WorldChile › Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins › Infernillo

Infernillo 83.2

#661 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇨🇱 Chile · Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins · near Pichilemu

Works almost every day, clean mornings are the norm, no off season.

Works all yearIntermediate
Infernillo, Chile
Photo: Carlos Figueroa · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Surf score83.2 /100
Surfable days100% of the year
Clean days67% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell83% period 11 s+
Typical size1.6 m 5.2 ft median
Water13°C a 5/4 with boots and hood

Best time to surf Infernillo

The best time to surf Infernillo is February, March, May. The season runs all year. In February the water sits around 14°C, so pack a 4/3 with boots, and the typical wave is 1.5 m. The nearest airport is SCL (158 km) and the nearest town is Pichilemu (2 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan100%53%1.6 m14°C4/3
Feb100%83%1.5 m14°C4/3
Mar100%78%1.6 m13°C4/3
Apr100%73%1.5 m12°C5/4
May100%80%1.6 m12°C5/4
Jun100%78%1.7 m12°C5/4
Jul99%71%1.6 m12°C5/4
Aug100%65%1.7 m13°C5/4
Sep100%64%1.6 m12°C5/4
Oct100%59%1.6 m11°C5/4
Nov100%47%1.6 m13°C5/4
Dec100%51%1.5 m14°C4/3

What is under Infernillo

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor drops to 67 m. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 104 m against 67 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out67 m
Depth 4 km out30 m
Channel beside it104 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 83.2

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%
24.5
Best days 22.4%
11.9
Clean days 18.4%
18.4
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
0.0
Access 4.1%
3.0

The detail

Faces 305° with 47% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 80% of days. Mean peak period 12.7 s. Days over 3 m: 0%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 2.1 m, with a peak period of 14 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 13%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates -34.388, -72.024 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€952/ month
typically €838 – €1,070
Rent, one bedroom€502
Groceries€200
Eating out€115
Getting around€68
Phone + internet€72
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€1,860/ month
typically €1,640 – €2,080
Somewhere to stay€1,100
Eating out€391
Car, transfers, fuel€251
Data + extras€119
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 Chile (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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