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Fernandina Pier 23.8

#5568 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇺🇸 United States of America · Florida · near Jacksonville

Needs the right swell, wind is the enemy here, peaks in September.

Beginner
Fernandina Pier, United States of America
Photo: Patty O'Hearn Kickham from Guelph, Ontario, Canada · CC BY 2.0 · source
Surf score23.8 /100
Surfable days40% of the year
Clean days1% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell1% period 11 s+
Typical size0.5 m 1.8 ft median
Water22°C a rash vest or 2 mm

Best time to surf Fernandina Pier

The best time to surf Fernandina Pier is February, March, September. It rarely works. In September the water sits around 28°C, so pack boardshorts, and the typical wave is 0.6 m. The nearest airport is JAX (32 km) and the nearest town is Jacksonville (44 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan48%0%0.6 m16°C4/3
Feb46%1%0.6 m13°C4/3
Mar50%1%0.6 m17°C3/2
Apr45%0%0.6 m21°C2mm
May43%0%0.6 m25°Cboardies
Jun21%0%0.5 m27°Cboardies
Jul6%0%0.5 m28°Cboardies
Aug14%0%0.4 m29°Cboardies
Sep49%3%0.6 m28°Cboardies
Oct52%1%0.6 m25°Cvest
Nov62%1%0.7 m21°C2mm
Dec43%1%0.6 m18°C3/2

What is under Fernandina Pier

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor is still shallow, 8 m. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 39 m against 8 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out8 m
Depth 4 km out5 m
Channel beside it39 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 23.8

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%
5.5
Best days 22.4%
2.5
Clean days 18.4%
0.0
Consistency 10.2%
4.2
Season spread 4.1%
0.7
Water comfort 6.1%
4.1
Access 4.1%
3.6

The detail

Faces 95° with 47% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 73% of days. Mean peak period 7.0 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 0.9 m, with a peak period of 9 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 72%. Months that work: 3 of 12. Coordinates 30.667, -81.426 (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.

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