World › Dominican Republic › Barahona › El Manda

El Manda 52.1

#3878 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic · Barahona · near Barahona

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

Works all yearWarm waterBeginner friendlyBeginner
Surf score52.1 /100
Surfable days88% of the year
Clean days0% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell0% period 11 s+
Typical size0.9 m 2.9 ft median
Water28°C boardshorts

Best time to surf El Manda

It rarely works. The nearest airport is PAP (136 km) and the nearest town is Barahona (24 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan90%0%0.9 m27°Cboardies
Feb96%0%1.2 m26°Cboardies
Mar95%0%0.9 m26°Cboardies
Apr91%0%0.8 m27°Cboardies
May98%0%0.9 m28°Cboardies
Jun95%0%1.0 m28°Cboardies
Jul100%0%1.0 m28°Cboardies
Aug94%0%0.9 m29°Cboardies
Sep62%0%0.7 m29°Cboardies
Oct66%0%0.7 m29°Cboardies
Nov81%0%0.8 m28°Cboardies
Dec90%0%0.9 m28°Cboardies

What is under El Manda

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor sits over 43 m.

Depth 8 km out43 m
Depth 4 km out31 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 52.1

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%
17.4
Best days 22.4%
4.3
Clean days 18.4%
0.0
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
6.1
Access 4.1%
3.0

The detail

Faces 130° with 42% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 37% of days. Mean peak period 6.6 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.2 m, with a peak period of 8 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 87%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 17.989, -71.162 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€950/ month
typically €836 – €1,060
Rent, one bedroom€500
Groceries€200
Eating out€115
Getting around€65
Phone + internet€70
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€1,850/ month
typically €1,630 – €2,070
Somewhere to stay€1,100
Eating out€390
Car, transfers, fuel€250
Data + extras€120
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for Dominican Republic (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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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.

See the cabin

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