WorldJapan › Chiba › Hanakago

Hanakago 54.4

#3674 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇯🇵 Japan · Chiba · near Yokohama

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

Works all yearIntermediate
Hanakago, Japan
Photo: oimo · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source · photo taken 1.1 km from the spot
Surf score54.4 /100
Surfable days99% of the year
Clean days4% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell8% period 11 s+
Typical size1.3 m 4.2 ft median
Water21°C a 2 mm shorty

Best time to surf Hanakago

The best time to surf Hanakago is January, August, December. It rarely works. In January the water sits around 17°C, so pack a 3/2 wetsuit, and the typical wave is 1.3 m. The nearest airport is HND (61 km) and the nearest town is Yokohama (58 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan98%11%1.3 m17°C3/2
Feb99%4%1.4 m16°C4/3
Mar100%2%1.5 m15°C4/3
Apr100%2%1.4 m17°C3/2
May99%0%1.2 m19°C2mm
Jun100%1%1.1 m22°Cvest
Jul99%3%1.1 m26°Cboardies
Aug95%6%1.1 m27°Cboardies
Sep98%5%1.3 m26°Cboardies
Oct97%5%1.4 m24°Cvest
Nov99%5%1.3 m21°C2mm
Dec97%9%1.4 m20°C2mm

What is under Hanakago

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor sits over 35 m. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 60 m against 35 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out35 m
Depth 4 km out31 m
Channel beside it60 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 54.4

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%
12.9
Best days 22.4%
11.7
Clean days 18.4%
1.6
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
3.4
Access 4.1%
3.2

The detail

Faces 130° with 39% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 52% of days. Mean peak period 8.8 s. Days over 3 m: 2%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 2.2 m, with a peak period of 10 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 41%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 35.024, 139.993 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,220/ month
typically €1,070 – €1,360
Rent, one bedroom€638
Groceries€255
Eating out€144
Getting around€85
Phone + internet€89
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€2,360/ month
typically €2,080 – €2,650
Somewhere to stay€1,390
Eating out€497
Car, transfers, fuel€323
Data + extras€153
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 Japan (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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