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EL muelle 46.1

#4315 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇨🇴 Colombia · Atlántico · near Barranquilla

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

Works all yearWarm waterIntermediate
EL muelle, Colombia
Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Joseacuario assumed (based on copyright claims). · Public domain · source
Surf score46.1 /100
Surfable days86% of the year
Clean days0% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell0% period 11 s+
Typical size1.1 m 3.8 ft median
Water28°C boardshorts

Best time to surf EL muelle

The best time to surf EL muelle is October. It rarely works. In October the water sits around 30°C, so pack boardshorts, and the typical wave is 0.6 m. The nearest airport is BAQ (24 km) and the nearest town is Barranquilla (18 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan97%0%1.5 m27°Cboardies
Feb100%0%1.8 m27°Cboardies
Mar100%0%1.5 m27°Cboardies
Apr97%0%1.2 m28°Cboardies
May89%0%0.9 m28°Cboardies
Jun91%0%1.1 m29°Cboardies
Jul99%0%1.2 m28°Cboardies
Aug82%0%1.0 m29°Cboardies
Sep53%0%0.6 m30°Cboardies
Oct45%1%0.6 m30°Cboardies
Nov81%0%0.9 m29°Cboardies
Dec99%0%1.4 m28°Cboardies

What is under EL muelle

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor drops to 64 m, shoaling steadily over the last kilometres. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 369 m against 64 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out64 m
Depth 4 km out13 m
Channel beside it369 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 46.1

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%
7.6
Best days 22.4%
8.2
Clean days 18.4%
0.0
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
3.7
Water comfort 6.1%
6.1
Access 4.1%
4.0

The detail

Faces 325° with 39% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 43% of days. Mean peak period 7.1 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.8 m, with a peak period of 8 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 52%. Months that work: 11 of 12. Coordinates 10.990, -74.965 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,020/ month
typically €893 – €1,140
Rent, one bedroom€529
Groceries€211
Eating out€119
Getting around€70
Phone + internet€76
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€1,980/ month
typically €1,740 – €2,210
Somewhere to stay€1,160
Eating out€416
Car, transfers, fuel€270
Data + extras€124
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 8% above the country average. Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for Colombia (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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