WorldMexico › Sinaloa › El Camaron

El Camaron 82.6

#746 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇲🇽 Mexico · Sinaloa · near Mazatlán

Works almost every day, clean mornings are the norm, no off season.

Works all yearWarm waterBeginner friendlyBeginner
El Camaron, Mexico
Photo: Lynx Burgos · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Surf score82.6 /100
Surfable days98% of the year
Clean days67% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell71% period 11 s+
Typical size1.0 m 3.2 ft median
Water28°C boardshorts

Best time to surf El Camaron

The best time to surf El Camaron is April, May, July. The season runs Feb to Nov. In April the water sits around 26°C, so pack boardshorts, and the typical wave is 1.0 m. The nearest airport is MZT (20 km) and the nearest town is Mazatlán (3 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan88%27%0.8 m25°Cboardies
Feb98%50%0.9 m24°Cvest
Mar99%63%0.9 m25°Cvest
Apr100%85%1.0 m26°Cboardies
May100%85%1.1 m27°Cboardies
Jun100%74%1.1 m30°Cboardies
Jul100%84%1.0 m31°Cboardies
Aug100%68%1.0 m32°Cboardies
Sep100%82%1.1 m31°Cboardies
Oct99%82%1.0 m31°Cboardies
Nov99%71%0.9 m28°Cboardies
Dec94%33%0.8 m25°Cboardies

What is under El Camaron

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor is already 209 m deep, deep right up to the door, so swell arrives with its energy intact. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 412 m against 209 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out209 m
Depth 4 km out178 m
Channel beside it412 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 82.6

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%
21.8
Best days 22.4%
6.9
Clean days 18.4%
18.4
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
6.1
Access 4.1%
4.1

The detail

Faces 225° with 50% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 94% of days. Mean peak period 13.3 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.3 m, with a peak period of 16 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 79%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 23.238, -106.447 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,510/ month
typically €1,330 – €1,690
Rent, one bedroom€793
Groceries€320
Eating out€184
Getting around€105
Phone + internet€111
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€2,950/ month
typically €2,600 – €3,310
Somewhere to stay€1,740
Eating out€621
Car, transfers, fuel€400
Data + extras€191
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Airport and town on the doorstep, so the local estimate is 23% above the country average. Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for Mexico (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

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