WorldUnited States of America › South Carolina › Edisto Beach

Edisto Beach 37.9

#4928 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇺🇸 United States of America · South Carolina · near Beaufort

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

Works all yearBeginner friendlyBeginner
Edisto Beach, United States of America
Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided · Public domain · source
Surf score37.9 /100
Surfable days86% of the year
Clean days2% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell4% period 11 s+
Typical size0.9 m 2.9 ft median
Water21°C a 2 mm shorty

Best time to surf Edisto Beach

The best time to surf Edisto Beach is January, September, October. It rarely works. In September the water sits around 26°C, so pack boardshorts, and the typical wave is 0.9 m. The nearest airport is CHS (48 km) and the nearest town is Beaufort (38 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan88%2%1.0 m12°C5/4
Feb89%1%1.0 m10°C5/4
Mar92%2%1.0 m16°C4/3
Apr87%0%0.9 m20°C2mm
May90%1%0.8 m24°Cvest
Jun80%0%0.8 m27°Cboardies
Jul80%0%0.8 m30°Cboardies
Aug75%0%0.7 m29°Cboardies
Sep90%11%0.9 m26°Cboardies
Oct84%6%0.9 m22°Cvest
Nov89%2%1.0 m17°C3/2
Dec86%2%0.9 m14°C4/3

What is under Edisto Beach

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor sits over 47 m, shoaling steadily over the last kilometres.

Depth 8 km out47 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 37.9

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%
4.4
Best days 22.4%
6.6
Clean days 18.4%
0.5
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
3.3
Access 4.1%
3.6

The detail

Faces 140° with 42% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 59% of days. Mean peak period 6.8 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.5 m, with a peak period of 9 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 77%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 32.505, -80.293 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€2,000/ month
typically €1,760 – €2,240
Rent, one bedroom€1,050
Groceries€420
Eating out€240
Getting around€140
Phone + internet€150
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€3,900/ month
typically €3,430 – €4,370
Somewhere to stay€2,300
Eating out€820
Car, transfers, fuel€530
Data + extras€250
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for United States of America (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

TWO LIGHTS🇺🇸 United States of America · score 50.2Five Islands🇲🇻 Maldives · score 49.9Burleigh heads🇦🇺 Australia · score 50.5Akaehama🇯🇵 Japan · score 49.7
Compare Edisto Beach 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 September