WorldDenmark › Nordjylland › Hirtshals

Hirtshals 36.0

#5021 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇩🇰 Denmark · Nordjylland · near Frederikshavn

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

Works all yearBeginner friendlyBeginner
Hirtshals, Denmark
Photo: Tomasz Sienicki [user: tsca, mail: tomasz.sienicki at gmail.com] · CC BY 4.0 · source
Surf score36.0 /100
Surfable days76% of the year
Clean days0% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell0% period 11 s+
Typical size1.0 m 3.2 ft median
Water11°C a 5/4 with boots and hood

Best time to surf Hirtshals

It rarely works. The nearest airport is GOT (140 km) and the nearest town is Frederikshavn (39 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan90%0%1.4 m4°C6/5
Feb91%0%1.4 m1°C6/5
Mar76%0%1.1 m4°C6/5
Apr65%0%0.7 m8°C6/5
May65%0%0.9 m12°C5/4
Jun65%0%0.8 m16°C4/3
Jul74%0%0.9 m19°C3/2
Aug61%0%0.8 m18°C3/2
Sep71%0%1.1 m17°C3/2
Oct88%0%1.1 m13°C4/3
Nov82%0%1.1 m10°C6/5
Dec81%0%1.0 m8°C6/5

What is under Hirtshals

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor drops to 97 m, shoaling steadily over the last kilometres.

Depth 8 km out97 m
Depth 4 km out55 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 36.0

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%
5.6
Best days 22.4%
9.7
Clean days 18.4%
0.0
Consistency 10.2%
9.0
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
0.0
Access 4.1%
2.7

The detail

Faces 340° with 61% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 53% of days. Mean peak period 6.0 s. Days over 3 m: 2%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 2.0 m, with a peak period of 8 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 50%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates 57.596, 9.956 (OpenStreetMap).

Live here

54 homes for sale within 30 km of Hirtshals, up to 60,000 euro. Houses and flats you can move into, never plots of land. Cheapest right now €26,100. Checked 2026-09-13. Listings from Boligsiden and the agents themselves; we take no part in the deal.

€32,800House · 68 m² · 3 roomsSindal20 km from the spot →€39,500House · 87 m² · 4 roomsHirtshals1 km from the spot →€39,500House · 87 m² · 3 roomsHirtshals2 km from the spot →€45,600Co-op flat · 87 m² · 3 roomsHirtshals1 km from the spot →€52,900House · 103 m² · 4 roomsHirtshals2 km from the spot →€53,500House · 135 m² · 3 roomsHjørring10 km from the spot →

What it costs to be here

Living here
€1,880/ month
typically €1,650 – €2,110
Rent, one bedroom€990
Groceries€395
Eating out€225
Getting around€130
Phone + internet€140
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€3,670/ month
typically €3,230 – €4,110
Somewhere to stay€2,160
Eating out€770
Car, transfers, fuel€500
Data + extras€235
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for Denmark (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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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.

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