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Fire Island Point of Woods 40.9

#4695 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇺🇸 United States of America · New York · near Stamford

Works almost every day, wind is the enemy here, no off season.

Works all yearIntermediate
Fire Island Point of Woods, United States of America
Photo: Patrick Gruban from Munich, Germany · CC BY-SA 2.0 · source
Surf score40.9 /100
Surfable days92% of the year
Clean days2% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell4% period 11 s+
Typical size1.1 m 3.7 ft median
Water13°C a 4/3 with boots

Best time to surf Fire Island Point of Woods

The best time to surf Fire Island Point of Woods is March, September, October. It rarely works. In September the water sits around 21°C, so pack a 2 mm shorty, and the typical wave is 1.1 m. The nearest airport is JFK (56 km) and the nearest town is Stamford (57 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan93%1%1.4 m5°C6/5
Feb94%1%1.3 m2°C6/5
Mar95%3%1.3 m4°C6/5
Apr90%1%1.2 m8°C6/5
May96%1%1.0 m12°C5/4
Jun87%0%0.8 m18°C3/2
Jul89%0%0.8 m24°Cvest
Aug86%1%0.8 m24°Cvest
Sep93%11%1.1 m21°C2mm
Oct95%6%1.3 m18°C3/2
Nov97%0%1.4 m13°C4/3
Dec93%2%1.4 m8°C6/5

What is under Fire Island Point of Woods

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor sits over 33 m. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 92 m against 33 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out33 m
Depth 4 km out18 m
Channel beside it92 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 40.9

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%
6.8
Best days 22.4%
10.4
Clean days 18.4%
0.7
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
0.0
Access 4.1%
3.3

The detail

Faces 165° with 53% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 68% of days. Mean peak period 6.9 s. Days over 3 m: 2%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 2.1 m, with a peak period of 9 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 55%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 40.650, -73.128 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,700/ month
typically €1,500 – €1,900
Rent, one bedroom€892
Groceries€357
Eating out€204
Getting around€119
Phone + internet€128
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€3,320/ month
typically €2,920 – €3,710
Somewhere to stay€1,960
Eating out€697
Car, transfers, fuel€450
Data + extras€212
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Remote spot, so the local estimate is 15% below the country average. 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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Spots nearby

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