WorldAustralia › Victoria › Forrest caves

Forrest caves 67.5

#2535 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇦🇺 Australia · Victoria · near Wonthaggi

Very consistent, no off season, gentle enough to learn.

Works all yearBeginner friendlyBeginner
Forrest caves, Australia
Photo: Pavel Špindler · CC BY 3.0 · source · photo taken 4.1 km from the spot
Surf score67.5 /100
Surfable days90% of the year
Clean days25% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell49% period 11 s+
Typical size1.0 m 3.2 ft median
Water16°C a 4/3 with boots

Best time to surf Forrest caves

The best time to surf Forrest caves is March, May, July. It rarely works. In July the water sits around 14°C, so pack a 4/3 with boots, and the typical wave is 1.0 m. The nearest airport is MEL (102 km) and the nearest town is Wonthaggi (27 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan91%20%0.9 m18°C3/2
Feb90%20%0.9 m18°C3/2
Mar88%26%0.9 m19°C3/2
Apr87%25%1.0 m17°C3/2
May90%27%1.0 m16°C3/2
Jun81%25%0.9 m15°C4/3
Jul90%36%1.0 m14°C4/3
Aug92%25%1.1 m13°C4/3
Sep93%26%1.1 m13°C4/3
Oct90%20%0.9 m14°C4/3
Nov91%19%0.9 m15°C4/3
Dec91%25%0.9 m16°C3/2

What is under Forrest caves

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor sits over 42 m.

Depth 8 km out42 m
Depth 4 km out44 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 67.5

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%
19.8
Best days 22.4%
8.8
Clean days 18.4%
11.1
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
1.2
Access 4.1%
3.3

The detail

Faces 222° with 42% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 50% of days. Mean peak period 12.0 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 1.6 m, with a peak period of 14 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 70%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates -38.518, 145.306 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,840/ month
typically €1,620 – €2,060
Rent, one bedroom€970
Groceries€385
Eating out€220
Getting around€130
Phone + internet€140
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€3,600/ month
typically €3,170 – €4,030
Somewhere to stay€2,120
Eating out€755
Car, transfers, fuel€490
Data + extras€230
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for Australia (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.

Our own project · Sumba, Indonesia
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Sumba has eight spots in this ranking, the best of them inside the world top 50. A cabin is €11,500. The land it sits on is separate, from €6,500 (€9,950 oceanfront), on an 80-year lease that extends at the end. Water, septic and electricity are another €6,500, and furniture is on top, so a finished cabin lands around €28,000 plus the land, payable in instalments.

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.

Spots nearby

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