fuel€412
Data + extras€196
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 Kingdom (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
Own a cabin on a surf coast in Sumba

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

Hae un dae🇰🇷 South Korea · score 39.7Compton🇬🇧 United Kingdom · score 38.0Mondello🇮🇹 Italy · score 37.4Red rocks🇷🇺 Russia · score 21.9
Compare East Runton with 5,700 other spots
Filters by month, level and water, map, side by side comparison and a trip planner.
Open the interactive profileMore spots good in January